Georges Henry

Origin

Paris, França

Also known as

Georges Julien René Philippe Henry

Years Active

1939–2017

Genres

jazz, sacred music, instrumental music

Instruments

trumpet, voice

Biography

Georges Henry was a French conductor, musician, and businessman based in Brazil, historically recognized for conducting the orchestra at the inauguration of Brazilian television. Since childhood, he demonstrated a vocation for music, having the trumpet as his first instrument and absorbing influences from sacred music and jazz during his studies at a Catholic school.

With the outbreak of World War II, he moved to Cuba and began his professional trajectory as a singer in the group Lecuana Cuban Boys. On a tour of South America in the 1940s, he landed in Brazil, where he performed in famous venues such as the Cassino da Urca and the Copacabana Nightclub, deciding to take up residence in Rio de Janeiro after marrying a woman from Rio.

In Brazil, he consolidated his career working on the radio and leading his own orchestra, which led him to be invited to conduct the musical performance at the founding of TV Tupi, marking the debut of television in the country on September 18, 1950. Subsequently, he worked as the station's musical director and, in the following decades, expanded his activities into audiovisual production and cinema, founding pioneering companies in institutional communication and leaving a significant cultural legacy.