Brazilian guitarist, composer & arranger. Born in São Paulo, Brazil in 1950.
Paulo Bellinati's first guitar teacher was his father, who introduced him to the world of the guitar when he was 11 years old. Six years later, he began studying at the Conservatory “Dramatico e Musical” of his homecity, with Isaias Savio. It's no surprise that he won two scholarships, that enabled him to continue his studies in Europe, at the Conservatory of Geneva, Switzerland. He stayed in Europe for six years, and he also taught at the Conservatory of Lausanne. He also studied with Abel Carlevaro and Oscar Caceres. In 1988, Paulo Bellinati won the first prize for composition with his solo guitar piece “Jongo”, at the “8th Carrefour Mondial de la Guitare” in Martinique. In 1996, John Williams recorded Jongo (two guitars version) in his album “The Mantis and the Moon”. This composition opened the way for Paulo as a composer, and today many guitarists all over the world perform and record his compositions. His talent as a performer was recognized by Brazilian musicians in 1998, when he won a musicians' poll organized by Guitar Player magazine (Brazil edition) to determine the top 10 Brazilian guitar players. He is a virtuoso on several different Brazilian guitars, as we can see (and listen) in his “Guitares du Brèsil” album (which received “Le Choc de La Musique” from Le Monde de La Musique and a 4-star rating from Diapason, two of the most important music magazines in France. One of the most important works of Paulo is his research of the music of Garoto. He is undoubtfully the reviver of Garoto's music. He searched for rare manuscripts, listened to old recordings, studied his way of playing the guitar, and he finally recorded all Garoto's works in an exceptional way. We shouldn't forget Paulo's talent as an arranger too. Of course we can see it in his Garoto recordings, but he has also succesfully produced and arranged albums of several important musicians, like Gal Costa, Vânia Bastos, Leila Pinheiro and Cristina Azuma. In general, I would compare Paulo's playing to Carlos Barbosa-Lima's. They both have the same astonishing accuracy and clarity. But Paulo is determined (so far) to dedicate his talent to the music of his country. As he said himself: “...I decided to turn my eyes to Brazilian music. I compose only Brazilian pieces. I always compose over the Brazilian folk forms or Brazilian rhythms ...always, always. My history as a composer has been 100% Brazilian. My first composition in 1977 was a choro and then a baião and then the other Brazilian forms.” His work as a composer, performer and researcher has the purpose of bringing the Brazilian guitar music to the conservatories of the whole world, to claim a position equivalent to the one that the Spanish guitar music has today. I think that noone else has approached Brazilian guitar music in such a classical, professional, and yet sensitive & exciting way. That's why he is already very popular among guitar students. He has brought a fresh Brazilian air to the classical guitar and showed us that Brazil has a lot more to give.
Web: http://users.compulink.gr/micmic/pbellina/pbellina.htm

Riconosciuto come uno dei maggiori chitarristi-compositori brasiliani, riflette nei suoi lavori il grande amore e la passione per gli stili musicali del suo paese. Le sue composizioni trovano ampi riscontri in chitarristi di fama inernazionale (tra gli altri, John Whilliams, Sergio e Odair Assad).