Hamilton de Holanda

Biographyby Alvaro NederHaving played with Hermeto Pascoal, Zélia Duncan, Marco Pereira, Marcos Ariel, Rosa Passos, and others, Hamilton de Holanda was a prodigy child who confirmed his virtuosic talent at the choro mandolin. Along with his solo career, he teaches mandolin at the University of Brasília and in the Escola de Choro Raphael Rabello. Moving with his family to Brasília at the age of one, de Holanda was presented with a mandolin by his grandfather when was five. Hamilton de Holanda's father, a choro violonista (acoustic guitarist), boosted the nascent talent of Hamilton and his brother Fernando César de Holanda (violão). Ever since they were very young, they started sharing with competent choro musicians of Brasílias; the two of them soon became good enough to form a duo, christened as Dois de Ouro by Pernambuco do Pandeiro. Hamilton de Holanda studied violin while still a child at the Escola de Música de Brasília. In 1995, he was awarded as best interpreter in the II Choro Festival of Rio de Janeiro State. In the same festival, his choro "Destroçando a Macaxeira" won second place. In 1998, he got third place in the I Prêmio Visa de MPB Instrumental. He Recorded two albums with the Dois de Ouro, one with violonista Marco Pereira, and solo albums. In 2000, he performed in the Free Jazz Festival and in the next year, in the Brasileirinho project at the CCBB (Rio).