João MacDowell

João MacDowell (born 1965) is a Brazilian composer known for fusing contemporary and popular styles with classical music.

His work includes opera, symphonic, chamber music, and early albums of Brazilian pop.

On the occasion of the concert premiere of his fifth opera The Seventh Seal, Swedish journalist Johanna Paulsson of Dagens Nyheter noted the composer as "a new thinker in the genre".

MacDowell was born in Brasilia, and started his professional career as leader and vocalist of the Brazilian cult band Tonton Macoute.

The composer was in a couple of bands such as Antiperipleia and Sábado cedo não tem carne, with Brazilian artist Marcio Faraco on guitars, Cascão, from the band Detrito Federal, on drums, Pedro Hiena on bass, and the late Ric Novaes (DJ Mr. Spacely) on vocals.

The band Tonton Macoute left a mark on a generation of artists in the capital of Brazil and further.

They had a track record of independent radio hits.

The songs "Electric Light" and "A pele" became instant radio hits, starting at Fluminense FM, and then at Rádio Cidade and Transamerica FM. This radio exposure led to a consistent following on their performances.

They also made hits on radio stations across the country, many of these stations, such as Rádio Cidade and Transamérica, would normally refuse to play independent bands, which made their achievement quite a unique feat for the time.

João Mac Dowell went on to work as a record producer and composer, working with such as Claudia Otero, Fabio Lobo, Little Quail and The Md Birds, Funk Fuckers and Rubao Sabino.

He wrote soundtracks for films by Mauro Giuntinni, Katcha Donida, and others.

In a peculiar practice, MacDowell would get different nicknames in different towns, adding to the number of identities that he has personified.

He would also have local guests to his solo performances, often writing new material to suit the characteristics and different styles of the people he was interacting with.

Over the years João MacDowell used a number of identities: Kau MacDowell, João Kahuna, jKau, João do Sertão, João do Mar, João do Mundo, Joãozinho das Candongas, Uncle Joey and his own name.

MacDowell has also written soundtracks for Graham Elliot's documentary Grayhound to Cuba, Debra Solomon's animation 777, 6th Ave., and Oscar-nominated director John Dilworth's Cartoon Physics, and the theater play Barry White – Guided by Destiny.

From 1998 to 2001, he was Composer in Residence with Henrique Schuller's contemporary dance company, Tabula Rasa.

In 2000, MacDowell released his first solo album, Parece que existo ("It Seems That I Exist").

In the following years, he toured as a solo performer.

MacDowell wrote the score for Baldes, performed at the International Contemporary Dance Biannual (2001).

O caixeiro viajante e a caixa de música ("The Traveling Man and His Music Box", 2002) was the artist's second solo album release.

An album that still preserves the popular melodic aspect of his previous works, though it points to the direction that his music would take after that.

In it his audience heard for the first time the motif theme of tamanduá, with an introduction that bridges Brazilian traditional music with contemporary classical orchestration.

This album brought MacDowell to tour in the United States, with performances in New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

In Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro he performed at major venues such as the Teatro Nacional and Teatro Nelson Rodrigues.

MacDowell's electronic composition "Lanterna" was selected for the Lucky Strike Lab, Contemporary Music Festival (2002).

His soundtrack for the multimedia event and CD-rom A deusa by Cila MacDowell, video-artist collaborator, was presented at the Electronic Language International Festival (2002).

Also in 2002, MacDowell's score for Tecido marinho won a prize at the International Circus Festival of Belo Horizonte.

This show went on to tour seventeen countries in Europe, with the Circus Chen.

The music was chosen to be broadcast on a children's day TV special of Rede Globo, O circo do Huck, reaching an audience of over 10 million people.

MacDowell's talent as composer and record producer started to be demanded internationally in 2002, and he moved permanently to New York City in 2006, where he also acts as Creative Director for Come Together Music.

and also as Artistic Director of the International Brazilian Opera Company (IBOC)

In the US, MacDowell has produced a number of recordings, including: Wayne Hsu, Lydia Witman, BB, Noel Garcez, and an album of world music with various Ethiopian vocalists, co-produced by Mengistu Melese of Masinko productions.

Quarteto (2004) was MacDowell's third solo release, featuring his Brazilian-jazz band based in Rio de Janeiro.

In New York, MacDowell has been performing as a solo artist, with his band and participating in performances of singers such as Brazilian baritone Claudio Mascarenhas with whom he did concert previews of selections from the Brazilian opera Tamanduá in 2006 and 2007.

MacDowell can also be found performing as guitarist of Cuban pianist/songwriter, Alina Brouwer.

Alice em Miami (2007), an EP release followed, featuring tracks produced in Philadelphia, with Paul Atkinson and Max Laskavy at Aurum recording studios.

In June and April, 2008, João MacDowell conducted premiere concerts of selections from Tamanduá – A Brazilian Opera in New York city.

In the cast Guto Bittencourt as tenor (Pedro & The Editor), Amy Buckley as soprano (Carol), Claudio Mascarenhas as baritone (Aruanan), Abby Powell as mezzo-soprano (Julia).

Tamanduá is a contemporary Brazilian operatic work that fuses folk rhythms, experimentalism, and classical composition.

Participation on TV personality, singer/songwriter Jane Norman/Pixanne 17th solo album, With Love; together, MacDowell and Norman deliver a performance of the Jobim standard "Quiet Nights", featuring a full orchestra, conducted and arranged by Grammy Award-winning arranger Richard Rome.