Apr. 11, 2023 By Carlotta Mohamed
Flushing Town Hall’s monthly series of Mini-Global Mashup concerts will continue on Sunday, April 16, with a performance of Brazil Meets China.
The venue’s mini-global mashup concert series is curated by renowned klezmer trumpeter Frank London. The concert series presents a different pairing of solo artists each month, showcasing traditional music from around the world and unexpected collaborations that create new and spontaneous sounds.
“Brazil meets China – WOW!” said Ellen Kodadek, Flushing Town Hall executive & artistic director. “Our mini Global Mashups are unique every time – they bring together artists from different parts of the globe who have never played together before with an intimate experience for the audience.”
The concert will feature Brazilian artists Rogério Boccato and Vitor Gonçalves alongside Chinese guzheng artist Wei Sun.
Brazilian percussionist and educator Boccato has contributed to projects led by some of today’s top jazz artists, including Maria Schneider, John Patitucci, Fred Hersch, Brian Blade, Kurt Elling, Danilo Perez, and Renee Rosnes. He has also collaborated with popular Brazilian artists such as Toninho Horta, Moacir Santos, Zé Renato, and Vinicius Cantuária.
Brazilian percussionist and educator Rogério Boccato (Courtesy of Flushing Town Hall)
Boccato is featured on three Grammy-award-winning albums: Kurt Elling & Danilo Perez‘s “Secrets Are The Best Stories,” “The Thompson Fields,” with the Maria Schneider Orchestra, and Billy Childs’ “Rebirth.” As a longtime member of the “Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo,” Boccato has played with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal, Milton Nascimento, Egberto Gismonti, João Bosco, Joe Zawinul, among many others. Boccato also serves as a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music, NYU, and of the Percussion department of The Hartt School (University of Hartford), teaching Brazilian Music and Ritmica.
Gonçalves is a pianist, accordionist, composer, and arranger from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After an illustrious musical career in Brazil, playing with such icons as Hermeto Pascoal, Maria Bethânia, Itiberê Zwarg, and many others, he moved to New York City. Since he arrived in New York City in 2012, Gonçalves has garnered acclaim and added to his already-illustrious musical resumé.
Brazilian artist Vitor Gonçalves. (Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall)
He has performed at Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, the Jazz Gallery, the Newport Jazz Festival, NPR’s Jazz Night in America, and as a guest of the renowned Spok Frevo Orquestra for a special performance at The New York Times. He has a thriving solo career and frequently collaborates with figures in the New York jazz scene, such as Anat Cohen, Vinícius Cantuária, Anthony Wilson, Cyro Baptista, and Yotam Silberstein.
Sun is a young guzheng artist from China. She was born into a family of musicians and started her journey at the age of six. She is a certified senior teacher of guzheng and a member of the China National Instrumental Association and the International Guzheng Association. In 2016, she came to the United States as a guzheng performer and teacher at the CBA Cultural and Arts Center.
Chinese guzheng artist Wei Sun. (Photo courtesy of Flushing Town Hall)
Wei is now the principal performer of guzheng of the Chinese National Orchestra in New York, she has been invited to perform at the Lincoln Center, United Nations, Columbia University, Flushing Town Hall, Queens College Art Center, and more.
She co-founded the trio bands, StringsW and Miss. In October 2017, StringsW held a concert at Carnegie Hall in which they combined Western and Chinese instruments together to rearrange Chinese folk music. Since March 2022, Wei has performed on the Broadway musical show “Noble Family.”
Tickets to Brazil Meets China are $15 for general admission or $12 for members, seniors, and students. To purchase tickets, visit: https://www.flushingtownhall.org/brazil-meets-china
For the venue’s full schedule of 2023 Spring events, visit: https://www.flushingtownhall.org/fth-presents
For those unable to attend events in person, Flushing Town Hall has launched Culture Stream. Subscriptions start at $5 per month.