Guided Search: Arts and Culture, Brazilian

Brazilian Day Philadelphia celebrates the Brazilian Independence Day. The festival celebrates, promotes, and shares Brazilian arts and culture while fostering intercultural exchange and uniting the Brazilian community. The festival presents a high energy experience with Brazilian arts and culture designed to engage, educate, and inspire participants in the Greater Philadelphia region. In addition, the festival empowers and unifies the Brazilian community by celebrating the diverse ethnic heritage that makes Brazil unique and rich in cultural pride.

“One of the most important showcases for contemporary finger-stylists.” – San Fransisco Chronicle

International Guitar Night, North America’s premier mobile guitar festival, has featured the best performing guitar composers from around the world since 1995. Each tour, IGN founder Brian Gore invites a new cast of guitar luminaries to join him for special evenings of solos, duets and quartets that highlight the virtuosity and diversity within the world of acoustic guitar. Since the beginning, audiences have cherished the friendly informal ambiance of the performances. Participants have relished the chance IGN affords to express reverence for one another, and to collaborate rather than compete with one another.

“Argentine guitarist Cecilia Zabala and Brazilian-French pianist Philippe Baden Powell express the intensity and richness of the relationship of loans, appropriations and potential exchanges between the music of the two Latin American countries.” – Télam

Arrastão do Dendê: "If this performance from the Afro-Brazilian percussion and dance troupe doesn't get you tapping your feet, your feet have been glued to the floor and you should look into that." – Phila. Magazine Kyo Daiko: "An explosion of sound, matched by uniform choreographed movements, creating an avalanche of sight and sound." – Phila. Weekly Dulsori: "Traditionalism and spectacle merged. Huge drums placed overhead, along with flutes. Deep, pounding rhythms" - NY Times

Blending the sensibilities of the Eastern Traditional Paintings with the artistic approaches of the Western Abstract Contemporaries, the result is a unique blend of Modern Contemporary art with exceptional result explored by none.

Percussionist/vocalist Alex Shaw presents a collaborative tribute to the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira Angola and its resilient cultural legacy of resistance against oppression.

"The joyous, ebullient music of Matuto merges the forró folkloric music of Brazil with the sounds of all-American bluegrass. Violin, accordion and a range of Brazilian percussion give this band a seductively cross-cultural appeal." Chicago Tribune Matuto's core members share a combined obsession with connecting the dots between Brazil, rural America, and creative reinterpretation of long-standing party-hardy forms.

The Annual Dinner continues the legacy of honoring the most exceptional of explorers. In 1915, Theodore Roosevelt spoke to a sold-out audience at the Academy of Music.

Free Family Fun! Brazilian Day Philadelphia 2015 is the much awaited annual celebration of Brazil’s rich culture. Though only in its second year in Philadelphia, our festival boasts an empowering mission to bring the best of Brazil to Philadelphia, build community, and celebrate diversity.