Orfeón Lamas
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A fundamental institution for the modernity of choral music in Venezuela, was the Orfeón Lamas, being pioneering at this genre and in the copilation of venezuelan popular songs, before it, any choral group in Venezuela exist.
The history of the Orfeón Lamas, has its origins at the January, 1928 carnival. A group of amateur musicians, all disguised as Ukrainians, started to sing at the Caracas streets, surprising people with their wonderful melodies. That group of young musicians were formed by Vicente Emilio Sojo, the brothers Emilio and Jose Antonio Calcaño, Juan Bautista Plaza, Miguel Ángel Calcaño and William Werner. The idea to sing in a chorale, occurred to them after making contact with a Ukraine vocal group, that presented at the Caracas Municipal Theater in 1927. This contact, was the motivation for this young musicians to conform what would later become the Orfeón Lamas. On March, 1929, they began to meet at the residence of José Antonio Calcaño, trying to sing pieces of Venezuelan composers, months later a group of female voices were added, completing therefore the chorale. After a year of tests and arduous work, the Orfeón Lamas offered its first presentation at the Caracas National Theater, on July 15, 1930.
The repertoire of the Orfeón Lamas, was constituted by works of Venezuelan composers of the Santa Capilla Music School, disciples of Vicente Emilio Sojo, and sacred works of XVIII and XIX centuries Venezuelan composers. Many of this colonial works only existed in old manuscripts, in badly conservation and had to be reconstructed partially. The sacred concerts of the Orfeón Lamas caused a great diffusion and the rescue of this repertoire. The Venezuela Symphony Orchestra always accompanied the Orfeón Lamas at the famous Sacred Concerts initiated by Sojo in 1933, and, from that, were carried out with regularity during several years, under the direction of Vicente Emilio Sojo (all Fridays of Holy Week), at the Caracas Municipal Theater. It is memorable, the sacred concert made on March 31, 1933 at the Caracas Municipal Theater, where participated at the choir, approximately one hundred singers, and the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, that concert was transmitted live through the “Broadcasting Caracas” to all the country. In 1938, the Orfeón Lamas was invited to the celebrations of the Bogotá´s IV Centenary. The chorale, presents three successful concerts at the Columbus Theater of the Colombian Capital.
Vicente Emilio Sojo, compiled and harmonized old Venezuelan aguinaldos, and folklorical songs, taking them to be presented for more than twenty years by the Orfeón Lamas, occurring therefore the rescue of the Venezuelan musical culture. The Orfeón Lamas was a pioneering chorale at the Venezuelan musical movement, leaving a great contribution and legacy.
