PAULO DIAS – percussion, organetto, harpsichord, research

Paulo Dias, born 1960, pianist, organist, percussionist and ethnomusicologist. Studied piano under Alfredo Cerquinho, and in France under Anna Stella Schic, Pierre Sancan and Marie-Madeleine Petit. Graduated in the class of Fernando Lopes from Unicamp-SP, where he also took Helena Jank's harpsichord courses. Studied organ under Dorotéa Kerr. Pianist and professor of theory with Coral da USP (choir) for fifteen years, played accompaniment and solo organ and percussion for numerous concerts, shows and recordings. Pianist for first auditions of works by Brazilian compositors including Damiano Cozzella. Formerly soloist with Campinas Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Benito Juarez, and UNESP Chamber Orchestra under Ernest Mahle. Recitalist and musical editor with São Paulo Association of Organists. Popular music percussionist for shows and recordings with artists including Eliete Negreiros, José Miguel Wisnik, Osvaldinho da Cuíca, Grupo Beijo, Virgínia Rosa, Paulo Tatit and Sandra Peres, Mônica Salmaso, and Ivaldo Bertazzo.

Attended Ethnomusicology courses taught by Tiago de Oliveira Pinto and Kasadi wa Mukuna at USP. Paulo has conducted extensive research into Brazilian popular musical traditions, and Afro-Brazilian traditions in the Southeast Region in particular (since 1988). The results have featured at workshops, in publications, radio and TV, disks and exhibitions. He regularly teaches courses and lectures, and takes part in symposiums and conferences in Brazil and internationally, and has written several articles and essays for collections and periodicals. Member of the State Council of Culture - State Secretariat for Culture.

Founded Cachuera! popular dance group working with the Afro-Brazilian repertoire of the Southeast of Brazil, which has staged numerous performances in theaters and public venues and held workshops at SESC, cultural centers, universities and other institutions, and local and international festivals. Founder and director of Cachuera! cultural association (www.cachuera.org.br)

for researching, recording and disseminating Brazilian popular culture. The association's comprehensive collection is available for public consultation.

Works with Cachuera! Cultural Association:

• Concept and field recordings for radio programs Feijoada Brasileira (60 twenty-minute sessions - broadcast by USP FM), Quinjengue, Viola e Maracá (5 one-hour programs - Cultura FM), Sangue Negro (Cultura FM).
• Field recordings, concept and texts for the collection of six CDs Documentos Sonoros Brasileiros- Acervo Cachuera! (Congado Mineiro, Batuques do Sudeste, Segredos do Sul, Famaliá, Sons do Urucuia, Caixeiras da Casa Fanti-Ashanti Tocam e Cantam para o Divino, and Cristãos X Mouros nas Danças Dramáticas Brasileiras, in partnership with Itaú Cultural) and the CDs São Paulo Corpo e Alma (partnership with São Paulo State Secretariat for Culture) and Mosaico Musical dos Quilombos (partnership with the Palmares Cultural Foundation -Ministry of Culture), all featuring field recordings published for the first time.
• Video-documentaries: Feiticeiros da Palavra - o Jongo do Tamandaré (concept and script), produced in partnership with TV Cultura; São Paulo, Corpo e Alma (concept, co-direction and script), with the State Secretariat for Culture, No Repique do Tambú - o Batuque de Umbigada Paulista (concept, co-direction and script), with TV Cultura and TV Sesc-Senac, award winner at the Guarnicê Film Festival (São Luis do Maranhão), and Lambe Sujo (co-direction, script and sound), nominated finalist at competitive exhibition and festival É tudo verdade.
• Curator for Cachuera de Música, an event sponsored by Petrobras, with thematic presentations of music from three socio-cultural universes - classical, popular traditional and popular urban; curator of the exhibitions Negros de Coroa (Anthropology Dept, USP), Comunidades do Tambor (SESC Vila Mariana) and the Traditional Music Week at Itaú Cultural. Background sound for exhibitions: Diversidade Religiosa no Brasil (Religious diversity in Brazil) at Palácio do Itamaraty (produced by FAAP); Um Brasileiro Que Nem Eu. Que Nem Quem? (FAAP) and the Baroque module of the Rediscovery Exhibition (Bienal Brasil + 500), both directed by Bia Lessa. Member of the museum curatorial council of Museu do Imaginário do Povo Brasileiro - State of São Paulo Secretariat for Culture.

Organetto medieval, 26 tubos com fole, construído sobre modelo iconográfico. Alemanha, 2011.