BRATTLEBORO — Local trio Serenata Bossa Nova, with Chilean guest artist Natalia Bernal, will present two house concerts of Brazilian Bossa Nova in the homes of Marlboro and Guilford residents at 7:30 p.m. on June 20 and 21, respectively.
The first concert takes place at Ede Thomas' home at 1563 Ames Hill Rd., Marlboro. The second concert is at Wendy Redlinger's home at 2596 Tater Lane, Guilford. Both concerts are open to the public. Suggested admission is $12. For more information about Serenata Bossa Nova or the Marlboro concert call 802-254-2273, for the Guilford concert call 802-254-6189.
Bossa nova comes from the street-side music clubs that lined the avenues of Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s. It is a lyrical, romantic Brazilian music style with lush harmonies and syncopation that came out of an American jazz-influenced samba.
Bossa nova, known for its saudade, or “longing,” is expressed in feelings of nostalgia and yearning which can be joyful or melancholy. Bossa nova melodies flow freely creating beautiful effects. It is a style of music to be listened to carefully, savored for its subtlety.
Today, young musicians still play and compose in bossa nova style. It is a growing genre that appeals to a wide range of audiences.
Serenata Bossa Nova is an ensemble dedicated to “rekindling the awareness of the beauty of traditional bossa nova song.” They play smooth, swaying, romantic bossa nova songs and swinging danceable traditional sambas, mixing in some original material too, which has its own unique take on bossa nova.
Serenata Bossa Nova is made up of Jesse Lepkoff on guitar and vocals, Alison Hale on flute, and Darryl Kniffen on drums.
Guest vocalist Natalia Bernal was raised in the costal city of Iquique, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Desert. Based in New York City since 2007, her sound embodies the drama and intensity of the natural surroundings of her homeland.
Through her studies at Escuela Moderna de Música in Chile and Berklee College of Music in Boston, she expanded her jazz vocabulary to create a tapestry of sound that remains suffused with the rhythms and melodies of trovadores.