Jacob do Bandolim and the History of Brazilian Choro

Speaker(s): Pedro Aragão

Event Type: Lecture

Department:  Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service

Date and Time: Friday, April 13, 2018 at 12:30pm to 2:00pm

Location: Copley Hall, Copley Formal Lounge, 37th and O St., N.W., Washington

Jacob do Bandolim (“Mandolin Jacob”) was one of the most influential Brazilian composers of the 20th century. He composed a style known as choro, Brazil’s most important genre of instrumental popular music, often compared to early jazz in the United States. In the 1950s, Jacob do Bandolim led a choro revival that helped make the style a central symbol of Brazilian national identity. In commemoration of the centenary of Jacob’s birth, Brazilian musicologist and mandolinist Pedro Aragão will explore Jacob’s legacy and influence. This is part of a series of event and performances on Jacob do Bandolim. For more information, contact bm85@georgetown.edu. The full schedule of events is available here.

Pedro Aragão is a lecturer at the Universidade do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), Brasil. His research interests include Brazilian popular music; music industry and popular music; sound archives and the lusophonic world. He is the author of the book “Alexandre Gonçalves Pinto e ‘O Choro'”, which received the 2012 “Silvio Romero” Award from Instituto do Patrimônico Histórico Brasileiro and the 2013 “Produção Crítica em Música” Award from Fundação Nacional de Artes (FUNARTE), Brasil. His other publications include the organization (with Bia Paes Leme, Paulo Aragão and Marcilio Lopes) of three books with Pixinguinha’s arrangements for Brazilian radio orchestras in the 1940’s and 1950’s – “Pixinguinha, Inéditas e Redescobertas”, “Pixinguinha: Outras Pautas” and “Carnaval de Pixinguinha”, edited by Instituto Moreira Salles.

Lunch will be provided. Email clas@georgetown.edu if you have any dietary restrictions or require special accommodation. A good faith effort will be made to accommodate all requests.