Ricardo W Rocha – Conductor

and Musical Director – Brief Biography

Ricardo Rocha, “The Magical Sound-Sorcerer”

With this title, followed by “World Ambassador for the Classical Music of Brazil,” the European quarterlymagazine Drive (with editions in English, French, andGerman) dedicated an entire page to him in January 2001, featuring photos with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, a biography, and an article.

• Teaching: He worked as a conductor and conducting teacher at several international summer and winter festivals in Brazil, in addition to teaching masterclasses and postgraduate courses in Music History at the Faculdade de São Bento (2000–2017) and at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Music (2013–2017). For 25 years, it has been training dozens of young conductors in private classes with a minimum regularity of 2 to 3 years of study, with certificates at three levels:

1 - Fundamentals of gestural technique and structural analysis;

2 – Technique applied to the didactic repertoire;

3 – Repertoire formation

Founder and Musical Director: Sociedade Musical Bachiana Brasileira (SMBB, from 1986 to today)

With the Companhia Bachiana Brasileira (the choir andorchestra of SMBB), their concerts were listed among the top ten of the year by the O Globo newspaper in 2007, 2008, and 2011. In 2009, they were awarded the CulturePrize of the Rio de Janeiro State Government in the Classical Music category.

Activities in Brazil

Guest conductor: OSB, Brazilian Symphony Orchestra; TM-RJ, Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Municipal Theater of Rio de Janeiro; OSTM- SP Symphony Orchestra of the Municipal Theater of São Paulo; OSMG, Minas Gerais Symphony Orchestra; OPES, Petrobras Symphony Orchestra; OSN-UFF, National Symphony Orchestra - Fluminense Federal University;  OSBJ, Young Brazilian Symphony Orchestra; OJB - Brazilian Youth Orchestra.

• In 2009, he conducted Beethoven's 9th Symphony with young musicians selected from all over Brazil to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

• Artistic director, conductor and conducting teacher at nine international summer and winter festivals in Brazil, including CIVEBRA (summer, Brasília) and FEMÚSICA (winter, Campos dos Goitacazes).

Activities in Germany

• Founder and director of the “Brazilian Music in Concert” project (1989–2000), aimed at promoting Braziliansymphonic music. He conducted renowned orchestras, including the Bamberg Symphony, ThüringenPhilharmonie, Südwestfälisch Philharmonie (recording a CD), and the Baden-Baden Symphony Orchestra.

• Subsequently invited as a guest conductor in Germany.

Activities in Argentina

• Resident conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza.

Recordings, Books, Essays, Courses, and Lectures

• Numerous TV and radio programs, 7 CDs, 4 DVDs, andover 70 videos and audios on YouTube, including live recordings of different works and composers in a curatedplaylist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSc6hZ7zLOW2en8Q75nYW1quFQpaBdq_s

Author of the books “Regência, uma arte complexa” (Conducting: A Complex Art, 2004) and “As Nove Sinfonias de Beethoven – uma Análise Estrutural” (The Nine Symphonies of Beethoven – A Structural Analysis, 2013), published by IbisLibris.

• Essayist, lecturer, and author of courses and numerousarticles.

Awards and Projects During the Pandemic

• In 2020/21, he was awarded multiple grants (Itaú Cultural, Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Culture, andLei Aldir Blanc) for musical projects.

• Recently published three videos reflecting on Culture, Art, and Music:

• Module I: Culture: https://youtu.be/6BVNDzPLD2c

• Module II: Art: https://youtu.be/5-HN0oNVHbE

• Module III: Music: https://youtu.be/HzO7nqzBVpQ

Additional Highlights

• MBC Brand: Developed the concept of “Música Brasileira de Concerto” (Brazilian Concert Music, MBC) as a classical version of MPB (2003).

• Asian Tour: Invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he toured Singapore and Hanoi in 2009 with the Orquestra Bachiana Brasileira to promote MBC internationally.

• Honorary Title: Knighted by the Judiciary Order of São José Operário do Mérito Judiciário do Trabalho (Labor Court of the 23rd Region, 1994).