Aleh Ferreira

Origin

São Paulo, SP

Years active

1979

Genres

choro, instrumental music, classical music

Instruments

mandolin, guitar, cavaquinho

Biography

Aleh Ferreira is a distinguished Brazilian mandolinist, arranger, and composer born in São Paulo. Demonstrating prodigious musical talent from an early age, he was already playing the guitar and cavaquinho as a child, eventually performing alongside legendary figures of Brazilian music such as Nelson Cavaquinho, Altamiro Carrilho, and Moreira da Silva by his early teens. Though largely self-taught and famously stating that composition cannot be taught, he studied under the guidance of Evandro do Bandolim, establishing himself as a premier virtuoso of choro and contemporary classical music.

His prolific compositional output bridges popular Brazilian genres with erudite orchestral and chamber works. He has composed ground-breaking Brazilian suites for solo cello—which have notably been adopted into the curriculum at the University of São Paulo (USP)—as well as various concertos for flute, clarinet, guitar, and cello performed by orchestras across the globe. Alongside his solo and orchestral endeavors, he formed the Trio Quintessência with Júlio Ortiz and Alessandro Penezzi, taking Brazilian instrumental music to stages in the United States, Italy, Russia, and Angola.

Throughout his career, Aleh Ferreira has received high critical acclaim, praised by journalists like Luis Nassif for his exceptional technical refinement and precise picking technique. Committed to nurturing new generations of artists, he founded the social initiative "AlehConvida" in 2021 to support and distribute the work of young musical talents. His enduring contributions cement his legacy as a vital bridge between traditional Brazilian popular idioms and international classical composition.