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A Little More About My Life!
I
was born in the countryside of São Paulo state, more precisely, in the
city of Paraguaçu Paulista, located about 480 km from the state capital.
I started to fall in love with the viola caipira - Ten Strings Guitar (I say 'to fall in
love' because, above all things, all viola players are always in love)
early in my life, but I was not sensitive enough to find out that the
viola would be my companion for the rest of my life. I was still very
young when I moved to the city of Assis, also in the state of São Paulo.
I can tell you that I was raised in these two paulista cities,
moving constantly from one to another.
Descendent from a family with little musical tradition (actually I don't
have any close relative that is a musician), I had the first contact
with the viola caipira when I was around 16 years old, and since that time I
never succeeded in forlorn it.
Besides been a little self-educated, I had a enormous help from great
masters in viola playing like Jorge Rosa, merry-maker, resident in
Paraguaçu; Mario Carrer, viola player that I had the opportunity to meet
in São Bernardo do Campo while I was taking Mechanic Engineering at the
Faculdade de Engenharia Industrial, (I've spent almost two years in this
town); and recently from the great viola player and luthier Levi Ramiro,
a friend that opened the doors to the luthier art, an universe that I
always wanted, but that never had the opportunity to be acquainted with.
When I was about 18 years old I quit the Engineering course in São
Bernardo do Campo in order to dedicate to the course of Zootechny at the
Universidade Estadual Paulista/UNESP, in Jaboticabal. I believe that,
without any doubts, that those were the best years of my life. I was
able to make great friends that certainly will be with be with me for
the rest of my life.
When I
concluded the course, I moved to the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, where
I started to put in practice my new profession of Zootechnician, but
without abandoning the art and culture of the traditional country.
I dedicate this work to all people that in some ways helped me to
achieve my objectives; to my innumerous fraternity brothers from college
days; to my “circle of viola playing” buddies; to my masters that
assisted me at the beginning of my apprenticeship and most of all to my
parents and to my wife.
July 2005 |
