Award-Winning Brazilian Producer and Pianist Flavio Franco Araujo to Perform at University

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Flavio Franco Araujo

The Department of Music will host award-winning Brazilian creative director and music producer Flávio Franco Araújo at the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 5. The venue is located in the first floor of the Fine Arts Center, and the concert is free and open to the public.

An acclaimed pianist, Flávio will perform original songs from his upcoming instrumental album, Solitude, as well as his own interpretation of compositions by artists that inspire him, such as Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stevie Wonder, Bill Evans and The Beatles. Other important references include Henry Mancini and Milton Nascimento.

Known for his unique style of combining classical with cinematographic piano, Flávio often chooses emotion over technique, adding color and imagery to every composition and live performance. According to the composer, the music is created as he experiences everyday moments and is often recorded the first time he plays it. When that occurs, Flávio does not create music sheets and usually needs to relearn the song in order to play it again.

This will be Flávio's first performance at the University of Arkansas, but not his first time on campus. His youngest daughter, Flávia Dechandt Araújo, is a former Razorback Women's Tennis student-athlete and Sam M. Walton College alumna, so being back in Fayetteville makes this occasion even more special.

"It's a huge honor for me to share my work with students, faculty, staff and other friends from many years. They have been such an important part of our journey as a family and helped us bring Solitude to the university after many years in the making, so I'm very excited to finally unveil it."

Concert attendees can expect to hear some of Flavio's most famous tracks and new releases, such as Mother, Miss You and Bella.

THE COMPOSER

Flávio Franco Araújo was born in Guararapes, Brazil and currently lives in Sao Paulo. Coming from a family in which music is a great passion, Flávio is practically self-taught, having composed his first song at age 13. He plays various instruments, such as acoustic piano, guitar, bass guitar and keyboards, being also an expert when it comes to the latest studio technology.

Throughout his career, Flávio has won several awards as a composer and producer at Brazilian popular music festivals and respected publicity celebrations. As a keyboardist and pianist, he has performed in jazz festivals such as Tatui with the group Amatuza and Paraty with the Rhandal de Oliveira's quartet. He has also performed along with Ná Ozzetti, Raul de Souza, Sizão Machado, Duda Neves, Claudio Celso, Max Sallum, Adyel, Pete Wooley, among others. In 1993, Flávio founded and established the critically acclaimed studio, BongÔMusics, focused on advertising campaigns and musical productions such as albums, soundtracks, post production, mixing and mastering. Flávio is currently working on children's music projects, film soundtracks, publicity and his instrumental music albums.