Maria Teresa Madeira

An erudite artist who, early in her career, opted for developing works in the popular area, Maria Teresa Madeira has been devoting herself to the choro genre, interpreting Ernesto Nazareth (her 1997 album, among others, is dedicated to the Belle Époque composer, and is shared with mandolinist Pedro Amorim) and Chiquinha Gonzaga). In the popular field, she backed artists like Beth Carvalho, Lenine, Paulinho Moska, Joanna, Zé Ramalho, Leila Pinheiro, and Alcione on the TV series Chiquinha Gonzaga, also recording its piano soundtrack. Together with Henrique Cazes, Omar Cavalheiro, Marcus Nimrichter, and Oscar Bolão, she assembled again the Quinteto Radamés in 2000, renamed as Novo Quinteto. Her 2000 CD (her 11th solo) was shared with harmonica player Rildo Hora. In 2001, she toured the U.S., divulging the choro and presenting its similarities with ragtime. Madeira received her B.A. in piano at the Escola de Música da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and her M.A. in piano performance and pedagogy at Iowa University (U.S.) During the three years she spent there, she was selected by the Performing Arts Council and performed in several American cities. She was a soloist in several orchestras, including the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, the Cedar Rapids Symphony, and the University of Iowa Chamber Orchestra. Among the conductors with whom she performed are Isaac Karabitchevsky, Aylton Escobar, Christin Tyinmeyer, and Andrée Dagenais. She performed in a duo with international artists like Alain Marion, Alain Damiens, Leopold LaFosse, Leon Biriotti, Gottfried Engells, Paula Robinson, and Roman Mekinulov. In Brazil, she has been working with names like Paulo Sérgio Santos, Alceu de Almeida Reis, Aloysio Fagerlande, Radegundis Feitosa, Carol McDavit, Rildo Hora, and Pedro Amorim. She performed internationally in 1998 in Bogota, Colombia, in duo with clarinetist Paulo Sérgio Santos and, in 1999, in New York, NY, with trombonist Radegundis Feitosa. As a musical director and pianist, she worked in several theater plays, such as Forrobodó (for which she recieved the Mambembe award for Best Theatrical Play in 1995), A História da Baratinha (for which she won a Coca Cola award), Iluminando a História (for which she was nominated for the 1999 Coca Cola award for Best Musical Direction), and O Garoto Noel (for which she was a finalist for the Coca Cola theater award in 1999). ~ Alvaro Neder