[bio]
Fernanda Monteiro was born on October 26, 1979, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Nowadays, she lives between the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
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THE VERY BEGINNING (1995-2002)
Her passion for the cello began in 1995 when she enrolled at the Villa-Lobos Music School in downtown Rio de Janeiro. She had previously spent much time in that area of the city because she used to study at Pedro II High School in the morning and visited all the free cultural centers nearby in the afternoon. So the adolescent girl who loved Brazilian music and heavy metal went to the music school to learn how to play classical guitar or the clarinet. However, once she listened to the cello, she decided to go for it.
"My first cello instructor was Atelisa de Salles," she remembers. "Having a female teacher was thrilling and crucial in helping me think that I could have a career in the classical music world."
Fernanda later joined the Villa-Lobos Music School Symphony Orchestra. She also studied chamber music with the bassoonist Noël Devos. She took a short course on symphony orchestra practice with the violinist and Maestro Bernard Bessler in the neighboring city of Niterói. In December 2000, she traveled to France with the Villa-Lobos Music School Symphony Orchestra. There were concerts in Paris, Sèvres, and Bellegarde-sur-Valserine. In France, the group also performed with the Trio Brasileiro, formed by Gilberto Tinetti (piano), Watson Clis (cello), and Erick Lenigher (violin).
She joined the Brazilian Conservatory of Music Youth Orchestra as the first cello and soloist in 2001. She performed in Rio's principal concert halls, including Espaço Finep, the Lorenzo Fernandez Auditorium (at the Brazilian Conservatory of Music), the Francisco Mignone Auditorium (at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), the Cecília Meirelles Room, the João Caetano Theater, Candelária's Church, the Noel Rosa Theater (at the Rio de Janeiro State University), and the AFE/UNIGRANRIO Theater.
Fernanda Monteiro, a teenager, performs in one of her first concerts with the Villa-Lobos Music School Symphony Orchestra
Fernanda began studying with Marcelo Salles, the first cellist in the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater Symphony Orchestra, in 2001. Furthermore, she made short courses on both the music of the 19th century (sponsored by Curitiba's Cultural Foundation, with Marcelo Salles and David Chew) and orchestra practice (sponsored by the Campos dos Goytacazes Music Festival, with the Maestro Ricardo Rocha).
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In 2002, she attended the extension course on chamber music and cello promoted by Rio de Janeiro State University, with Martin Ostertag (cello), Nachum Erlich (violin), and Fany Solter (piano). She also joined the Petrobrás Pro Music School Orchestra.
In Bellegarde-sur-Valserine (France), where she toured with the Villa-Lobos orchestra in 2000
BECOMING A PROFESSIONAL (2003)
"2003 was a watershed in my life," Fernanda states. "This year, I started to become a professional cellist, paving the way for big changes."
In 2003, she was accepted into the Music School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She studied cello with Professor Iura Ranevsky. Soon after, she started teaching children's music at Pro Art Music Seminars as an intern and introductory cello lessons as a private instructor.
Also, in 2003, she took part in two famous theater spectacles in Brazil. The first was The Nutty Boy Opera (Ópera do Menino Maluquinho), by Ernani Aguiar, performed by the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theater Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Maestro Roberto Duarte. The second production was The Rascal's Opera (Ópera do Malandro), by Chico Buarque, starring Mauro Mendonça, Lucinha Lins, and Soraya Ravenle in the Carlos Gomes Theater.
Finally, in 2003, Fernanda engaged herself in the popular music scene, one of her most extensive interests. She became a studio musician and participated in a bunch of recording sessions in the Som Livre studio. Furthermore, during their MTV unplugged tour, she traveled with Kid Abelha, a famous pop-rock band.
"Group playing has always been my favorite activity," says Fernanda. In this picture, she is with colleagues and friends from the 90's Rio classical music scene
MOVING TO BAHIA (2004-2006)
In 2004, Fernanda moved to Salvador, where she would live and work hard for thirteen years.
To continue her academic education, she took a new entrance examination, and in 2005 she was accepted into the Music School of the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA). "I learned a lot there," Fernanda states. "I loved taking part in the International Seminars on Music promoted by UFBA's Music School. I still remember a great masterclass I had with the American cellist Beth Vanderborgh in my very first seminar."
In October 2005, she was invited by Professor Salomão Rabinovitz to join the Bahia Symphony Orchestra (OSBA) until the end of that year's season of concerts. Cláudio Cruz, Roberto Duarte, Lígia Amadio, and Norton Morozovicz conducted the OSBA performances, as did cellist Jaques Morelenbaum, who led a concert honoring Carlinhos Brown, a well-known musician, singer, and composer from Bahia.
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In 2005, she also joined:
Visiting Salvador, the capital of the state of Bahia, in 2003, a couple of months before she moved there
(a) The Women's Philharmonic Orchestra, created to play at the AVON Women in Concert. The famous female conductor, Claudia Feres, headed the group, and the famous singer, Margareth Menezes, took part in it.
(b) A quintet formed by Alexandre Casado (violin), Fernanda Monteiro (cello), Josely Saldanha (French horn), Juan Bracelas (viola), and Margareta Cichilova (violin). The quintet played at UFBA's Rectory Auditorium, during the Cultural Market Festival;
(c) The Baroque in Bahia Orchestra, which presented Bach's Christmas Oratorio and Magnificat in concerts conducted by Father Hans Bonisch at the Basilica and the Main Room of the Castro Alves Theater.
In the popular music scene, Fernanda took part in the recording of four albums and one music DVD in 2005. She also played in the concerts involving many bands and singers, such as Beto Pitombo, Carlinhos Marques, Companhia de Danças Espanholas, Eliane Veiga, Luisão Pereira, Paulinho Boca de Cantor, Sergio Souto, and Roberto Sant’Ana.
In 2006, she played in two orchestras for the seminars: the Cello Orchestra (formed by Fabio Presgrave, Fernanda Monteiro, Robert Suetholz, Vana Bock, and the cellists from OSBA) and the Seminar Orchestra, conducted by the Swiss Maestro, Christian Benda. In 2006, she also joined the Music School of the Federal University of Bahia Orchestra. She performed in public spaces in Salvador and other cities in the state of Bahia.
Fernanda played for a decade in the Bahia Symphony Orchestra (OSBA). This picture is from a 2011 concert by the orchestra in the Castro Alves Theater in Salvador
OSBA & DOIS EM UM (2007-2010)
In May 2007, the Sesc São Paulo team invited Fernanda to join a series of three concerts dedicated to the artists who made the double album Clube da Esquina, issued in 1972. She collaborated with Beto Guedes, Tavito, and Alda Rezende, among other well-known Brazilian singers, on this project.
In November 2007, she was officially contracted by the Bahia Symphony Orchestra, with which she would stay for a decade. Simultaneously, she was invited to teach in a new project to develop young classical musicians: The State Centers for Child and Youth Orchestras of Bahia (NEOJIBA).
In 2008, she graduated from the Federal University of Bahia under the guidance of Professor Suzana Kato. Meanwhile, she continued to work in the popular music scene, playing with Claudia Cunha, Frank Sinatra Jr., Gal Gosta, Ivete Sangalo, Maria Bethânia, Motumbá, Paulinho Boca de Cantor, Sergio Souto, Roberto Sant’Ana, and Vanessa da Mata.
In 2008, Fernanda also decided to have her band show off her work as a singer. So, together with the musician and composer Luisão Pereira, she created the duo Dois em Um. Their homemade singles uploaded to MySpace immediately caught the press' attention and the Midsummer Madness label's interest in their entire album, issued in 2009.
Soon, the Dois em Um started touring the country. The debut concert was on July 16, 2000, in the Sesc Pompeia Auditorium, in São Paulo.
A 2012 concert by the duo Dois em Um in the Castro Alves Theater in Salvador
Photo: David Campbell
MASTER'S DEGREE & NEW ALBUMS (2010-2016)
The concerts with OSBA, the Dois em Um, and other artists from the popular music scene became daily life later. Still, the desire to learn more led her to enroll in the Master's Program in Musical Performance at the Music School of the Federal University of Bahia. Between 2012 and 2014, Fernanda developed an entire research project based on The Last Flower's piece by the Brazilian-Swiss composer Ernst Widmer.
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In 2011, she took part in the founding of the Camará Ensemble, a group dedicated to performing contemporary Brazilian compositions of classical music. She played with this group for six years.
In 2013, the Dois em Um released their second album, Now (Agora), with sponsorship from Vivo and cultural funding from the government of Bahia. In 2014, the duo made its first international concert in Toronto, Canada.
Also, in 2014, Fernanda accompanied the band Sertanília during the WOMEX Festival in Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
In 2015, with her former teacher, Suzana Kato, and the broadcaster Renato Cordeiro, she hosted one episode of the Six O'Clock Special (Especial das Seis), a traditional radio show at Educadora FM station. This episode was dedicated to talking about the history of the cello in Brazilian and pop music. This was the second time that Fernanda hosted the show. Two years before, she presented a full episode about Dois em Um's second album, Agora.
In 2006, the duo issued its last piece of work before it ended: the DVD Live at the Wanderley Pinho Museum. Natura sponsored the show and the DVD.
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By this time, Fernanda wanted to reconnect to the music scene from the southern areas of Brazil. So she grabbed the opportunity to move to the city of Londrina, in the state of Paraná.
In the backstage of the Dois em Um's DVD set
Photo: Mayra Lins
BRAVI & NEW CHALLENGES (2017-NOWADAYS)
She moved to Paraná when she joined the Londrina State University Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Once she was settled in the city, with her friend and colleague, the violist Jhonathan Santos, she founded over there the BRAVI Academy of Orchestra Practice and Formation, a music school specialized in bowed strings. In the two years she worked at BRAVI, Fernanda was responsible for the cello lessons and the administrative work.
In Londrina, with her associate Jhonatan Santos and the Bulgarian violinist Evgueni Ratchev, who is the educational and artistic tutor at the BRAVI Academy | Photo: Fábio Alcover
In 2008, she also joined the Londrina Soloists Chamber Orchestra. Furthermore, she was invited to play and act in the musical The Peasant & The Devil's Tale (O Caipira & O Causo do Capiroto), a play by Raquel Sant'Anna, directed by Sandra Parra, and musical direction by Paulo Vitor Poloni. The musical came out in 2019, sponsored by the Culture Secretary of Londrina.
In 2018 and 2019, she gave cello masterclasses in the Londrina Chamber Music Exhibit. In addition, in 2019, she joined the Jundiaí Municipal Orchestra, directed and conducted by Claudia Feres, for two seasons. In the 2020 virtual season, she hosted the series Beethoven & Children, on the orchestra's YouTube channel.
"I love playing in different cities because I love learning from all the high talented musicians that Brazil has," states Fernanda | Photo: Fábio Alcover
During the covid-19 pandemic, when all music activity stopped, she returned to her homeland state of Rio de Janeiro. She was quarantined in the city of Teresópolis, where she started to prepare a PhD research proposal in music performance. In the meantime, she was a non-degree student at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO), in the class of Professor Laura Rónai.
In 2021, she conducted a debate at the II Caramurê Literary Festival (FELICA) between the writers Edvard Passos and Migracelo about the life and work of Raul Seixas and Walter Smetak. She also joined the management training program at the Cecília Meirelles Room, a course aimed at forming skilled professionals in the administration of classical music spaces. Furthermore, in 2021, Fernanda volunteered to participate in the Memory and Communication Working Group at the newborn Brazilian Cellists Association (ABRACELLO).
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In 2022, she moved to São Paulo and started a PhD in Musical Performance at the University of São Paulo, under the supervision of Professor Robert Suetholz. Fernanda's research examines Villa-Lobos' influence on contemporary Brazilian cello compositions from the 21st century and the Brazilianity [brasilidade] as a performative element for the musician who plays these pieces.