Interview: Quentin Crida on the Camerata Tinta Barocca

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Before I ask any questions, congratulations on the 10th birthday of your brainchild! What inspired you to start the Camerata Tinta Barocca?

It all started with a concert in the Fish Hoek Civic Centre for the Fish Hoek Friends of Music. The inspiration was to play baroque music well. I had played in the late 1990s in a group in London, and felt that there was no one playing baroque music like that here on a regular basis, and I saw that as a gap in the market.

How did you go about setting up the orchestra?

Having grown up in Cape Town, I knew who the players were that I wanted to work with. It was a question of approaching them to play. I think we all were interested in doing it well, so it wasn't difficult at all to find people interested in playing. Back then it was, and still is now, predominantly a group of string players with harpsichord.

Quentin Crida

What growth have you witnessed in the past ten years?

In the beginning we just used to share the ticket money – the pay was embarrassingly bad. We formed a trust, then we attained public benefit status, and so we progressed. Now we have two patrons, we look for sponsorship, and we are playing more and more on period instruments. In fact, we have even been sponsored three violins and a viola.

What were the highlights in the past ten years?

Highlights have included our first cheque for financial support; playing Handel oratorios and Bach's St Matthew Passion with Barry Smith; Bach concertos for 2, 3 and 4 harpsichords on period instruments; our recent gala concerts with Arjan Tien conducting; our annual Sunshine tours, where we play for people in our communities who either can't afford to attend our concerts, or who have physical or  mental challenges – the therapeutic effect of music is a joy to observe!

What is your vision/dream for the next ten years?

Expand the group size, add wind instruments, do more concerts and attract more audience and introduce more and more people to the wonderful music that exists. We would also love to make some more recordings.

What does your music “do” for the audience?

Because we play with enthusiasm and energy, this rubs off on the audience. Watching and hearing people enjoying themselves is very infectious, and that is what we do – the audience leaves feeling energised. So many people have commented on the quality of the sound we produce. The anecdotes and points of historical interest around the period seem popular, especially the baroque history from the Cape Colony. Classical and baroque music are particularly therapeutic, and I think this is another reason that people come.

And for the members of the orchestra?

Nowadays people have to do so many things that they aren't necessarily interested in to survive  financially. CTB offers us musicians something that we all enjoy – playing great music in a positive environment to an appreciative audience.

 

 

Click here to go to Camerata Tinta Barocca's website

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