Latin & South American Daytime Concert with Picaro – Sun 26th July

Doors 11.30am. Start 12.15pm. Adv ticket £15. OTD ticket £18.

Picaro is a vibrant ensemble dedicated to celebrating the enchanting musical traditions of South America. Formed by a group of musicians who share a deep love for the continent’s diverse rhythms and melodies, the band blends traditional instruments and contemporary influences to create a sound both authentic and contemporary. Drawing inspiration from styles such as Andean folk, Afro-Brazilian baião, Argentine tango and chacarera,Picaro brings audiences on a musical journey across mountains, rainforests, and bustling cities.

The band features a colourful array of instruments including violin, clarinet, flute guitar, percussion, and bass, layered with expressive Spanish vocals. Their performances are known for their energy, warmth with a strong connection with audiences.

Featuring with virtuosic precision, the majestic violin of Argentine national Sebastian Tesouro. Each member of Picaro contributes a unique musical background, ranging from classical training to roots in folk and jazz. This diversity allows the band to reinterpret traditional songs that honor South America’s cultural heritage while also adding some compositions from other parts of the world that perfectly suit the ‘chamber jazz’ combination of the group.

Picaro aims to share the spirit of South America—its passion, resilience, and joy—through music that transcends borders and brings people together.

Band members;

Sebastian Tesouro is a multi-instrumentalist, performer and composer from Argentina. With over 25 years of experience, he has toured across South America and Europe, creating and performing music for dance, circus, theatre and film. Now based in West Somerset, Sebastian works as Sound Lead for Stacked Wonky Dance. He is a session musician and performer across a range of bands and creative projects, and also leads engaging music workshops.

Louise Lawrence studied at London College of Music and is a multi-instrumentalist performing in many musical genres including Balkan with Zeffe, South Amercan with Picaro, gypsy and trad jazz with the Andy Barrett quartet and is lead alto with Deane Big Band. Projects include co-founding Wiveliscombe’s Community School and co-collaborator on the Mosaic of Sound and Vision workshops and Organ Pipe Extravaganza. She is author of the Wizwind Music publications and presents the Lou Adlibs and Sounds Like Jazz shows for 10 Radio.

Benjamin Modley is a multi instrumentalist musician and guitar teacher, specialising in South American and Afro-Caribbean music, on guitar, congas and the flute. Before starting his own business, Benjamin worked as head guitar teacher at Strings n’ Things music, tutoring thousands of budding guitar and bass players.

Alongside working as a freelance session musician and bandleader of his own salsa dance band ‘Benjamin y sus Estrellas’ on Cuban flute, Benjamin also works regularly playing conga drums with Milly Riquelme, performing Cuban standards and some of the most beautiful music and rhythms of the Caribbean and South America.

Double bassist Alfie Weedon trained Classically then broadened in to the rest of the music world, studying with Cuban Double Bassist Michelle Salazar and living with Seckou Keita in Senegal. Since then he has performed internationally with artists including Michael Baker, Fred Hills Trio and AK Patterson.