Departures of note

Solano Ribeiro de Faria was a Brazilian music critic and producer who played a central role in the history of the Música Popular Brasileira (MPB) festivals broadcast on television. During the 1960s he conceived and promoted the events, which revealed new talents and boosted the country's recording industry, working on festivals shown by TV Excelsior, Record, Globo and Tupi. Artists launched through these events included Elis Regina, Edu Lobo, Francis Hime, Chico Buarque, Nara Leão, Geraldo Vandré, Jair Rodrigues and Martinho da Vila. He was the author of the book 'Prepare seu Coração: a História dos Grandes Festivais', published in 2003, recounting the behind-the-scenes of the festivals that consecrated a generation of musicians. Earlier, in 1957, he began a drama course at the Escola de Arte Dramática (EAD) before becoming a vocalist of the rock band The Avallons, and in the early 1960s he worked as a theater actor with the Teatro de Arena. In 1963 he was invited to coordinate programming at TV Excelsior. In 2000 he took part in the Festival da Música Brasileira on TV Globo, and in 2005 he was general director of the Festival Cultura. From 2006 he presented the program 'Solano Ribeiro e a Nova Música do Brasil' on Rádio Cultura Brasil in São Paulo. He died on 31 October 2026 at age 87 after a battle with cancer.