Rob Curto's Forró For All: a band dedicated to the sound of Northeastern Brazil’s “forró pé de serra”, performed with a sensibility born of New York City’s diverse and dynamic musical culture. Forró is both a musical genre and an event. In Northeastern Brazil a forró party unites communities and generations, with couples young and old dancing to accordion, zabumba and triangle. This collective celebration is a creative response to the difficulties of life in the Northeast and an expression of fantastic musical intelligence and wit. Forró For All’s founding member, Rob Curto, is a musician who both respects and transcends idioms, mixing elements of jazz with a language and feel that is distinctly Brazilian. At times his playing betrays a passion for rock and North American popular music of all kinds, showing always a great love for the bellows, buttons and keys of the accordion, the principal instrument of forró.

June 24 is when the traditional Festas Junina is celebrated in Brazil, especially in the Northeast and forró is played non-stop. The Festas Juninas celebrate the religious, cultural, and rural roots of Brazil. This show will feature special guest: Rio de Janeiro vocalist, Magali. An institution of Rio’s yearly carnival, Magali has composed and sung for numerous groups, most recently with Monobloco. In the U.S. she has collaborated with artists such as: Samba New York, Hank Schroy, and Jorge Amorim.