Seminar “Ethnographies in the Amazon: from the transits in the ‘Beiradão music’ to the ‘Rap AM’ circuit in Manaus”

On December 3, 2025, at 5 PM, the Laboratory of Image and Sound in Anthropology at the University of São Paulo (LISA-USP) will host the seminar “Ethnographies in the Amazon: from the transits in the ‘Beiradão music’ to the ‘Rap AM’ circuit in Manaus,” which will be presented by Rafael Branquinho Abdala Norberto, researcher of the “Research in Musical Anthropology” group (PAM-USP) and postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy, Letters and Human Sciences of USP (DA-FFLCH-USP). The event is open to the public.

The event aims to foster debate around two musical cultures of/in the state of Amazonas – “Beiradão music” and “AM Rap” – based on ethnographies conducted by Rafael during his master's and doctoral studies, as well as to disseminate his postdoctoral research – still in its initial phase – on the use of audiovisual elements in Hip Hop/Rap Studies, based on a scope review of productions in Visual Anthropology and Audiovisual Ethnomusicology.

Rafael Branquinho Abdala Norberto is originally from the city of Ariquemes (RO), where he began his musical studies with private teachers. He worked as a guitarist in the band Os Químicos (2004-2006) and as a freelance music teacher. In Manaus, he earned a bachelor's degree in Music (Instrument: Guitar) from the State University of Amazonas (2006-2010), where he also conducted scientific initiation through PAIC, with a scholarship from FAPEAM. In Porto Alegre, he completed his master's and doctoral degrees in Music, specializing in Musicology/Ethnomusicology (2014-2020), at PPGMUS/IA/UFRGS, with a CAPES - Proex scholarship, and, during the sandwich period, with a PDSE/CAPES scholarship, when he worked as a Visiting Researcher/Scholar at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia (USA). He has been a professor in the Music Licentiate program at UFRR since April 2022 and a postdoctoral researcher at DA/FFLCH/USP since September 2025, under the supervision of Rose Satiko Gitirana Hikiji. He is an associate member of ANPPOM, ABET, ABEM, and the Black Ethnomusicology Collective. He served on the board of ABET between January 2022 and September 2024, as editor of the journal Música e Cultura, and has actively participated in events of these and other nationally and internationally recognized academic associations. He is a researcher in the Research Groups (CNPq) PAM/USP, GEM/UFRGS, MusiCuir/UFRR and OREMUS/UFRR.

• Event open to the public, free of charge and subject to space limitations.
• Location: LISA Auditorium, Rua do Anfiteatro, nº 181, favo/sala 10, Cidade Universitária, SP
• No registration required.