Samba Fest Returning to Hartford

ERIN GANNON ’19
A&E EDITOR
 
The 10th Annual Samba Fest at Hartford Riverfront will take place Saturday, May 7 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m at Mortensen Riverfront Plaza. A sneak preview of the event will be held at the Hartford Public Library on Thursday, May 5, at 12:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It can be heard live on WRTC 89.3 FM radio.
The festival celebrates Hartford’s rich Brazilian culture and features both local and international music. “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,” said Eric Galm, creator and producer of Samba Fest, in press release through Trinity’s Office of Communications. “The optimistic, musical, carnival-like atmosphere is a great way to sample the flavor and feeling of Brazil.”
The Gilvan de Oliveira Trio and the Afro-Brazilian pop band Banda Brother Camarada, both of a musical caravan from Minas Gerais, Brazil, will be present at the sneak preview of the event on May 5. The acoustic guitarist Gilvan de Oliveira is a Latin Grammy award-winner, and will be joined at Samba Fest by fellow trio members Ivan Correa da Costa, bassist, and Serginho Silva, percussionist. All of the trio members are professors of music at the Universidade de Musica Bituca in Minas Gerais. Guitarist and vocalist Berico is the leader of Banda Brother Camarada.
The lineup for Samba Fest on Saturday 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.
Samba Fest is produced by Trinity in partnership with Riverfront Recapture, and is supported by the Hartford Arts Heritage & Job Grants Program, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, the Consulate General of Brazil in Hartford, the Secretary of Culture of Minas Gerais, and Trinity College’s Austin Arts Guest Artist Series, Department of Music, and Center for Urban and Global Studies Arts Initiative.
For more information about the 2016 Samba Fest visit www.sambafest.com or call 860-297-2199.