Eduardo Mendonça
— S I N G E R S O N T H E F R O N T L I N E S —
Singers on the Front Lines is a series of interviews with singers working to promote wellbeing, social justice, and sharing the gift of song with vulnerable communities. Subscribe (below) to receive notifications of future posts.
In this episode I speak with Eduardo Mendonça, an award-winning composer, performer and teaching artist known for his warmth and generosity. Eduardo was born and raised in Bahia, an area of Brazil known for its musicality and deep roots in the rhythms of Africa. Eduardo and his family now live in the US, in Washington State, and he’ s the Music Director for IBuildBridges Foundation, a non-profit that brings together youth from diverse backgrounds to explore their own creativity, compose and perform, and build bridges among themselves, and beyond. In this wide-ranging conversation, Eduardo and I talk about the importance of long-term commitments when working with youth, tools and tips for performers who now find themselves teaching online, and how racial and social justice movements can utilize the power of music.
Eduardo Mendonca in performance.
“One more layer of my status here, is being an immigrant. At the same [time] I do recognize my privilege to be a man . . . and I still see a lot of injustice. But as an immigrant in this country, there are not many opportunities. . . . I did experience implicit discrimination; we do feel that. This is hard. ”
Eduardo Mendonca working with youth.
Eduardo Mendonca: performer, composer, and Music Director at iBuildBridges Foundation
“As a teaching artist . . . the teachers, they are thinking about education as a tool for transformation. We support and bolster creativity, critical thinking, communication – all these things that help people.”