Sarah Willis: The priority in Cuba is to find food and survive

The renowned British horn player Sarah Willis, of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and founding leader of the musical ensemble “Sarahbanda”, has just returned from an educational tour of Cuba, Colombia and Panama. Willis is deeply committed to many of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s educational projects. Everything she does encourages young people to continue their training and deeply moves the audience.

Her charitable work and efforts to promote classical music have earned her the highest recognition in the United Kingdom, having been appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021.

In an exclusive interview with Mundoclasico.com, and referring to her recent busy schedule at the Havana Orchestral Academy, which took place at the San Gerónimo University College, Sarah Willis stated:

I am very proud to have brought five musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic with me to Cuba to teach classes at our academy for a week. It was a MIRACLE that everything went well in such difficult times. It was a project made possible by the German Embassy in Havana. There are two videos about it on Instagram and some photos. There will be a short three-minute video about it, but my editors in Havana are having trouble sending it due to all the power cuts. As soon as it’s ready, I’ll send it.”

After completing her stay in Havana, where she had also brought a luthier from Germany, Willis gave masterclasses at the Iberacademy in Medellín, Colombia, and at the Balboa Theatre in Panama City, as part of her initiative entitled ‘The Panama Horn Hangout’. On her return to the German capital, the horn player gave a concert with ‘Sarahbanda’ at the Berlin Philharmonic, before heading to the Salzburg Easter Festival, where the Berliner Philharmoniker is performing an extensive programme featuring works by Richard Wagner (The Ring) and Gustav Mahler (Symphony No. 8), amongst others, whilst the Philharmonic Brass Berlin, of which she is also a member, is giving a concert entitled “Music from Five Centuries”.

Next May, the group ‘Sarahbanda’ will perform for the first time in the United Kingdom with concerts in both Manchester and London. Next May, the group “Sarahbanda” will perform in the UK for the first time, with concerts in both Manchester and London. In September, they will record a new album, due for release in 2027 (on the Deutsche Grammophon label).

Sarah Willis was kind enough to agree to a written interview via email with Mundoclasico.com. Here are her exclusive comments:

Juan Carlos Tellechea: The Mozart y Mambo project has evolved from an album into an instrument donation fund and an academy. What specific, tangible metrics are you hoping to achieve with the new Havana Orchestra Academy (HOA) in the next five years, beyond just funding students?

Sarah Willis: The development of our beloved Mozart y Mambo project from the first album to today has been astonishing and also quite a rollercoaster. It is not easy to organise anything in Cuba but thanks to the hard work and dedication of the team and all the musicians there and also my team here, it has been a wonderful and fulfilling journey. And it continues!

It is a very difficult time in Cuba right now and there are many challenges just to survive, let alone making music. Most of the “original” Mozart y Mambo musicians have left Cuba to be able to play music and make a living , not only for themselves but to help support their families at hom. This left a huge gap in the Havana Lyceum Orchestra (HLO) so we needed to find more musicians. There is no lack of talent in Cuba but there is, in my opinion, not sufficient orchestral training there. The original members of the HLO had been playing together for over 10 years when I met them and had been excellently trained by their conductor José Antonio Méndez Padrón (from now on I will just call him Pepe…)

With the Havana Orchestra Academy we wanted to bring the focus on training young musicians how to play in an orchestra with classes in orchestral experts, chamber music and playing side by side with members of the HLO, now their teachers, in orchestra concerts. We held auditions for the Academy - something which is rarely done in Cuba but is also a good experience for the young musicians.

The focus now for everyone in Cuba is finding enough to eat and just being able to survive, but it is my hope that this HOA is providing some hope for the young musicians that they can continue doing what they love and maybe they will have a better chance to apply to study abroad or take part in international music festivals. Hope is something the whole country needs right now.

JCT: You've mentioned wanting to leave a legacy behind in Cuba. What do you envision as the 'ideal' success story for a student from the Academy—not just as a professional musician, but as a cultural ambassador?

SW: My ideal success story for a student of the HOA would be in “normal” times that they can gain confidence and expertise and be able to win the position of their choice - should it be in Cuba or abroad. Before the Mozart y Mambo project began, not many people in the world knew how well classical music was being played in Cuba. Now many many people do and our musicians are celebrated all around the world. I love this!

JCT: The success of horn player Ernesto Herrera del Río with the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra is a wonderful achievement that has been made possible by your hard work. How do you intend to translate that individual success into a benefit for the wider Cuban orchestral community through the new in-person academy?

SW: I am extremely proud of Ernesto! He was one of the first musicians I taught in Havana, he took part in the very first masterclass I gave back in 2017. I sensed then that he was a very special musician. Sure, I helped, but he was the one who had to practise with the new discipline he learned and he had to win the audition by himself.

For me it would be the ultimate success if he, along with many of the members of our Mozart y Mambo project, would be able to go back to Cuba often to teach the young horn players at our Academy. We are planning for this but have to find the finances for it and also now wait until the situation calms down and we know that it is possible to travel freely. This might take a while...

JCT: The logistics of recording and traveling in Cuba can be challenging. What is the most unexpected logistical hurdle you've had to overcome to establish the physical academy at San Gerónimo, and how did the Cuban spirit of 'it will always be okay' help you navigate it?

SW: There were so many hurdles for the recordings of Mozart y Mambo that it is impossible to list them all! There were serious hurdles, like finding out the day before the recording of our third album started - with members of the Berlin Philharmonic who were already in the plane on the way to Havana - that all the microphones we had hired were going to someone else. This was solved at the last minute thanks to the generosity of one of Cuba´s most famous musicians but it was touch and go whether the recording could go ahead.

There were hurdles trying to get filming permission for our films - Mozart y Mambo and Cuban Dances. But although things are often very stressful, it always works out in the end. Cubans are very resourceful and willing to help where they can. And I have learned to be more relaxed and trust that “things will be ok”.

Funny hurdles included problems recording the albums in San Felipe Neri in Habana Vieje - Havana is a very loud city and so we had to record at night and early in the morning to avoid excess noise. But there were still dogs, ice cream vendors, fighting cats, garbage trucks on the streets outside the church. And one especially loud cicada who lived in the wall and seemed to like Mozart a lot… especially at 2am!

The Academy is able to use several rooms at the Colegio Universitario San Gerónimo in Habana Vieje and we are also able to hold concerts in their beautiful Aula. We are grateful for their support for this project but of course there have been logistical hurdles. Setting up everything that was required for the Academy was of course also a logistical challenge - everything from music stands to shelves for scores and a printer for the office had to be sent over in a container facilitated by the German Embassy. Another hurdle was that the windows don’t open and we had to hold classes in incredible heat. But we have just been informed that air conditioning is planned for the whole building, so fingers crossed that this will work out!

JCT: Your project beautifully fuses classical and Cuban music. Will the Academy offer formal training in both genres, and how will the curriculum balance classical technique with the improvisational nature of mambo and salsa?

SW: One thing I find lacking in the Cuban music education system is the teaching of traditional Cuban music. This is something I would like very much to include in the HOA curriculum sometime soon. But right now we are struggling to keep the Academy going for the basic things like single lessons, orchestral exerpt classes and - very important - english lessons. My dream is to be able to offer much more as soon as the country is out of this crisis and I can find more sponsors for the Academy.

JCT: You've expressed pride in the high number of female horn players in the Havana Horns ensemble. Are there specific initiatives within the new Academy to further encourage young women in brass, and do you see this as a model for other countries?

SW: To be honest, I have not found any sign amongst Cuban musicians that girls are disadvantaged. We have female horn players, female double bass players, female trumpet players - so no, at the moment there is no need for specific initiatives, everyone is welcome and encouraged and this is something I really love.

JCT: Much has been said about how the Cuban musicians adapted to Mozart and how you adapted to mambo. Beyond the music, what is the single most valuable non-musical life lesson you have learned from your Cuban colleagues that you wish to pass on to your students?

SW: Be grateful for what you have. Whether it is learning opportunities or just being able to buy what you need at the local supermarket. Having worked with these wonderful Cuban musicians has made me much more humble and grateful.

JCT: With increasing global attention on the project, are there plans for a formal exchange program where students from international conservatories can study at the Havana Academy, fostering a two-way cultural exchange?

SW: I would ADORE to do this - so many musicians have said that they would love to visit Cuban, learn about Cuban music and play with Cuban musicians. I would love to organise a two-way cultural exchange with young musicians in other institutions I work closely with - like the Iberacademy in Colombia or El Sistema in Venezuela. And I would love to organise an exchange with some German music conservatories, also bring the young musicians here to Europe to study. These plans will sadly have to wait - but I am not a quitter and wont give up, and neither will my team!

The Iberoacademy in Colombia

JCT: In Cuba, you learned that Mozart would have been a “good Cuban”. Now that you are working with the musicians of the Iberoacademy, what Colombian rhythms or mentalities are you encountering that could give Mozart's music a completely new, specifically Colombian flavour?

SW: The mentality and passion for music are very similar in Colombia - I love working in Latin America for this reason. The musicians also said they now realise how difficult Cuban dance rhythms are! I also loved finding out more about Colombia rhythms - very difficult and different for me too!

JCT: You often emphasise that you learn just as much from young musicians in Latin America as they learn from you. What is the most important lesson in terms of ‘joie de vivre when playing’ that you take back with you from Medellín to the (often very disciplined) everyday life of the Berliner Philharmoniker?

SW: That you can find dance music in practically everything you play! Of course in the Berlin Philharmonic we have to be very disciplined and perfect but when I come back from Latino America, I find that my sense of rhythm and joy in what I am doing is always enhanced!

JCT: Based on your experiences with power cuts and improvised open-air concerts in Havana, what 'emergency skills' do you now always have up your sleeve in case technology fails or plans go awry in Medellín)?

SW: We always have to improvise in Havana and be prepared to change plans at the very last moment. But in Medellin at the Iberacademy this is not necessary because they have an amazing infrastructure, a fantastic team and also the financial support to make things happen. It was very luxurious for me after being in Cuba - even the horn flashmob of 35 horn players from all over Colombia (something which is usually very complicated to organise) was all planned meticulously and went smoothly.

JCT: You founded Sarahbanda in Cuba because horns were rarely used in popular music there. Do you plan to search for local brass traditions in Colombia with a view to perhaps integrating the horn into a vallenato ensemble?

SW: I always like to include a traditional Colombian piece - or a piece from whichever country I am visiting- in the concert. It is always a challenge for me: the complicated rhythms of El Pescador in Medellin or the Santa Librada in Panama. I spent quite a few years learning about traditional Cuban music and need to find time to learn about the other rhythms before I form any other ensembles - my heart is right now with my Sarahbanda and I have so much more to learn to be able to play well with them!

JCT: Your ‘Instruments for Cuba’ fund was a great success. Are you planning a similar initiative or a permanent bridge for instrument exchange specifically between Berlin and the Iberacademy?

SW: Not at the moment. But of course I would welcome it! A “great success” with the Instruments for Cuba fund is a bit exaggerated - we raised quite a lot of money and received instruments and are so grateful for the help.

We could change peoples´ lives with this project. But it is very difficult to raise money for a Cuban project - the money has to come from private sponsors. If any of your readers are interested in helping us, we could include the link to donate or they can contact me: https://sarah-willis.com/