¡Sacabuche! is an early brass ensemble directed by Linda Pearse, based at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. We are currently preparing to represent our school abroad in an exciting and illuminating series of concerts and workshops in Beijing, China, in mid-December. Events include performances at the China National Center for the Performing Arts and at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. Our project focuses on the Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, whose journey to China in the late 16th century resulted in the first map in Chinese which combined eastern and western hemispheres. This is a collaborative interdisciplinary project, featuring the combined forces of distinguished faculty Stanley Ritchie and Wendy Gillespie, up-and-coming students of the Jacobs School of Music, composer and speaker Huang Ruo, and professor of history at the University of Minnesota, Ann Waltner, who will present a lecture-demonstration on Ricci’s 1602 map. To honor the spirit of cultural exchange embraced by Ricci in his time, our concerts will combine historical readings with early music from both sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe and China, along with new compositions, specially commissioned for this project, from contemporary Chinese composer Huang Ruo. Our workshops and other residency activities will reach out to students of music and members of the Chinese public at Beijing’s top universities, music conservatories and cultural institutions.
