Ilumina fully lives up to the meaning of its name, which comes from the Portuguese verb ‘to illuminate’ or ‘to enlighten’. Founded in 2015 by violist Jennifer Stumm to offer world-class training and opportunities to talented musicians from disadvantaged backgrounds, the ensemble travels far from its home on an organic coffee farm near Sao Paolo, Brazil to reach the world’s leading concert halls. Only a poet could do justice to the combustible energy, collective commitment and life-enhancing artistry cultivated by Ilumina’s amazing players.

EPSG:4326

Ilumina

Wigmore Hall

A musical journey uniting Europe and Brazil, two distant yet surprisingly close universes. The journey opens with alternating Chopin’s Preludes and Camargo Guarnieri’s Ponteios: short, lyrical, and concentrated forms that dialogue like mirrors across time and space. From the romantic delicacy of Schumann to the ritualistic and powerful universe of Brasílio Itiberê’s Suite litúrgica negra, the program leads us into soundscapes where the sacred meets the popular. Debussy’s impressionistic heart, with his Estampes, ideally intertwines with the Brazilian palette, paving the way for the vivacity of Gnattali, Tia Amélia, Nazareth, and Mesquita, in a crescendo that finds its synthesis in Villa-Lobos’s inexhaustible imagination. A bridge that represents a dialogue between two worlds that recognize themselves in the vital energy of music.

Cristian Budu

Events

Past events

Jul 25, 2026

Ilumina · Wigmore Hall

Mar 6, 2025

Cristian Budu – A bridge between two worlds · Palermo Classica

Future and recently performed repertoire

Piano in Piano Quintet No. 2 by Dvořák

Wigmore Hall

Piano in String Quintet No. 4 by Mozart

Wigmore Hall

Piano in Prelude by Chopin

Palermo Classica

Piano in Ciclo brasileiro by Villa-Lobos

Palermo Classica

Piano in Estampes by Debussy

Palermo Classica

Piano in Arabeske by Schumann

Palermo Classica

Piano in Suíte Litúrgica Negra by II

Palermo Classica

Piano in Ponteio No. 45 by Guarnieri

Palermo Classica

Piano in Jaboatão by Amélia

Palermo Classica

Piano in Escorregando by Nazareth

Palermo Classica

Piano in Quadrilha heroica by Mesquita

Palermo Classica

About

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