Eliano Braz
Eliano
Bráz, violinist/violist, is a native of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Bráz began
his violin and viola studies at age 11 with Vazken Fermanian at Sesi-Ce and The
Conservatory of the Federal State University of Ceará.
At
age 12, he joined his first youth orchestra, and at 13 began playing solo with
the city’s leading chamber orchestra. A
year later, he co-founded the first Guaramiranga Music Festival and began
composing his first string quartet piece titled “Moments of Guaramiranga.” At
16, he auditioned for the Goáis Philharmonic Orchestra, performing with them
for five years throughout Brazil.While playing in Brazil, Bráz studied chamber
music and orchestral practicing with Eleazar de Carvalho and having the
oportunity to have master class with
Eric Friedman (a student of Jasch Heiftz) at the International Winter
Music Festival in Itu, Sao Paulo. Later
he was invited to play with the Orcec Orchestra in Fortaleza where he traveled
and performed with prominent Brazilian and international musicians for five
years. His experience ranges from classical orchestras, ensembles, various
quartets, and trios to popular Brazilian music, playing with musicians such as
Ermeto Pascal, Sivuca, Cyro Batista ,Faguiner, Rita Lee, Lulu Santos, Belchior,
Skank, J’ Quest, Artul Moureira Lima and in the United States he has been performing with many orchestras and ensembles
in New York, performing at Carnegie hall, Lincoln Center's Alice Tuly Hall,
Twon Hall and many others. His band has
played in venues in the city including
Miss Favela, Zinc bar, Esperanto, Nublu, Ze bulon, Sob's, Cabanas, Drum,
Bembe, with reviews in Time Out New York magazine. Braz has also made appearances on TV shows
such as The View and The Today Show with the singer Rihanna. He also performed with Diana Ross when she
was in Brazil. Bráz has played
classical, Brazilian, jazz and folk music for over 24 years.
In
March 2004, Bráz came to New York as a freelance musician in hopes of further
exposing himself to new music and experiences. In the past six years Bráz has
created his own group, Rabeca-do-Forró playing popular Brazilian music from the
Northeastern region of the country.
Bráz’s group fuses different kinds of music from all over Brazil and the
world, and incorporates improvisations into their work. Bráz has played
Brazilian music on the violin throughout all of New York.
In
addition to his band, Rabeca-do-Forró, Bráz composes and writes lyrics for his
own original songs. Presently, Bráz has
finished two albums of his own compositions.
His most recent album is folkloric music called Forró, from the
Northeast region of Brazil. His lyrics
are stories of his experiences living on the farm with his family. In addition to his own albums, he is also
currently composing and recording the score for a film.
Along
with performing, Bráz has taught violin for over 14 years. He believes that teaching music can increase
critical thinking and literacy skills, as well as cultural competence and
awareness. It brings him great pleasure
to teach and share his passion for music with others.
Rabeca-do-Forró
Eliano Bráz created the group
Rabeca-do-Forró in July 2005. The
concept for the group came to Bráz while in Brazil when he began incorporating
the violin into Brazilian music, playing Samba, Choro, Bossa Nova, Forró,
Frevo, Maracatú, Coco de Roda, Xóte Baião and all different types of Brazilian
music on the violin. The name Rabeca-do-Forró derives from two Brazilian words
about music. Rabeca is the word for fiddle, a hand-made, rustic instrument with
four strings and played with a bow, much like a violin. Forró (pronounced
“fo-ho”) is a genre of music that developed in the Northeast Region of
Brazil. There are two theories about the
origin of the word “forró”. The first
claims that the word forró comes from “forrobodó” which loosely translates to
“informal ball.” The second theory, claims that Brazilian natives attempted to
say “for all,” a term that the British settlers used to describe these informal
balls, but ended up saying “forró” instead.
The sound of Forró music is best
described as Brazilian folk music, incorporating various complex rhythms and
lyrical melodies. Forró lyrics not only
discuss love and romance, but they also tell stories about the farmers from the
region in an entirely original way of musical expression. In it’s early stages, Forró was played only
on the guitar, rabeca (the fiddle), zabumba (the bass drum), and the triangle,
but later incorporated the accordion.
