The World Heart Beat Music Academy formed a unique partnership linking London with Brazil. We were fortunate to welcome four top artists from Brazil to stay with us on an Artistic Residency.
Our students learned a variety of Brazilian music styles such as Choro, Samba, Bossa Nova and Brazilian Folk. They have also been learning Brazilian percussion and singing in Portuguese. The atmosphere the Brazilian artists brought with them was fantastic and joyful. We have made a very close connection with Brazilian music and it will remain a permanent feature at World Heart Beat.
I want to thank you for supporting us during this journey and it was amazing to have you as one of our most active partners. Thank you very much for looking after our Brazilian candidates. You did amazing work and they will never forget this experience.
– Vanessa Gabriel-Robinson (Brazil/UK Transform Project Manager)
Resident Artists at World Heart Beat;
Almir Pessoa:
Almir Pessoa is a renowned Brazilian artist from Goiás who is most famous for his work with the Viola Caipira (10 stringed guitar). He has written 5 albums and has taken part in a variety of projects such as, International Festival, Expomusic in São Paulo and performed the Brazilian national anthem at the closing concert the Cowboys Peasant Party of Barretos to an audience of over 70,000 people.
Cibele Palapoli
Cibele Palopoli is a Music Ph.D. student at the University of São Paulo. She specializes in playing Choro (the father of samba music). As well as performing with the University of São Paulo Choro group, she has also presented academic articles on Choro in Brazil, Scotland, Ireland, Lithuania, and Portugal.
Pepe Barcellos
Pepe Barcellos specializes in Samba music amongst other Brazilian styles. He has taught Brazilian music in the UK and America and is known as a music lecturer at the British school in Rio where he has over 400 students. His latest album, Brazil on the Rocks features classic rock songs with a Brazilian twist.
Thiago Carvalhaes
Thiago Carvalhaes is a documentary filmmaker whose work spans across many projects, films and TV programmes. He has experience in all aspects of film production, including script, direction, and photography and editing. He has won a number of awards including the 2012 Young Cultural Agent Prize from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture for his project ‘Rainforest Voices’.
Below is a short video of our Brazilian artists in residence, bringing Brazilian music and culture to the local schools in Wandsworth as part of this cultural exchangeproject.
