And the winners are ......
| 27 July 2011
... E V E R Y O N E !!
Partners Travel 2 Change have announced the winners of their Ideas Challenge and we're thrilled that AmazonArt are included.
A year ago (July 7, 2010) Nidderdale High School hosted the Brazilian Ensemble, an "Amazonian" folk and classical fusion trio of cellist Diego Carneiro de Oliveria, accompanied by Carla Ruaro Pires on piano, and Felipe Karam on percussion and cavaquinho (a small high-pitch guitar). The event was funded via the Harrogate International Festival and Live Music Now.During the day the trio held workshops with the students then a concert in the evening. My son, Ben, learnt a special technique using the triangle, which combined with tamborine had the audience in the evening concert clapping along. The concert ended with everyone congo'ing around the room to the final piece!
Normally found playing cello in various concerts around Europe, Diego Carneiro comes from the city of Belém in northern equatorial Brazil, the area more widely known as "Amazonia".
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In his spare time Diego runs his charity, AmazonArt, which employs music and the Arts as educational tools to raise awareness of the area's local traditions and environment, specifically the survival and importance of the rainforest and river. Since 1998, a small but inspiring education centre has evolved in the community of Combu Island, about 30 minutes by boat from Belém, striving to provide social and cultural development for the residents and children unable to access facilities in the city. The school soon became the heart of the community and provides education centred around Music and art inspiring the understanding of and promoting the protection of the rainforest and river. Further into the rainforest, approx. 2 hours by boat, the charity also assists the Ama Institute which teaches the fine art of making instruments from the Amazon wood.
Travel2Change will be helping to raise the profile of AmazonArt but have also awarded EURO1000 towards improvements to the Combu Education Centre. Obrigado e bênçãos!
A small team from the organsation will be visiting shortly to make preparations for travelers and volunteers wishing to assist but, in the meantime, should you wish to volunteer your time to help the centre, either freely online or visiting onsite please contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or donate online via Justgiving.com/AmazonArt who have also given us a Textgiving service whereby you can simply text:   "AMZN04 £x" to 70070 where x is the donation you'd like to give. Remember that any UK tax-payer donations automatically have 20% GiftAid added on top.
