Chiquinha
Gonzaga
Francisca Edwiges Neves Gonzaga, better known as Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935) was a Brazilian composer, pianist and the first woman conductor in Brazil. Gonzaga was the first pianist of "choro" and author of the first carnival march, "Ó Abre Alas" (1899). Her plays and operettas, such as Forrobodó and Jurití, were a great success with the public because they used elements of Brazilian popular culture of the time. By the end of her life, she composed music for 77 theater plays and was the author of about 2000 compositions in different genres: waltzes, polkas, tangos, lundus, maxixes, fados, quadrilles, mazurkas, choros and serenades.
