Column: Gonçalo Riscado

By Gonçalo Riscado (Director and Programmer of MIL – Lisbon International Music Network)

Statistics say that one in five immigrants in Portugal is Brazilian. The transatlantic route has been busy since the 1980s, but the numbers registered since 2016 are unforeseen. Brazilians are now the largest foreign community in the European country. Data analysis continues: musiciatns represent a significant part of the current Brazilian immigration wave.

The conclusion is obvious, yet not irrelevant: Portugal has never known as much Brazilian music as it does today. Since the 1980s, Lisbon has had an important circuit for the promotion of Brazilian music in Bairro Alto. The city is currently seeing the quick growth of spaces and cultural events dedicated to the dissemination of artists from Brazil, such as Casa do Brasil in Lisbon and VALSA.

The strengthening of this community in Portugal allowed several Brazilian artists to cross the Atlantic for the first time in order to play for very crowded venues, and to showcase their music to the national public.

The fast growing presence of Brazilian musicians in the country’s music circuits is also felt in the program of music halls such as Musicbox, Bad Habits or Capitol. These spaces open their doors to artists who define the sound of Brazilian music nowadays. They include O Terno, Duda Beat, Francisco, El Hombre, Letrux, Johnny Hooker and many others. Musicbox alone welcomed 41 Brazilian artists in 2019.

There is no doubt that Brazilian music production has secured a sunny spot in the context of the current Portuguese music scene. It has increased its visibility, both influencing and becoming influenced by the local scene. At MIL (Lisbon International Music Network), we recognize the enormous potential of this connection. One of our main goals is to make Lisbon the main bridge between Europe and Portuguese-speaking talents from different parts of the world.