Contact: Maridith Geuder
Andrea Teixeira and Ney Rosauro
The South American nation that gave us the samba and bossa nova will be highlighted in a musical tribute at Mississippi State.
Free to all the March 26-29 Brazilian Festival will feature both guest and faculty artists.
"We want to introduce people to the melodies and rhythms of Brazilian music and dances," said Rosângela Y. Sebba. A Brazilian native, she is an MSU assistant professor of piano and music theory.
A first-of-its-kind event on campus, the program is sponsored by the university's music education department. Support also is being provided by a Humanities and Arts Research Program grant from the Office of Research.
Describing Brazilian music as "highly syncopated and very dance-like," Sebba said the festival will feature the melding of Portuguese, Native Indian and African influences that shape her country's musical experiences.
As a preview, she will present a March 20 faculty recital in the Bettersworth Auditorium of Giles Hall, home of the School of Architecture. The 7:30 p.m. performance--free for MSU students, faculty and staff; $5 for all others--will include selections from classical European repertoires, as well as works by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.
When the Brazilian Festival kicks off the following week, guest artists will include Andrea Teixeira from the School of Music in Brazil's Universidade Federal de Goiás and Universidade Católica de Goiás; and Ney Rosauro, a Brazilian native now directing percussion studies at the University of Miami.
Teixeira, a professor who also is a music therapist and musicologist/ethnomusicologist, has received several national and international awards in piano competitions. In 2002, she was inducted into two German-based musical institutes for contributions to folkloric research.
Rosauro has studied both in his native Brazil and in Germany, where he received a master's degree in percussion. He received a doctorate from the University of Miami, where he now heads the percussion program. Recognized as an original and dynamic symphonic percussionist and composer, his works have been recorded by international artists such as Evelyn Glennie and the London Symphony Orchestra.
While at MSU, Rosauro will work with MSU percussionist Robert Damm to involve local elementary school students in a public concert.
Festival events will include:
--Wednesday, March 26, a Teixeira lecture on Brazilian music at 2 p.m. in Bettersworth Auditorium of Giles Hall.
--Thursday, March 27, a Teixeira performance at 7:30 p.m., also in Bettersworth Auditorium, that will feature a contemporary four-hand Brazilian tango for piano with Sebba.
--Friday, March 28, a Rosauro-led master class at 11 a.m. in the campus band hall, followed by a 1:30 p.m. visit to Starkville's Ward--Stewart/Henderson Elementary Complex.
--Saturday, March 29, a Rosauro lecture on Brazilian music and instruments at 11 a.m. in Music Education Building B on Morrill Road. At 2 p.m., Teixeira lectures in the same location.
--Saturday, March 29, a 7:30 p.m. percussion recital by Rosauro, with Damm and the MSU Percussion Ensemble, along with Ward-Stewart music students of teacher Cindy Melby. The program will take place in the Colvard Union ballroom.
"We deeply appreciate the time and talents professors Teixeira and Rosauro are giving to help make these programs a reality," Sebba said. "We encourage all interested musicians and music-loving residents of the area to attend as many of the events as possible. I don't think they will be disappointed."
For more information about the 2003 Brazilian Festival, telephone the music education department at (662) 325-3070.