Letieres Leite: From Bahia to Vienna, a Maestro's Journey Through Afro-Brazilian Music

Maestro Letieres Leite, a saxophonist and flautist from Bahia, abandoned his studies in Visual Arts at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) in the late 1970s to pursue music. His journey began with hardship, sleeping under a viaduct in Florianópolis in 1981 after moving south. He later joined the instrumental group Banda de Nêutrons in Porto Alegre. In 1985, he traveled to Spain and then settled in Vienna, Austria, where he studied and enchanted locals by arranging samba school music for symphonic pieces. He returned to Brazil in 1994. His musical foundation was shaped early by the Afro-Brazilian orchestra at the Severino Vieira public school in Salvador, led by researcher Emilia Biancardi, and by percussion master Moa do Katende. Leite cites European maestros at UFBA, like Hans-Joachim Koellreutter, Walter Smetak, and Ernst Widmer, as influences, alongside the transformative cultural policies of rector Edgar Santos. His work with the Orkestra Rumpilezz explores the structural rigor of music from the African diaspora, a concept he developed while studying in Europe. He has collaborated with artists like Paulo Moura, whom he met in Montreux in 1992, and Gilberto Gil, whom he honors in "Professor Luminoso." His album "A Saga da Travessia" reflects on the Atlantic crossing of the diaspora. Leite also leads the social project Rumpilezzinho, which includes the Rumpilezz de Saia program for women musicians.