Brazilian music at Jorgensen Oct. 28

Heitor Villa-Lobos died 50 years ago, but Marsalis Brasilianos gives new life to the revered Brazilian composer’s music. World-renowned saxophonist and three-time Grammy-winner Branford Marsalis will perform with the Filharmonia Brasileira, famous for its preservation of the work of Villa-Lobos, at Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, Oct. 28, at 8 p.m.

A free concert talk will precede the performance at 7:15 p.m.

Villa-Lobos was inspired by native cultures, music, politics, the classical tradition, and modernists from Picasso to Aaron Copeland.

His compositions became a radical synthesis of European and Brazilian music. In 1942, he founded the Conservatorio Nacional de Canto Orfeônico (National Conservatory for Choral Singing) in Brazil, and became respected for his work as a modernist composer.

Best known as a giant of jazz, Marsalis has made forays into the pop world with artists such as The Grateful Dead and Roger Hornsby, and has performed as a soloist in film scores including Malcolm X and Mo’ Better Blues.

Recently, he has turned his attention to classical music with a 2001 recording of Creation, featuring the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and recitals with symphonies in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Düsseldorf.

Marsalis’ performances of the music of Villa-Lobos at the Ravinia Festival in 2005 led to the current collaboration with the Filharmonia Brasiliera under the artistic direction of Gil Jardim.

Their recent album, Villa-Lobos in Paris, won the Diapason d’Or and was nominated for the second Bravo Culture award. An accomplished composer, flutist, and arranger, Jardim heads the Department of Music at the University of São Paulo.

For tickets, go to www.jorgensen.uconn.edu or call 860-486-4226.