Samba Fest

Date: 5/7/2016
Time: 11:00 AM TO 6:00 PM

Mortensen Riverfront Plaza
300 Columbus Boulevard
Hartford, CT 06103

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Event Description: A musical caravan from Minas Gerais, Brazil, will highlight the tenth annual Samba Fest, taking place on Saturday, May 7, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza, 300 Columbus Boulevard. Admission is free. Rain or shine, the show will go on. But first, there will be sneak preview at the Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, on Thursday, May 5, at noon, featuring artists coming directly from Minas Gerais to Hartford. They are the Gilvan de Oliveira Trio and the Afro-Brazilian pop band Banda Brother Camarada. Acoustic guitarist Gilvan de Oliveira is a Latin Grammy award-winner, and at Samba Fest he will be joined by bassist Ivan Correa da Costa and percussionist Serginho Silva. All of the trio members are professors of music at the Universidade de Musica Bituca in Minas Gerais, which was founded by the singer-composer Milton Nascimento. The leader of Banda Brother Camarada is Berico, a guitarist and vocalist who has appeared in Hartford at previous Samba Fests with the band Berimbrown. The Samba Fest lineup includes Ginga Brasileira, Sambeleza, Sambusa Band, Grupo Ghettos, Conjunto Antillano featuring Ray Gonzalez, Hartford Steel Symphony, Hartford Hot Several Brass Band, Trinity Samba Ensemble, and Trinity Steel. “The tenth anniversary celebration of Samba Fest is a virtual panorama of Brazilian music and culture, including refined strains of contemporary jazz-influenced melodies and harmonies, the hard edge of grit and perseverance from working class communities, and exciting dance workshops,” says Eric Galm, the creator and producer of Samba Fest. “The optimistic musical carnival-like atmosphere is a great way to sample the flavor and feeling of Brazil.” Galm is also an associate professor of music and ethnomusicology at Trinity College and the chair of the Music Department, where he directs the Samba Ensemble and is the coordinator for the music track of the Trinity in Trinidad Global Learning Site. From 2006 to 2010, he served as president of the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Northeast Chapter. He has lived, studied and traveled extensively throughout Brazil, and has conducted research in Cuba and Trinidad. He holds degrees in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan and Tufts universities, percussion performance from the University of Michigan, and performance certificates from the Escola Brasileira de Música and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.  Produced by Trinity College in in partnership with Riverfront Recapture, Samba Fest is supported by the Hartford Arts Heritage & Job Grants Program, Luke Bronin, Mayor; the Consulate General of Brazil in Hartford, the Secretary of Culture of Minas Gerais; and Trinity College (Austin Arts Guest Artist Series, Department of Music, and Center for Urban and Global Studies Arts Initiative). Samba Fest is free and open to the public. For directions and parking information, visit sambafest.com. For general information, call 860-297-2199. Samba Fest can be heard live on WRTC 89.3 FM radio. Founded in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1823, Trinity College (www.trincoll.edu) is an independent, nonsectarian liberal arts college with over 2,200 students from 48 states and 57 countries. The faculty and alumni include recipients of the Pulitzer Prize, the MacArthur award, Guggenheims, Rockefellers, and other national academic awards. Trinity students integrate meaningful academic and leadership experience at all levels on the College’s celebrated campus, in the Capital City of Hartford, and in communities all over the world. ###


Directions:
Mortensen Riverfront Plaza

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