BY KALI D’AGOSTINIS
Staff Reporter
On Nov. 7, the Academic Music Program presented the “Viva Música Brasileira Concert” in the Schine Hall Auditorium. It featured a selection of styles of Brazilian music including: “Bossa Nova,” “Samba,” “Choro,” “Maracatu” and more.
The show included artists that contributed to the celebration of Brazilian music with performances by Ali Ryerson on the flute and Joe Carter on the guitar. Their program featured songs from some of Brazil’s classic composers like Antonio Carlos Jobim, Baden Powell and Luiz Bonfa.
During the show, the duo contributed their Jazz background and incorporated it into the musical numbers blending the different genres of music. Joe Carter, the Director of the Sacred Heart University Academic Music Program refers to the combination of the two as music from “both sides of the equator.”
According to her website, Ali Ryerson has been working in the music industry for five decades. Most well-known as a jazz flutist, Ryerson has been ranked among top flutists in the ‘Downbeat Jazz Poll’ for several years now.
From 2001 to 2004, Ryerson had the position of Musical Director of the Hudson River Jazz Festival, as well as the Jazz Chair for the National Flute Association along with being the founder of their Jazz Flute Big Band.
According to Joe Carter’s website, the musician started guitar studies at an early age, specifically on Jazz music. Carter earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Jazz Performance while beginning his Ph.D. studies at New York University where he studied with professional guitarists, saxophonists and pianists.
Carter has released two albums that showcase his familiarity with Brazilian music which was recorded in Rio de Janeiro with Brazilian musicians by his side during the process.
Carter has recorded and performed with Jazz artists such as Cecil Payne and Harvie Swartz and worked alongside with Brazilian musicians during his musical career.
Aside from working at Sacred Heart, he currently contributes his time to being an instructor at the Hartford Conservatory. His courses range from Guitar Ensemble, Jazz History, The Music of Latin American and the Caribbean and more.
Additionally, Carter teaches privately in New York City, has taught clinics and workshops in Europe, South America and the United States, and has also authored four textbooks that focus on guitar.
