BrazilFest.org

Media Contact: Robert Everest

612-747-1234 / rkeverest@gmail.com

MINNEAPOLIS, January 18, 2016 -- How often do kids (and adults) in the Midwest get to see an international Brazilian superstar in a live performance? The Brazilian superstar, Badi Assad, has recorded a CD just for kids called Cantos De Casa (The House Sings), inspired by her own daughter Sofia. This CD inspired a theatrical montage of various characters with whom Assad has toured extensively throughout Brazil.

Throughout her exciting 25-year career, internationally celebrated singer/guitarist/composer Badi Assad has won numerous awards in her native Brazil including best composer of the year in 2012, and was selected as a Master Brazilian Guitarist by Rolling Stone Magazine. She has nearly 15 recordings to her name, as well as multiple collaborations with other internationally known artists.

Executive Director of Brazilfest MN, Robert Everest, an accomplished internationally touring musician with a 25-year music career in his own right, opened for Assad with his trio Choro Borealis at the Dakota Jazz Club nearly two years ago and has been searching for a way to bring her back to Minneapolis ever since. When Everest, the father of two young boys, received Cantos de Casa as a gift from Assad a few months ago, the wheels started turning and he invited her back (knowing it was a long-shot) to Minneapolis to perform the repertoire from the CD for the Brazilfest Family Matinee, a children's festival Everest has been organizing and directing with the help of cultural grants for the last five years. Fortunately, Assad loved the idea, since she has never performed the children's repertoire outside of Brazil.

Because Brazilfest MN receives funding from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, it is able to offer this event for just $10, which is less than Badi has ever charged for a paid live performance in the United States. For the more mature audience Badi will also be performing a set just for grown-ups in the evening at the Carnaval Brasileiro Masquerade Ball, accompanied by several Minnesota musicians.

Other performers will include Everest's ten-piece group Beira Mar Brasil, Brazilian percussion ensembles Batucada Do Norte and Drumheart, professional samba dancers Edilson Lima (who has been featured on Ellen DeGeneres), Vanessa Luiz, and Mariana Urraburu from São Paulo, Brazil, Brazilian martial arts group Omulu Capoeira of Minnesota, and most notably, another world-famous Brazilian singer and samba dancer from Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, Dandara Odara, who performs at over 50 carnival celebrations around the world each year in Europe, North America, and of course, Brazil. This will be Dandara's tenth year in a row in the Minneapolis festival.

Other festival details include three performance stages, free parking, and Brazilian food and drink by D'Amico Catering available for purchase. Carnaval guests can participate in Brazilian dance lessons, and purchase authentic carnival masks created by master Brazilian artisan Goretti Aamot or have their face and body painted just like they do it in Rio! The all-ages afternoon family matinee will also include these activities, along with mask and instrument making workshops for kids. Both afternoon and evening shows will take place at one of the premier event venues in the Twin Cities, International Market Square.

The annual Carnaval, celebrated throughout Brazil, lasts nearly a week and has roots dating back to the 1700s. Like Mardi Gras, Carnaval is an all-out party with music, masks, dancing, food and drink - a final blowout before Lenten traditions kick in for the Easter season. This Minneapolis edition of Carnaval falls a week after it is celebrated in Brazil, allowing for many of the special guests to come to Minneapolis.

Carnaval Brasileiro 2016

DATE:Saturday, February 13, 2016

TIMES:3 pm - 6pm (doors at 2:30) BrazilFest Family Matinee (All-ages)
Badi Assad will perform at 4pm

9 pm - 2 am (doors at 8:30) Evening Masquerade Ball (18+)
Badi Assad will perform at 10pm

VENUE:International Market Square, 275 Market Street, Minneapolis

TICKETS:

3 pm Afternoon Family BrazilFest: $10 in advance, $15 at the door.

9 pm Evening Masquerade Ball: $20 - $30 in advance, $40 at the door.

Tickets for both events available now at BrazilFest.org

Badi Assad's children's CD Cantos De Casa has received high acclaim in Brazil, where Badi has toured extensively performing songs from that recording in a captivating theatrical montage. The CD won the Premio Catavento (Brazilian equivalent of a Grammy Award) for "Best Children's Album" of 2014. Carnaval Brasileiro of the Twin Cities will be the U.S. debut of that repertoire! Badi has recorded nearly 15 other CDs over the last 25 years, won several awards in Brazil, including best composer of the year in 2012 (APCA/BR), and was selected as one of the Brazil Guitar Masters by Rolling Stone Magazine. Badi is considered to be one of the most innovative international artists of our time. She also won the 2013 USA Songwriting Competition in the World Category. She will be doing a set in both the afternoon Family Matinee and the evening Masquerade Ball. BadiAssad.com

With over 1,500 attendees in 2015, Carnaval Brasileiro has become a very popular and appreciated mid-winter getaway, and with Badi’s presence it becomes even more enticing!