Our students have been invited by the British Consulate-general in Rio de Janeiro to play the British national anthem at their party to celebrate the Queen’s birthday tomorrow, together with a choir from The British School Rio de Janeiro.

Yesterday we had a final joint rehearsal with the students from the British School at their Botafogo campus. It was a great opportunity for the children and staff of the schools to get to know each other before the show and a fantastic day out for the FB kids. Unfortunately (and understandably) we can’t publish images of the children from The British School, but we did get this video of the Favela Brass students playing our 4-part arrangement of God Save the Queen from memory:

Our kids have raised their game for this show. They have practiced day and night and developed the kind of ensemble sound that you would expect from much more experienced musicians. Tomorrow we’ll have the unpredictable element of nerves to contend with, but whatever happens I’m immensely proud of these young musicians and as far as I’m concerned they have already done themselves, their project and their community proud.

Many thanks to the British Consulate for the invitation and to Andy Casterton, director of music at the British School, for making us feel so very welcome yesterday.