The Heart Of The Matter

Berta Rojas Pays Tribute to the Joyous Beauty of the Music of Brazil

- Mark C. Davis

FOR HER MOST RECENT ALBUM, FELICIDADE

[Onmusic Recordings], Paraguayan classical guitarist Berta Rojas chose to celebrate the music, people, and culture of Brazil. To produce a fitting love letter, the three-time Latin Grammy nominee enlisted the help of three Brazilian-music icons—Gilberto Gil, Toquinho, and Ivan Lins—as well as the National Symphonic Orchestra of her native Paraguay. “At a time of talking about building walls to divide countries, we try to build bridges with music,” says Rojas—who once served as Paraguay’s Ambassador of Tourism—about the making of Felicidade. “I wanted to show the warm-hearted joy of the Brazilian people conveyed through music—the exuberance of Carnival, the African influences felt in the driving rhythms, and the lyrical and harmonic lushness.”

Rojas is acclaimed as a national treasure for her music and her service to her country, and her passionate commitment to mentoring young players is evident by the wisdom she shares with her students and her guitar orchestra (the members of which were selected by winning a YouTube contest).

“I try to communicate what I am feeling when I play a line, and I spend a lot of time on the tone, the sound, the expression, and the phrasing,” she says. “And when it all comes together as an extension of me, the music sounds the way I would sing it, and it’s a moment of true happiness.”

What inspired you to pick up the guitar and play it for the first time?