Conductor Deoclécio Damasceno Disclosure Writer, playwright and screenwriter Carol Pitzer launches, this Wednesday (17), the book “Deoclécio Damasceno de Freitas - A black maestro in the imperial city”. The first launch session takes place on the maestro's birth date, at the Raul de Leoni Culture Center, in Petrópolis. The free program includes a screening of the documentary “Canção para Deoclécio”, a conversation with the author, Deoclécio's granddaughter, Lilian Regina Marcílio Nogueira, and historian Lucas Ventura da Silva, followed by a cocktail party and an autograph session. The book is a fictionalized biography that combines historical research and literary creation to reconstruct the trajectory of Deoclécio Damasceno de Freitas, one of the main names in Petropolitan musical life in the first decades of the 20th century. 📱 Follow the g1 Região Serrana channel on WhatsApp. Now on g1 The work will have a second launch on June 20th, at 4pm, at the Maestro Deoclécio de Freitas Community Cultural Space, in Vila Rica. Deoclécio Damasceno de Freitas Born on June 17, 1888, in Sebollas, district of Paraíba do Sul, Deoclécio belonged to the first generation of black people to be born free in Brazil. He arrived in Petrópolis as a child due to his musical talent. Self-taught, he became one of the main names in Petropolitan musical life: professor, director and conductor of the Santa Cecília School of Music, founder of the institution's Orfeônico Corps in 1937, conductor of Jazz Rio Petrópolis — the band that won the competition for the best jazz band in the city in 1934 —, as well as conductor of the Coro da Liga Católica JMJ and the Band Primeiro de Setembro, in Cascatinha. When he died, in October 1942, thousands of people followed his funeral procession and the Santa Cecília School closed its doors for a month as a sign of mourning. As time passed, however, his trajectory lost space in the city's official memory. The rescue process began in 2006, when Lilian Regina Marcílio Nogueira, the maestro's granddaughter, held the exhibition “Deoclécio em Pauta”, bringing together documents, photographs and her grandfather's scores. In 2022, the research gained new momentum after a meeting with Carol Pitzer, who would give rise to the documentary “Canção para Deoclécio”, winner of the Maestro Guerra-Peixe Award in the audiovisual category in 2024. "Carol Pitzer and Victor Yoshinori presented not only our family, but also the history of Brazil with another chapter. They brought to the fore a self-taught black conductor, born in Sebollas in 1888, who made a difference and left memories in his life in the city of Petrópolis and in the formation of so many people. Today, ‘Song for Deoclécio’ is a film. And now, your story also takes shape and is written. I am very grateful to the playwright, actress and my dear cousin, Carol Pitzer”, highlights Lilian Regina Marcilio Nogueira, Deoclécio’s granddaughter. During the making of the film, Carol found several mentions of the artist in newspapers, historical records, as well as original scores handwritten by the maestro. Throughout the research, however, he realized that the documents revealed Deoclécio's public dimension, but were unable to access his affections, desires and subjectivities. It was from this perception that the book was born. A playwright by training, Pitzer did what he knows how to do: he imagined. Using the documents he had at hand, he created scenes, stories, letters and fragments that place the reader inside the spaces frequented by the maestro. "I started writing based on historical data, but I was in a lot of pain. At some point I realized that I also needed to work with the gaps", he says. "If these stories haven't reached us, how can we create a more positive imagination for the next generations? Because I believe that fiction can be restorative beyond the past. It can create new futures." Deoclécio's music itself occupies a central space in this reconstruction process. Half of the publication is made up of scores found during research for the documentary and transcribed especially for the project. Among them are “Berceuse”, “Mutt and Jeff”, “Elvira”, “Bijou”, “Ila” and “The Mowers and the Gleaners”. One of the works appears reproduced in facsimile, preserving the original format in which it was sold in a music store in Rio de Janeiro, a rare record of the circulation of his work at the time. In addition to being part of the book, the scores will also be made available free of charge on the Rocio Produções website for printing, research and musical performance, expanding access to Deoclécio's work for musicians, researchers and new audiences. The choice of the 17th for the first launch is not by chance. Deoclécio Damasceno was born on June 17, 1888. The program starts at 6pm, with the screening of the documentary “Canção para Deoclécio”. At 7:30 pm, a conversation will take place with Carol Pitzer, Lilian Regina Marcílio Nogueira and historian Lucas Ventura da Silva. The meeting ends with a cocktail, autograph session and sale of copies. On Saturday (20), at 4pm, the book will be launched at the Maestro Deoclécio de Freitas Community Cultural Space, in Vila Rica, with the presence of historian Roberta Santos Gregório. Service: Launch of the book “Deoclécio Damasceno de Freitas – A black maestro in the imperial city”, by Carol Pitzer June 17th (Wednesday), from 6pm Location: Raul de Leoni Culture Center (Praça Visconde de Mauá, 305 – Centro, Petrópolis) Programming: 6pm – Screening of the documentary “Canção para Deoclécio” 7:30 pm – Conversation with Carol Pitzer, Lilian Regina Marcílio Nogueira and historian Lucas Ventura da Silva 8:30 pm – Cocktail, autograph session and sales of copies Free entry June 20th (Saturday), at 4pm Location: Maestro Deoclécio de Freitas Community Cultural Space (Rua B, Travessa 5, Quadra 6, Casa 13 – Vila Rica, Petrópolis) Programming: Conversation with Carol Pitzer and historian Roberta Santos Gregório, followed by an autograph session. Free entry