Journey

Silvério Pontes is a Brazilian trumpeter, composer and arranger, born in Laje do Muriaé, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, with more than four decades of professional activity and a career especially tied to choro and Brazilian instrumental music. The son of a trumpeter and a member of a family of musicians, he began his musical training in childhood, playing in the traditional Lira da Esperança band of his hometown. In the late 1970s he moved to Niterói, where he widened his musical training. He studied at the Villa-Lobos School of Music and had a brief stint at the National School of Music.

From the 1980s onwards, he consolidated his professional career joining groups and playing with important artists of Brazilian popular music. He began his professional career accompanying Luiz Melodia, with whom he also made his first international tour, and later joined the Vitória Régia band, accompanying Tim Maia for some 10 years. Throughout his career he has played and/or recorded with renowned artists such as Elza Soares, Paulinho da Viola, Francis Hime, Beth Carvalho, Martinho da Vila, Fundo de Quintal, Trio Madeira Brasil, Ed Motta and Yamandu Costa, among others. He is also part of the horn section of Cidade Negra.

One of the most significant chapters of his career was the roughly three-decade partnership with trombonist Zé da Velha, with whom he formed a landmark duo of Brazilian instrumental music. Considered “the world's smallest big band”, the duo developed a language of its own, based especially on choro, samba and the gafieira repertoire, leaving behind an important body of work and legacy. The partnership took Silvério to performances and projects in Brazil and abroad, contributing to the international diffusion of Brazilian choro.

His career is also marked by a substantial recorded output, documenting different moments of his work as an instrumentalist, composer, arranger and organizer of Brazilian instrumental music. Alongside trombonist Zé da Velha he recorded six albums: “Só Gafieira” (1995), “Só Gafieira” (1995) was followed by “Tudo Dança” (1999), “Ele e Eu” (2000), “Samba Instrumental – Ao Vivo” (2003), “Só Pixinguinha” (2006) and “Ouro e Prata” (2011). He also released “Brazilian Trumpet” (2012) and “Reencontro” (2016), the latter entirely dedicated to his own compositions, with 12 original pieces.

Another fundamental chapter of this journey is the Choro na Rua collective which, led by Silvério Pontes, emerged in 2016 on Rua do Ouvidor, in the historic heart of the city of Rio de Janeiro. Conceived from the experience of choro circles in public spaces, the collective still brings together outstanding instrumentalists and seeks to bring the genre closer to new audiences, taking choro to streets, squares, bars, theatres, museums and festivals. In 2023 the group released its first album on the Biscoito Fino label, “Obrigado, Zé da Velha”, a tribute to Silvério's historic partner. With 12 tracks, the record gathers compositions by members of the collective and works by masters of Brazilian music such as Pixinguinha, Jacob do Bandolim, Sivuca and Waldir Azevedo, with Silvério Pontes also among its musical producers.

In 2018, alongside pianist Antonio Guerra, he released “Coração Brasileiro”, expanding his work in duo format and the dialogue between original compositions and different roots of Brazilian music. In more recent years, Silvério has also deepened his artistic partnership with accordionist, pianist, composer and arranger Marcelo Caldi. Together they released “Onde os Ventos se Encontram” (2022), dedicated to original creation and to the encounter between different languages of Brazilian instrumental music, and “Inventos” (2026), released by Biscoito Fino. The new record continues the duo's original output and features the participation of outstanding Brazilian instrumentalists, reaffirming Silvério Pontes as a creative artist, composer and performer in full activity and as one of the contemporary references of the trumpet in choro and in Brazilian instrumental music.

Recognized for his distinctive sound and for his contribution to the presence of the trumpet in contemporary choro, Silvério Pontes maintains an intense activity as an instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator, taking part in concerts, festivals, choro circles, recordings, workshops and music education activities in Brazil and abroad.

Over more than four decades of career, Silvério Pontes has taken part in important festivals, cultural projects, circuits and performances in Brazil and abroad, both in his own career and alongside Zé da Velha and other great names of Brazilian music.

He took part in the album and the documentary “Brasileirinho”, directed by the Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki. At the invitation of Trio Madeira Brasil, he joined the European tour tied to the film and, alongside Zé da Velha, performed in Cannes, France, at its launch. The duo's long career also resulted in tours and performances dedicated to choro, instrumental samba and the music of Pixinguinha.

Among his notable appearances are the Teresina International Music Festival – Artes de Março (PI); the São Luís International Music Festival (MA); the Belém International Music Biennial (PA); the MIS-RJ Choro Festival; the Clube do Choro in Brasília (DF); the Rio Choro Festival (RJ); the Quintas project at BNDES (RJ); performances at Circo Voador and Fundição Progresso, in Rio de Janeiro; performances at the Municipal Theatre of Niterói; and various projects dedicated to the diffusion of choro and Brazilian instrumental music.

Throughout his career, Silvério Pontes has received important recognition from critics and from the Brazilian music scene.

The album “Só Gafieira”, the first record by the duo Zé da Velha and Silvério Pontes, was nominated for the 9th Prêmio Sharp de Música in the Instrumental category.

The album “Tudo Dança”, released by the duo in 1999, remained for weeks among the records recommended by the newspaper O Globo and was singled out by specialized critics as one of the highlights of Brazilian instrumental music of that period.

The following work, “Ele e Eu”, released in 2000, also remained for several weeks among the records recommended by O Globo and stood out among the releases of that year.

The album “Só Pixinguinha”, from 2006, won the Prêmio BR da Música in the Best Instrumental Album category.

With Choro na Rua, he won two Prêmios da Música Brasileira in 2024: Best Instrumental Music Group and Newcomer. The collective had already received the Prêmio Profissionais da Música for Best Instrumental Group in 2018 and 2019.

The relevance of his contribution to choro and to Brazilian instrumental music is also expressed in the successive invitations to take part in festivals, projects and educational activities in Brazil and abroad, as well as in his role as creator and curator of the Niterói International Choro Festival.

In 2026, Silvério Pontes was chosen as patron of the edition celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Casa de Choro of Toulouse, in France, taking part in the Rencontres de Choro de Toulouse festival, held from 21 to 25 October 2026, an international gathering dedicated to the diffusion of and exchange around Brazilian choro.