Master class with Simeon Smith, director of MaSamba of Dublin, Ireland

Saturday October 16th from 12:00-2:00pm
Held in room 111 at the IAHC
Admission: $15
Instruments provided by Contemporânea of Saõ Paulo, Brazil

"Sounds of Brazil" Concert featuring Ireland's
MaSamba Samba School, Evanston Escola de Samba,
and Chicago's Orquestra de Samba

Local musicians, dancers and students come together with Dublin's MaSamba Samba School at the Irish American Heritage Center for a Brazilian music extravaganza

MaSamba, Evanston Escola de Samba, and Orquestra de Samba are proud to team up with the Chicagoland Irish community to present a lively program of Brazilian music. The concert, called Sounds of Brazil is this October at Chicago’s Irish American Heritage Center with the aim of showcasing the increasing influence of Brazilian culture in Ireland, as it becomes a more multicultural society. MaSamba Samba School is Ireland’s premier Latin music collective, and has operated in Dublin city for the last 17 years. MaSamba’s extensive activities in Ireland include parades, stage shows, and music workshops, and the group has also worked in the UK, Germany, Mexico, Brazil and the United States. MaSamba has received support for their week-long visit to Chicago from Culture Ireland, part of the 'Imagine Ireland' program.

Evanston Escola de Samba (EEDS) brings the spirit of samba to the Chicagoland area through education and performance of Brazilian music and dance. The EEDS offers ongoing classes at the Music Institute of Chicago and the Levy Senior Center in Evanston and is initiating classes at the Irish American Heritage Center in the fall 2011. The student drummers and dancers of the EEDS perform at events throughout the year, often in collaboration with the musicians of EEDS' professional performing ensemble, Orquestra de Samba (ODS), winner of a 2008 International Brazilian Press Award for “Outstanding Incentive for Brazilian Music In The United States." ODS is a ten-piece mixed instrumentation ensemble comprised of musicians with classical, jazz, Latin, and Brazilian backgrounds that has performed numerous educational and concert programs in the Chicago area since 2003. ODS has been an ensemble in residence at the Music Institute of Chicago since 2006 and a member of the Illinois Arts Council’s Artstour Roster since 2008.

The "Sounds of Brazil" concert will feature all three groups performing Brazilian percussion styles including "samba batucada" and "samba reggae," as well as Brazilian vocal and instrumental styles including "Samba, Bossa Nova, Chorinho, and MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira)." In addition to MaSamba under the direction of Simeon Smith, the concert will feature top Chicago-area Brazilian musicians such as singer/guitarist Luciano Antonio, percussionists Marcos Oliveira and Felipe Fraga, as well as guest artist John Beard from Manchester, England.

The concert is Sunday, October 16th at 3pm at the Irish American Heritage Center at 4626 North Knox Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630. Tickets are $15 for students, IAHC members and seniors and $20 for general admission, and can be purchased by calling the IAHC at 773-282-7035, ext. 10 or by visiting The Irish American Heritage Center Ticket Store.

NEW: Classes at the Irish American Heritage Center (IAHC)
4626 North Knox Avenue, Chicago, IL 60630

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