Join he European premiere of Oratorio a los Mártires del 23 de julio (Oratory to the Martyrs of July 23rd), an unpublished work composed by Nicaraguan musician Carlos Mejia Godoy and performed by King’s Brazil Ensemble.

Nicaragua’s contention with dictatorial rule dates back further than most of Latin America’s. The Somoza family imposed a civil dictatorship on the country in the 1930s, which lasted four decades. This time was characterised by growing wealth inequality, misuse of public funds, and suppression of public dissent.

On 23rd of July, 1959, the soldiers of the Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional (National Guard) opened fire on a parade organised by the students of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (Autonomous University of Nicaragua). With four dead and sixty injured, 23rd July came to mark a dark day in Nicaragua’s history, one that continues to haunt the public consciousness to this day.

Carlos Mejia Godoy, one of Nueva Cancion’s foremost proponents, composed an ode to the lives lost on 23rd July in the form of Oratorio a Los Mártires del 23 de Julio, exhibiting the perfect harmony with which his work as a musician and a revolutionary co-exist. This concert will showcase an arrangement of this piece specially written for the King’s Brazil Ensemble by Stefan Metzger, in addition to pieces from Chile.

The concert is part of Thinking Inside The Box: 1973, a student-led archive analysis and curatorial project that has culminated in a month-long exhibition and roster of events. Read on to learn more about the project, and follow us for future event updates.

• Violin: Rita Fernandes, Levent Altuntas, Alex Seow, Toby Scadding, Alina Khmelevskaya, Antonius Achtner
• Violas: Samuel Chadwick, Jocelyn Coates
• Cello: Sam Whitby, Jaeho Bae
• Bass: Luiz Moretto
• Flute: Emily McHarg
• Clarinet: Suzannah Letts
• Guitar: Alexandre Pereira
• Singers: Jocelyn Coates – Soprano; Stefan Metzger – Baritone
• Direction: Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho