Musical Bows: The Afro-Brazilian Berimbau in Capoeira & Contemporary Composition

• Performance

• Event Date: Thursday, April 18, 2019
• Time: 4:00 pm–5:00 pm (CDT)
• Location: Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

Part of the Gateways to World Music series, this lecture-performance will focus on berimbau practices in both traditional and contemporary musical settings. Featuring special guests Mestre Cobra Mansa, Gregory Beyer, and Jason Finkelman, the event will explore the Afro-Brazilian roots of the instrument, a type of musical bow, and its use in the musical/martial arts practice of Capoeira Angola, as well as in contemporary composition.

The lecture-performance will be followed by a screening of the film Jogo de Corpo: Capoeira and Ancestry (2013), at 7pm in the Spurlock Museum Knight Auditorium, with an introduction and post-screening discussion by Mestre Cobra Mansa.

Sponsored in part by the Center for Global Studies through support from the US Department of Education’s Title VI NRC Program.

Guest Bios:

Mestre Cobra Mansa (Cinézio Peçanha) has been a Master of Capoeira Angola since 1986. He is one of the principal figures responsible for the revitalization of Capoeira Angola. In 1996, he founded the International Foundation of Capoeira Angola (FICA) in Washington DC, and participated as producer, consultant, and actor in diverse documentary films about capoeira. He is the co-director of the film Jogo de Corpo: Capoeira and Ancestry (2013). He is currently pursuing doctoral studies in the multi- institutional and multidisciplinary program (DMMDC) at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Gregory Beyer is a Fulbright Scholar and a contemporary music specialist with significant experience in orchestral, jazz, and world music who combines the multiple disciplines of 21st Century percussion into a singular artistic voice. He has given solo performances and masterclasses throughout the world. Beyer is Associate Professor and Head of Percussion Studies at Northern Illinois University, where he directs the Percussion Ensemble (performed at PASIC in 2009 and 2013) and New Music Ensemble. He is also the director of Arcomusical, an organization that creates and promotes contemporary music for tuned gourd-resonated musical bows.