Caravelas – Study Group for the History of Music in Portugal and Brazil

From the time of the discovery of Brazil, in 1500, until its independence in 1822, Portugal and Brazil were part of the same state. Since then, the two countries have continued to maintain more or less close ties in diplomatic, economic, social and cultural terms, resulting in a constant exchange of people and ideas at many levels. The history of music in the two countries also has a good deal in common. Caravelas – the Study Group for the History of Luso-Brazilian Music seeks to foster interest in themes common to the two countries and links between them, as part of the more general interchange between Europe and the Americas. It was founded within CESEM in 2008, with a branch in Brazil from 2016 to 2022, based at the School of Music of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).

Caravelas meets informally every year in Lisbon to share news on the Study Group’s activities, followed by a session of informal presentations of collective or individual projects in progress and discussion about them. In the early years, approximately every two years, it organised a series of substantial conferences that were broad in scope. More recently, while its own events have been more focused thematically, it has collaborated systematically with two more substantial annual events in Brazil: the International Symposium of Musicology, organised by the School of Music and Scenic Arts of the Federal University of Goiás (UFG) and the Penedo Music Festival, organised by the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL), supported by the Municipality of Penedo. As an instrument for dissemination and exchange it maintains a website: https://nucleocaravelas.wixsite.com/meusite, which offers, among other things:

• information on scientific events promoted by Caravelas
• the proceedings of scientific events promoted by Caravelas
• the Caravelas Biographical Dictionary (in constant update)
• images (mainly old postcards) of musicians and places where music was made
• back issues of the Caravelas Newsletter (2008-2017)