Classico Latino will take part in a Christmas Concert in London organised by “Friends of Colombia for Social Aid”, on the 8th of December at 7.30pm at the impressive location of St George’s Cathedral Southwark, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7HY. It will be a memorable night with a lot of traditional “villancicos” in a very special musical programme. This is a great opportunity to hear Classico Latino’s latest arrangements of the most traditional Villancicos and we very much hope to see you all there!

The term for manufacturing small quantities (less than 500 or so) CDs is known as CD duplication, whereas above 500 CDs it’s known as replication. For replication a glass-master is made, which is used to ‘press’ the final CDs in an injection moulding process.

The CD packaging is the other big consideration we had to make; the choice made here will affect what the package looks like, as well as the costs of making. There is a wide choice, first to decide between plastic or card packaging, and decide what type, be it CD wallets, CD digiPaks, CD jewel cases etc. But ultimately we had to remember that that when printing your CDs, it’s the music that matters. So our solution is a very smart 4-panel 320-gsm cardboard wallet with a matt finish, which shows off the beautiful design very well.

Order your copies here!

With Alsonso, our driver for Ginebra

The trio spent three days in Ginebra, playing in the stadium setting of the Parque de la Musica, at the Concierto Dialogado in one of the schools, and twice at the Coliseo.

Being interviewed at the Parque de la Musica, Ginebra

The final performance in Ginebra took place on Sunday evening, June 5th, at which Classico Latino were honoured by being asked to perform directly after Maestros Jaime Llano and Ruth Marulanda as the jury retired to choose the winners of the Concurso Mono Nunez 2011. During this performance Graham was awarded a plaque in honour of his “extraordinary contribution to Colombian Andean music”, following the performance of his composition “El Pasillo Ingles” during the 2009 festival.

Graham receiving his plaque

After their return to Bogota on Monday Classico Latino began a punishing schedule of radio, TV and press interviews. Wednesday June 8th saw the group taking part in celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of the British Colombia Chamber of Commerce, performing a full concert in the presence of the British Ambassador, members of the Colombian cabinet and CEOs of many of the largest European companies operating in Colombia.

On Thursday Classico Latino spent the day at Audiovision studios in Bogota, one of John Storyck‘s early studios, for the first part of their new CD/DVD recording (working title: Encuentro). They recorded three tracks with prominent Colombian musicians, including El Papa (bass), Faber (Tiple) and Rodney (percussion), alongside several songs on their own. An extremely long day (arriving at the studio at 8.30 am, finishing at 10.30 pm) was completed by a late-night interview with Marcela Alarcon on La W. On Friday, alongside several radio and TV interviews, Classico Latino performed on the streets of Bogota. This project was designed to bring live music to those who would not normally be able to attend a concert, and the performance was watched by large numbers of people from all walks of life, from doctors, professionals and students to those living on the streets. Lizzie’s rendition of Pueblito Viejo was described by one homeless man as “better than Jose A Morales” (the composer).

At the time of writing Pirry’s documentary is being edited and put together for broadcast very soon. There will be more information here and on our Facebook page about how it can be seen both in Colombian TV and on the internet.

After the Bogota concert Classico Latino will be recording a new CD, tentatively entitled Encuentro, which mixes the sound of Classico Latino with various internationally recognised Colombian musicians. Watch this space for more information!