RAIMUNDO PENAFORTE
Composer/performer
Raimundo
Penaforte is one of the most creative and captivating Brazilian musicians
of his generation. Inspired by a broad range of musical genres that span classical,
Latin, jazz and traditional folkloric music from his native Brazil, Penaforte
has appeared nationally and internationally as a composer, conductor and performer.
His works have been featured at concerts in Europe, Canada, Japan, Brazil
and the United States at such venues as Lincoln Center, The White House and
The Kennedy Center.
Penaforte's talents have earned him commissions to compose for acclaimed groups and musicians, including Eroica Trio, the L.A. Guitar Quartet, Metropolitan Opera trumpeter Mark Gould, organist Dorothy Papadakos and, most recently, New York Philharmonic violist Dorian Rence. His Tango for Seven was commissioned by the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach Florida and premiered there by the Eroica Trio and the Saint Lawrence String Quartet in February 2001. Penaforte's Quarteto 3, commissioned by the Diller-Quaile School of Music, was premiered in New York City by its string quartet in 2003. Last April, members of the New York Philharmonic premiered his The Tortoise and the Hare for chamber orchestra, narrator, and shadow theater with text adaptation by Dorian Rence.
Penaforte's works have been recorded on EMI/Classics, Pro Organo, Angel, Roméo Records, and DENON. Penaforte also co-produced "Carambola," a CD by Brazilian trumpeter Fernando Dissenha that features two commissioned pieces written by Penaforte, Sweet New York and Carambola. Other works by Penaforte include the movie scores for the United Nations documentary A Cyber Tale of Three Cities and the independent short film Monaco. His arrangements of Bernstein's West Side Story for violin and piano are being published by Boosey & Hawkes, Ltd.
As an instrumentalist Penaforte has collaborated with notable musical artists such as Latin music star Rubén Blades, legendary folk icon Richie Havens, jazz luminary Maynard Ferguson, master klesmer clarinetist Giora Feidman, Grammy Award winner Chuck Mangione, and pianist/composer Dom Salvador. He has appeared with Out of Focus at the OMNI Festival in Luxembourg, and with the jazz quintet New Gründ in Germany. He has also toured Colombia twice with the Afro-Cuban charanga band La Tipica Novel and has been featured at Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing series with the Raimundo Penaforte Ensemble.
Penaforte has been the Composer in Residence at the Festival Eleazar de Carvalho in Fortaleza, Brazil, and a Guest Composer at the annual International Cello Encounter in Rio de Janeiro. He was the Artistic Director of the first Brazil-New York Jazz Festival at Town Hall, which featured Paquito D'Rivera, John Patitucci, João Bosco, and Toninho Horta, among others.
Born in the city of Recife in Pernambuco, Brazil, Penaforte has studied at Hardin-Simmons University, New York University and The Juilliard School. His life and work were featured in a short documentary film produced for Brazilian television in 2000 titled "O que o Raimundo Quer" ("What Raimundo Wants"). He currently resides in New York City where, in addition to his work as a composer and performer, he is a Teaching Artist for the Third Street Music School Settlement.
New Release!
LOS ANGELES GUITAR
QUARTET EXPLORES THE BRAZILIAN GROOVE
“Preludio and Gangorra” was dedicated to LAGQ and premiered at the Tucson
Chamber Music Festival.
For information & commissions, email at:
ephigenniamusic@aol.com
More information at the links below
1- Tucson
Weekly
2- CDs
at Barnes & Noble
3- Coluna
do Raimundo (in Portuguese)
4- Valerius
Ensemble - January 2006
5-Fernando Dissenha CD
"Carambola"
6- Dorothy Papadakos CD
"Shades of Green"
7- Tucson
Weekly - Eroica Trio
8- Cafe 1930
9- L. A. Guitar
Quartet
10- Rubén
Blades "La Rosa de Los Vientos"
11- CDs
at Amazon.com
12- Eroica
Trio CDs at Amazon.com
13- Third Street
Music School Settlement Faculty
14- Chamber
Music America
15- The Preacher's
Kid (article in Portuguese)
16- Peta.org
17- Greenpeace.org
18- Peter Singer
This web page courtesy of Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, arizonachambermusic.org