{"id":573076,"date":"2026-01-21T15:43:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=573076"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:43:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T18:43:13","slug":"osusp-celebrates-50-years-amid-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/osusp-celebrates-50-years-amid-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"OSUSP celebrates 50 years amid challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

The University of S\u00e3o Paulo Symphony Orchestra (OSUSP) celebrates its 50th<\/sup> birthday in 2025 as one of the busiest university ensembles in Brazil. In 2024, the orchestra played to 55,000 people at the Clocktower on the campus of renowned biomedical research center the Butant\u00e3 Institute to celebrate 90 years of USP, performing alongside well-known singer Marisa Monte, bringing the total audience for the year to 70,000, seven times higher than in 2023.<\/p>\n

Not counting the crowd for this birthday presentation, attendance at concerts grew by 20% last year against 2023, despite a slight fall in the number of presentations\u2014from 42 to 39. \u201cOur main goals are to spread concert music to the wider public,\u201d says flautist C\u00e1ssia Carrascoza Bomfim, director of OSUSP and professor at the Music Department of the USP School of Communications and Arts (ECA-USP).<\/p>\n

The orchestra currently comprises 39 professional musicians, all on fixed contracts. Music undergraduates are allocated to the USP Chamber Orchestra, which is geared toward their instruction. Founded in 1975 by composer and maestro Camargo Guarnieri (1907\u00ad\u20131993), with aspirations to be a 90-piece symphony orchestra, OSUSP never grew to this size. The orchestra maintains a strong link with the Brazilian national identity, according to Bomfim. \u201cIt\u2019s a legacy of Guarnieri. He was one of Brazil\u2019s key names in the movement known as Musical Nationalism, and would incorporate elements of the country\u2019s folklore into his classical compositions,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

The survey \u201cOSUSP in numbers,\u201d commenced in 2021 and coordinated by musicians F\u00e1bio Cury (director of the orchestra between 2018 and 2022 and professor at ECA-USP) and Jo\u00e3o Batista de Brito Cruz, demonstrates that in 465 concerts, around 30% of the repertoire between 1976 and 2019 included Brazilian classical music. \u201cThere is a significant presence of Brazilian music in the schedule, though the European canon still predominates,\u201d says Cruz, who is not associated to OSUSP; he completed his doctorate in musicology last year at the university.<\/p>\n

On balance, according to Cruz, the proportion of Brazilian music in the OSUSP repertoire differs from other orchestras in the country, who tend not to allow much space for the works of national composers. \u201cThis may happen for various reasons: the personal tastes of the musicians, scheduling costs, availability of sheet music, and at times the audiences\u2019 demand for more well-known European pieces,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Brazilian Studies Institute at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (IEB-USP)<\/span>OSUSP with its creator, composer and conductor Camargo Guarnieri, undatedBrazilian Studies Institute at the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (IEB-USP)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cBeing university-based, OSUSP has more freedom to try out other repertoires beyond the European canons,\u201d says Tobias Volkmann, standing maestro of the orchestra since 2024. The conductor is also artistic director of the Cuyo Symphony Orchestra, associated to the Cuyo National University Symphony Orchestra in Mendoza, Argentina. As he points out, higher education institutions have been important hosts for prominent orchestras in Latin America since the beginning of the last century.<\/p>\n

One of the current experimental stages for OSUSP is the \u201cTorre do rel\u00f3gio\u201d (Clocktower) project, initiated in 2023 by Gil Jardim, then the orchestra\u2019s lead conductor and now a retired ECA-USP professor. The cycle of concerts is aimed at creating dialogue between the arts and the sciences with themed performances. \u201cThe repertoire is selected based on the chosen topic, for example the climate crisis, and brings together different knowledge areas,\u201d explains linguist Marli Quadros Leite, who currently heads the Office of the Associate Dean for Culture and University Extension (PRCEU) at USP which, in addition to OSUSP, encompasses nine other initiatives, such as Esta\u00e7\u00e3o Ci\u00eancia (Science Station).<\/p>\n

On these occasions, researchers from the university with links to the theme in question help the maestro to put the program together, and talk to the audience about the subject during the show. With no defined frequency, the concerts are usually held in the 435-seat Camargo Guarnieri Amphitheater at the USP campus in the S\u00e3o Paulo state capital. \u201cThey are always sold out,\u201d says Volkmann.<\/p>\n

According to C\u00e1ssia Bomfim, other projects have been helping to widen and retain audiences, exemplified by Mem\u00f3rias Sonoras (Sound Memories), created this year by OSUSP and integrating the USP 60+ program, a PRCEU initiative with academic, sporting, and cultural activities aimed at older adults. \u201cA lot of these people are attending a classical music concert for the first time in their lives,\u201d says musician Lucas Coelho, assistant artistic director of the orchestra.<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Philharmonic Orchestra <\/span>Maestro Andr\u00e9 Muniz and the UFRN Philharmonic with Pope Francisco in 2018Courtesy of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Philharmonic Orchestra <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

OSUSP is part of the University\u2019s annual budget through PRCEU, but is currently raising funds via the Rouanet Law (a federal instrument providing tax breaks for cultural projects). \u201cOur concerts are free to attend, but the expenditure on an orchestra is high,\u201d says Bomfim. Leite says that in 2024, OSUSP secured authorization to raise R$6 million to fund a series of concerts in 2025 and 2026, and presentations in Bras\u00edlia, Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and Salvador are planned for 2026, along with six cities in the interior of S\u00e3o Paulo State. Under the Rouanet Law, at least 20% of the total amount must be raised (i.e., R$1.2 million) to enjoy the benefit. To date, R$800,000 has been raised. \u201cWe want to increase our links with private initiative, but without losing our artistic independence,\u201d concludes Leite.<\/p>\n

Partnerships with corporations and other institutions are part of daily life for the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Symphony Orchestra (OSUFRJ), the oldest of its kind in Brazil, celebrating 100 years in 2024. The orchestra is institutionalized; in other words, it is part of the university\u2019s development plan and covered by the annual budget.<\/p>\n

Conceived to be exclusively staffed by students of what was then called the National Institute of Music, the orchestra has undergone changes over the course of its journey. In 1931, with the educational reform implemented by President Get\u00falio Vargas (1882\u20131954), its musicians came to be exclusively professional. \u201cIt now follows a hybrid model, with 47 professional musicians and 90 music undergraduates,\u201d says Andr\u00e9 Cardoso, professor of conducting at UFRJ and standing maestro of OSUFRJ.<\/p>\n

He says that the repertoire is defined based on what the musicians in training will need to play when they join professional orchestras, primarily the European canon, which includes works by composers such as Beethoven (1770\u20131827) and Brahms (1833\u20131897). \u201cHowever, of a total twenty-nine concerts during the 2024 season, we showcased twelve contemporaneous composers, mainly Brazilians such as Ernani Aguiar and Marisa Rezende,\u201d he goes on.<\/p>\n

The conductor says that in light of the economic difficulties faced by universities, which have worsened in recent years, partnerships with entities help to make certain orchestra programs possible. \u201cThrough partnerships with the Sala Cec\u00edlia Meirelles, FUNARTE [National Arts Foundation], and consulates, for example, we can pay the fees of guest solo artists and conductors. This enables students to work with other conductors,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

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OSUSP archives <\/span>From left in year order, OSUSP program coversOSUSP archives <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Partnerships with private initiative have also helped the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Philharmonic Orchestra (Filarm\u00f4nica UFRN) to overcome its financial challenges. Thanks to this input, Andr\u00e9 Muniz, a professor at the institution, has been able to take the orchestra to play in Germany and at the Vatican. In 2018, the musicians played for Pope Francisco (1936\u20132025), with a sacred repertoire composed exclusively by Brazilians, such as Grande missa nordestina<\/em> (Great northeastern mass), by Cl\u00f3vis Pereira (1932\u20132024).<\/p>\n

To attract a more diversified audience, the orchestra puts on concerts blending a symphonic repertoire and popular music, and one of their performances, featuring the Rio Grande do Norte singer Roberta S\u00e1, nationally famous for her samba and bossa nova, brought together more than 5,000 people.<\/p>\n

Comprising fifty scholarship holders, the orchestra is institutionalized, with the main objective of developing the students. \u201cOne of our biggest challenges is the high turnover rate,\u201d says the conductor. \u201cWhen the students have honed their skills, they complete the undergraduate course and move on to their professional careers, and we have to start from scratch again. But that\u2019s the natural cycle of a university.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest challenges for the Federal University of Pernambuco Symphony Orchestra (OSUFPE) is to find their own space. With 70 musicians, almost all undergraduates, they have been performing at venues provided by third parties, such as churches. At the beginning of August, they played at the Santa Isabel Theater in state capital Recife to celebrate the anniversary of UFPE. \u201cGiven that the university\u2019s convention center has been undergoing renovation for more than 10 years, we need to find spaces in the metropolitan region for our concerts,\u201d says conductor Helder Passinho Jr., who coordinates the orchestra with conductor Maria Aida Barroso.<\/p>\n

Barroso, who also heads the Music Department at UFPE, explains that the orchestra received scholarship grants from the university until 2018. This project is now run by the department itself. \u201cWe no longer have scholarships, so student participation comes in the form of an obligatory study discipline,\u201d he says. According to Passinho Jr., being an extension project, the orchestra issues calls for applications to attract musicians from the community, who generally play non-orchestral instruments.<\/p>\n

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Lucas Emanuel \/ Courtesy of Federal University of Pernambuco Symphony Orchestra<\/span>UFPE orchestra performance in August at the Santa Isabel Theater in RecifeLucas Emanuel \/ Courtesy of Federal University of Pernambuco Symphony Orchestra<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The diversity of the repertoire is a concern, though the emphasis is on the European canons. Emeritus maestro S\u00e9rgio Dias, who founded the orchestra in 2009 and left in 2023, recalls that the concert which marked the resumption of activities after the COVID-19 pandemic was MPB sinf\u00f4nico<\/em>, which put an orchestral slant on northeastern music, choro, and samba. \u201cThese days, the zabumba and maracatu drums are part of our orchestra,\u201d he enthuses.<\/p>\n

Among Brazil\u2019s university ensembles, the National Symphony Orchestra (OSN) is linked to Fluminense Federal University (UFF)\u2014the institution does not, however, offer a music course. With no educational bias, the orchestral body is made up of 78 professional musicians who play concerts for the community of Niter\u00f3i, where the campus is located.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1961 as the National Radio Orchestra, with the remit of disseminating Brazilian orchestral music, OSN was absorbed into UFF in 1984. The salary of these musicians, who have fixed contracts, is paid by the university. However, the rest of the expenditure, which includes the conductor\u2019s contract, is funded by the box office from performances (all paid), and occasionally by UFF.<\/p>\n

Concerts today are divided into three main programs: Alvorada, a Sunday morning series with national and international pieces; OSN Popular, with popular music in a symphonic style; and OSN Cine, which shows Brazilian films while the soundtrack is performed live.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2025, our focus is on works by the composer Guerra Peixe [1914\u20131993] and within this artistic vein, we are incorporating other musical angles to formulate a repertoire,\u201d explains violinist Deivison Branco, who presided over the OSN artistic committee until this past August. \u201cWe are not giving up on Brazilian music\u2014it represents 70% of our repertoire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story above was published with the title “Music, maestro!<\/strong>” in issue 355 of September\/2025.<\/p>\n

Scientific article<\/strong>
\nCRUZ, J. B. de B. & CURY, F. \u201cDe onde vem essa m\u00fasica?: Um mapeamento de programa\u00e7\u00f5es da Osusp entre 1976-2019<\/a>.\u201d In: XXXIII ANPPOM Congress<\/strong>. S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o Del-Rey, 2023.<\/p>\n

[bibliografia]Book<\/strong>
\nCARDOSO, A. Orquestra Sinf\u00f4nica da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro \u2013 100 anos, 1924-2024<\/strong>. Rio de Janeiro: Editora UFRJ, 2024.<\/p>\n

Book chapter<\/strong>
\nBOMFIM, C. C. & CURY, F. \u201cOSUSP 50 anos: Trajet\u00f3ria e papel na Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo.\u201d In: LEITE, M. Q. (ed.). Cultura e Extens\u00e3o na USP \u2013 Reflex\u00f5es e impactos<\/strong>. S\u00e3o Paulo: Publica\u00e7\u00f5es BBM, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"University symphony orchestras, typically focused on training the public or musicians, seek partnerships with the private sector","protected":false},"author":784,"featured_media":573086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[248],"coauthors":[5509],"class_list":["post-573076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-humanities","tag-music"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/784"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":573102,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573076\/revisions\/573102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/573086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573076"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=573076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}