| 7 May 2026 | |
| Belo Horizonte, Brasil | |
| UFMG |
The artistic and technological research of Music4D reaches the heart of South America with a prestigious mission to Brazil. On Wednesday, May 6, and Thursday, May 7, the cities of São Paulo and Belo Horizonte will host “Linea: Intersections between Music and Dance,” a performative event representing a perfect synthesis of 20th-century piano and percussion mastery and the most sophisticated digital frontiers. The project, led by the Conservatories of Trapani and Sassari, transcends a traditional concert format; it is the culmination of an in-depth investigation into how the great composers of the last century assimilated the rhythmic and melodic elements of “Global South” folklore, elevating them into universal languages.
This immersive experience is rooted in the ethnomusicological revolution of Béla Bartók, the first to explore the interaction between folk repertoire and “cultured” music, paving the way for masters such as Darius Milhaud, Jean Françaix, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Alberto Ginastera. Following this path, the musical program of “Linea” focuses on works where rhythmic and percussive dominance embodies the attempt to synthesize the metric complexity of folk systems with modernist sensitivity. The performance’s distinctive edge lies in its unique digital extension: through the use of sensors and guided machine learning processes, the performers’ gestures are captured, amplified, and translated in real-time into live video processing. This visual synthesis recreates the choreographic nature of the repertoire, transforming the interpreter’s physicality into an aesthetic flow that inhabits virtual space and heightens the audience’s sensory perception.
The event is the result of a robust international collaborative network, with Music4D partnering with the UNESP Arts Institute (Universidade Estadual Paulista) in São Paulo and the music department of UFMG (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) in Belo Horizonte. The program features high-profile chamber works, including Fazil Say’s Variations Op. 32, Luciano Berio’s iconic Linea, and Béla Bartók’s monumental Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion. Bringing this journey between memory and innovation to life is an ensemble of distinguished faculty and students from the Trapani and Sassari Conservatories, featuring Delia De Fina, Walter Masala, Giulia Riggi, Ilaria Ganeri, Fabio Moi, and Eugenio Catone on pianos, alongside Francesco Anello, Laura Carta, Alessandro Catuogno, and Claudio Tomaselli on percussion.
The tour kicks off on May 6 at 5:30 PM at the EMESP Tom Jobim in São Paulo, followed by a performance on May 7 at the same time at UFMG in Belo Horizonte. “Linea: Intersections between Music and Dance” is promoted within the framework of Music4D, a strategic project launched in 2024 under the leadership of the Alessandro Scarlatti Conservatory of Palermo in synergy with the Sicilian and Sardinian Conservatories, the University of Palermo, and UNICAL. With this Brazilian residency, the initiative reaffirms its mission: to project the excellence of Italian Higher Education in Art and Music (AFAM) onto a global stage, demonstrating how the dialogue between scientific research and artistic production can generate expressive models capable of engaging today’s global creative industries.
