Ricardo Kanji (1 March 1948 – 24 February 2025) was a Brazilian

recorder player A recorder player is a musician who plays the recorder, a woodwind musical instrument. The recorder is used as a teaching instrument and has a large amateur following. Because of its ubiquity in these regards, the number of people who can play i ...

flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

and

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

. For 12 years, he was a professor at the

Royal Conservatory of The Hague The Royal Conservatoire (, KC) is a conservatoire in The Hague, providing higher education in music and dance. The conservatoire was founded by King William I in 1826, making it the oldest conservatoire in the Netherlands. Since September 2021, t ...

. He was a founding member of the

Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century The Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century () is a Dutch early music orchestra. Frans Brüggen and Lucy van Dael co-founded the orchestra in 1981. Sieuwert Verster became financial manager in 1984. Although he did not have a formal title with the orc ...

. Back in Brazil, he promoted

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

there as a teacher and as director of Vox Brasiliensis choir and orchestra. He was artistic director of a project ''History of Brazilian Music'', to explore the music of

colonial Brazil Colonial Brazil (), sometimes referred to as Portuguese America, comprises the period from 1500, with the Discovery of Brazil, arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to a United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves ...

Life and career

Kanji was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

on 1 March 1948. He began piano lessons with Tatiana Braunwieser at age seven, and three years later studied with Lavinia Viotti who introduced him to the recorder. At age fifteen he began studying

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

with João Dias Carrasqueira and two years later joined the Philharmonic Orchestra São Paulo (now defunct) and the Municipal Symphony Orchestra of São Paulo. In 1966, after a period of study in the United States, he founded the group ''Musikantiga''. In 1969 Kanji began to study flute at the

Peabody Institute of Music The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977. History Philanthropist and m ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, but when he met Frans Brüggen, he moved to the Netherlands, to specialise on the interpretation of

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

and Classical music, studying at the

with Brüggen and Frans Vester between 1970 and 1972. In 1970 he won the First International Recorder Competition in

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

. He was a founding member of both the conservatory's orchestra and in 1980 the

. He was a professor at the Royal Conservatory from 1973 to 1995, succeeding Bruggen. He was also artistic director of the

Concerto Amsterdam Concerto Amsterdam was a classical chamber ensemble based in the Netherlands and active during the 1960s and 1970s in both live performance and the recording studio. It was founded in 1960 by the Dutch violinist Jaap Schröder with most of its mem ...

from 1991 to 1996. He participated in important ensembles playing period instruments in the Netherlands and created the ''Ensemble Philidor''. Kanji returned to Brazil in 1995, continuing to work as a performer, conductor, teacher, and luthier. In 1997, he founded and directed the ensemble Vox Brasiliensis, recording Brazilian and European music. He promoted

in Brazil, teaching it at

Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...

Music Workshop and teaching recorder at the São Paulo State Music School. His students included Clea Galhano, and Hanneke van Proosdij. Kanji was artistic director of the project ''History of Brazilian Music'', which produced a series of television programs and CDs on the rich and little-known music of

. For this work he received an award from the Art Critics Association of São Paulo in 1999. Kanji spread the colonial music of Brazil and the Americas, serving as guest conductor in Brazil and Europe In November 2006 he conducted Donizetti's ''

Don Pasquale ''Don Pasquale'' () is a Gaetano Donizetti opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts, with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's oper ...

''in the Netherlands, Belgium and Poland, with stage direction by Walter Neiva, a production of the

Opera Krakowska The Opera Krakowska (also known as the Kraków Opera) is an opera house located in Kraków, Poland. It was founded in 1954 in postwar Kraków, although the tradition of opera in the city dates back to 1628 when the first ever full libretto in P ...

. The CD "Neukomm in Brazil," directed by Kanji and Rosana Lanzelotte received the Premio Bravo award in 2009 as best conductor the year; it was also nominated for the

Latin Grammy The Latin Grammy Awards (stylized as Latin GRAMMYs) are awards presented by the Latin Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the Latin music industry. The Latin Grammy honors works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from any ...

. He recorded with the cellist Antônio Meneses. In 2023 he played with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century for the last time, as recorder soloist in a piece that

Louis Andriessen Louis Joseph Andriessen (; 6 June 1939 – 1 July 2021) was a Dutch composer, pianist and academic teacher. Considered the most influential Dutch composer of his generation, he was a central proponent of The Hague school of composition. Although ...

had written in memory of Bruggen. In 2024 Kanji conducted the Camerata Antiqua of Curitiba in a concert for their 50th anniversary at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

in Buenos Aires. Kanji was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January 2025. He died in São Paulo on 24 February 2025, at the age of 76.

References

External links

* * * Video: ''History of Brazilian Music''. Documentary presented by Ricardo Kanji, produced by Ricardo Kanji, Ricardo Maranhão, Paulo Castagna and Reinaldo Volpato. São Paulo: Telebras, Cepec 1999. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kanji, Ricardo 1948 births 2025 deaths Musicians from São Paulo Recorder players Brazilian classical musicians Brazilian flautists Classical flautists Peabody Institute alumni Academic staff of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century flautists 20th-century Brazilian musicians 20th-century Brazilian male musicians 21st-century classical musicians 21st-century flautists 21st-century Brazilian musicians 21st-century Brazilian male musicians Deaths from brain cancer in Brazil Deaths from cancer in São Paulo (state)