Musicians in Residence Brazil São Paulo
Proposed dates: 10 November – 10 December 2019
About the city São Paulo is the most populous city in Brazil, the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere, besides being the largest Portuguese-‐speaking city in the world. The municipality is also the Earth's 9th largest city proper by population. The city is the capital of the surrounding state of São Paulo, one of the most populous and wealthiest states in Brazil. It exerts strong international influences in commerce, finance, arts and entertainment.
Having the largest economy by GDP in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere, the city is home to the São Paulo Stock Exchange. Paulista Avenue (photo on the right) is the economic core of São Paulo. The city has the 11th largest GDP in the world, representing alone 10.7% of all Brazilian GDP and 36% of the production of goods and services in the state of São Paulo, being home to 63% of established multinationals in Brazil.
The metropolis is also home to several of the tallest skyscraper buildings in Brazil, including the Mirante do Vale, Edifício Itália, Banespa, North Tower and many others. The city has cultural, economic and political influence both nationally and internationally. It is home to monuments, parks and museums such as the Latin American Memorial, the Ibirapuera Park, Museum of Ipiranga, São Paulo Museum of Art, and the Museum of the Portuguese Language. The city holds events like the São Paulo Art Biennial, the Brazilian Grand Prix, São Paulo Fashion Week, Lollapalooza, the ATP Brasil Open and The São Paulo Gay Pride Parade that rivals the New York City Pride March as the largest gay pride parade in the world. It is also home to SIM São Paulo (São Paulo Music Week).
São Paulo is a cosmopolitan, melting pot city, home to the largest Arab, Italian, and Japanese diasporas, with examples including ethnic neighbourhoods of Mercado, Bixiga, and Liberdade respectively. São Paulo is also home to the largest Jewish population in Brazil, with about 75,000 Jews. In 2016, inhabitants of the city were native to over 200 different countries. The city attracts numerous immigrants from all over Brazil and even from foreign countries, due to the vibrant economy, its night/cultural life and for being the hub of most Brazilian companies.
About the local music scene São Paulo is the most vibrant and plural city of South America. It is also one of the most populous cities in the world, with an impressive 12 million inhabitants (“loving each other hatefully, and hating each other with all their heart”, said a song by Tropicália artist Tom Zé), with a stratospheric number of business opportunities and its music and night life is a very important part of the city’s cultural life.
São Paulo today has more venues for independent music than in the past and some of them that started small a few years ago saw a little growth in terms of capacity. But the most important change in the São Paulo nightlife in the last few years is that the music creative scene is leaving the “black boxes” (closed environments) and moving out to the streets and alternative spaces. It overlaps with the city new hip-‐ hop/rap scene from the poorer suburban areas that are occupying new spots in the central cultural heart of São Paulo.
Music creator profile We would prefer to work with a composer who is also a performer (musician or singer) so we can book some acts together with a Brazilian artist during SIM SÃO PAULO. Also, that would be great if the artist is willing to know and interact with different kind of people, places and aspects of the cultural scene of São Paulo, especially with the poorer suburban areas disruptive new music movements and hip hop collectives. We do want to work with a new talented and innovative artist.
Suggested/Guideline Genres - Hip hop, hap, glitch hop, cloud rap, grime, trap – specially crossovers - Folk, folktronica, singer/songwriter – especially female artists - Alternative and indie rock, electrorock, vaporwave - Jazz, nu jazz, new trends
About the hosts Semana Internacional de Música de São Paulo (SIM SÃO PAULO) is the most important music convention in Latin America. During five days, the city becomes a meeting point for professionals from all sectors of the music industry, as well as artists and media from both Brazil and abroad. The event focus on the new music market and puts in evidence new ideas and concepts, which are transforming the music scene. SIM connects people, introducing activities that follow three different lines: 1. The presentation of new music trends (SIM LIVE); 2. Access to up-‐to-‐date and relevant information (CONVENTION); and 3. Incentives to form new partnerships (Networking & Business). In 2017, for its 5th edition, SIM SÃO PAULO received 2,500 delegates from all over Brazil and 21 countries
Musicians in Residence Brazil Salvador, Bahia
Proposed dates: 9 February – 9 March 2020
About the city Salvador is the capital of the state of Bahia in north-eastern Brazil, known for its Portuguese colonial architecture – especially in the historic Pelourinho district, with cobbled alleys ending in large squares – Afro-Brazilian culture and tropical coastline. The city lies on a small, roughly triangular peninsula that separates the Bay of All Saints, the largest bay in Brazil, from the Atlantic Ocean.
The present city was established as the fortress of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos ("Holy Saviour of the Bay of All Saints") in 1549 by Portuguese settlers. It is one of the oldest cities founded by Europeans in the Americas.
The city's port has always played a key role in the local and regional economy. During much of the colonial period it was Brazil's principal port, exporting sugar, cacao, and tobacco and receiving tens of thousands Portuguese immigrants and African slaves. The port and city still play a critical role in the economy of north-eastern Brazil, providing commercial services for a vast region and exporting cocoa, sisal, soybeans, and petrochemical products. Local industries include fishing, oil and gas extraction, cigar manufacture, a petrochemical complex at Camaçari (Metropolitan area), an oil refinery, and tourism.
Local landmarks include: Porto da Barra beach, the large island of Itaparica in the Bay of All Saints, “Line of Coconut" and "Green Line" Highway which includes towns and cities with exquisite beaches, north of Salvador heading towards Sergipe state. Salvador has four parks, green areas protected, as Jardim dos Namorados Park, Costa Azul Park, Park of the City, Park of Pituaçu.
About the local music scene “Incubator, lab and launch pad, the north-eastern state of Bahia is the source of so many pivotal shifts in Brazilian music it’s almost inconceivable that one place could generate all those shock waves. The roots of samba originated in Bahia. It was home to bossa nova dreamer João Gilberto, crazy cool rock ‘n’ roll legend Raul Seixas and Tropicália’s star players: Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Tom Zé. In the 1980s, Bahian axé music began its long domination of the national charts. And today Brazil’s top commercial sound, sertanejo, has become infiltrated by the sauntering beat and sketchy lyrics of Bahian arrocha, the state’s favourite romantic melody-machine. So, what powers the powerhouse? And what’s going on in Salvador right now?”
For further reading, we suggest the following article https://soundsandcolours.com/articles/brazil/setting-the-scene-salvador-22313/#.XTs7oWR22nI.link
Music Creator Profile Salvador is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, as the only City of Music in Brazil. Widely considered a city of music in Brazil, the Salvador is know for “Axé music”, a genre that began in the carnival. Salvador is home to the biggest carnival street party in the planet – no exaggeration! The music creator will have the opportunity to be resident during carnival, with its 8 days of music in 2020.
Salvador lives and breathes music and has hosted world-famous musicians, who have come to the city to learn from and exchange with local musicians, including: Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, India Arie. Salvador is also home to hundreds of percussive Afro-Brazilian groups, including notable groups such as Olodum, Ilê Ayiê, Muzenza and Timbalada
We hope the creator will come with an open mind for new sounds and ideas.
Suggested genres: We are open to hearing from music creators working in genres, who is willing to take advantage of this creative opportunity and respond and give to the scene.
About the Hosts Potential/Suggested hosts are:
Timbalada – Pracatum School Pracatum School was born from the sounds of the timbaus, atabaques, berimbaus and agogôs. Its work is fundamental in contributing to the values of a community attempting to take control of its destiny through the appropriation of music and family ties. Utilizing a contextual framework, Pracatum School’s curriculum is based on musical projects developed by Carlinhos Brown in Candeal. The school’s methodology utilizes cultural references and practices pertinent to the student’s world, motivating them to access and produce new knowledge, reformulating behaviour and transforming them through the creation of new habits and the internalization of new values.
Olodum One of the most famous Afro groups originating from Bahia. In 1979 an Afro-Brazilian carnival group in Salvador created what is now the well-known Olodum Band. “Banda” Olodum is a cultural group, a non-governmental organization (NGO) of public utility recognized by the state government of Bahia. Think of a movement that is grassroots in nature, totally cultural and not-for-profit – this is it! After their carnival debut of 1980, the group gained almost 2,000 members and began addressing historical issues and themes related to African and Brazilian culture. The band’s first album was recorded in 1987 titled “Egypt, Madagascar,” and achieved great success in Bahia and the rest of the country. One of the most popular songs was, “Faraó Divindade do Egito,” (Pharaoh Divinity from Egypt). In 1990 Olodum took part in Paul Simon’s, “The Obvious Child” from his album The Rhythm of the Saints. This music video was recorded in Pelourinho Square in Salvador. The music video was played in more than 100 countries, all over the world!
Ilê Ayiê The Afro-Brazilian group Ilê Aiyê was founded in 1974 by Antônio Carlos ‘Vovô’ dos Santos and Apolônio de Jesus in the neighborhood of Liberdade, the largest black population area of Salvador. The name stems from from west-African Yoruba language: ilê - home; aiyê – life, and roughly translates as ‘eternal heaven’. Ilê Aiyê works to raise the visibility and awareness of the Afro-Brazilian community. Targeted by the police and the media during its early years, the group still attracts attention for only including Afro-Brazilians in its parades. Ilê Aiyê is a renowned element of Bahia’s carnival, pioneering the bloco afro, featuring themes from global black cultures and history, and celebrating the aesthetic beauty of black people. Other blocos afros borrow elements originally created by Ilê Aiyê, including such groups as Olodum and Malê Debalê.
Musicians in Residence Brazil Diamantina, Minas Gerais
Proposed dates: 27 March – 27 April 2020
About the city With 47,617 inhabitants with an area of 3891 km2, Diamantina is located in the Serra do Espinhaço Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO), 291km from the capital of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte. It’s a city rich in traditions, with origins linked to the exploration of gold and diamonds. It has vast preserved architectural, cultural and natural heritage, which has earned it worldwide recognition, with the title of Cultural Heritage of Humanity, granted by UNESCO. It has a theatre, a unique historical organ, libraries, museums, cultural centre, baroque churches and outdoor spaces where beautiful concerts and events are held, as well as dozens of art groups currently active. It has higher education
institutions, with degrees in undergraduate, specialization, master and doctorate levels, which establish exchanges with various countries.
Today Diamantina is recognized as a city of music, a statement that can be proved by visitors, who come to experience all this activity that develops, in homes, music schools, events, theatre, churches, bars, municipal market, with music scattered around the city. The city competed this year for the title of a UNESCO Creative City of Music.
About the local music scene Diamantina's musical aura has been present in the citizens life since the 18th century. The city has revealed artists such as the composer Lobo de Mesquita, Maestro Francisco de Nunes (the first dean of the Minas Gerais Conservatory of Music), João Baptista de Macedo e Antônio Ephigênio de Souza, maestros of the Corinho and Corão Bands created in the mid-nineteenth century and existed until the early twentieth century in Diamantina.
In the twentieth century there were manifestations that became emblematic, such as the Seresta, in which typical singers and choirs performed in the streets and alleys and the Vesperata in which musicians played from the balconies of colonial mansions, and the spontaneous explosion of Carnival blocos.
Aiming at the students and professional’s development, the city develops projects such as: Lobo de Mesquita Stimulus Contest, Guitar Contest, Percussion Blocks Meetings, Lobo de Mesquita Coral Circuit, Classical and Popular Concerts and workshops of Brazilian instrumental music.
Diamantina has a rich annual calendar of events in the musical area, where we can highlight: Seresta, Vesperata, Concert of the Historic Organ, Concerts with the Young Symphony Orchestra, Sarau of Art Múda, Religious and Folk Festivals and Rodas de Choro. And to meet the tourist demand, the City Hall launched another new musical event: JK Jazz Band, which bears the mark of former president Juscelino Kubitschek, a native of the city, and the “Jobiniando” Concert, which alludes to the period when João Gilberto , the creator of bossa nova, resided in Diamantina. It should be noted that Carnival also stands out as a space in the music scene that annually attracts tourists to its street events performed by the blocks and percussion and wind instruments bands.
Music creator profile Diamantina is a city in the interior of Minas Gerais, which has an intimate and quiet environment and great musical potential for connections with other musical environments around the world. City known for its strong musical tradition, in which we can highlight: Serestas, Brazilian Popular Music (MPB), Classical and Folk Music. During the proposed exchange period important events will be taking place such as Vesperata, Seresta, Concerts and Folk events.
Suggested genres Folk and Instrumental music
About the hosts Diamantina offers infrastructure for musical performances, such as Santa Izabel Theatre, the Municipal Market, churches hosting musical concerts and the Conservatory. Also, we have a new public cultural space, which is in its final phase of construction: The Maestro Francisco Nunes School of Music, which will host the Young Symphony Orchestra.
The city develops some projects with music as interaction and a focus on child protection such as: The Miranda Band, offering music training for 160 young people. The Young Symphony Orchestra hosts 45 scholarships and volunteer musicians who, in addition to open presentations and didactic concerts, invests in the musical formation of 28 girls in socially vulnerable situations. The SerEstar Project, focused on the appreciation of Seresta's musical tradition, which, among its activities, has been structuring children's choirs in six educational institutions in the periphery, which 360 children attended. Project “To see the band pass” which aims to support the formation of members of traditional music bands.