Avoou
Kuné: Canada’s Global Orchestra
Created and Performed by: Aline Morales, Matias Recharte, and Padideh Ahrarnejad
Concept, Direction, and Dramaturgy by: Lynda Hill
Lighting by: Sarah Mansikka
Aline Morales is a Toronto-based Brazilian singer, percussionist, and bandleader known for her dynamic performances and promotion of traditional maracatu rhythms. Her Juno-nominated debut album Flores, Tambores e Amores gained national acclaim and reached No. 1 on Canada’s folk/world charts. Born in Belo Horizonte, she began performing as a child, trained in capoeira, and worked with major Brazilian groups such as Nação Estrela Brilhante do Recife.
Since moving to Canada in 2003, she has become a leading figure in Brazilian percussion through her 30-member ensemble Baque de Bamba.
Padideh Ahrarnejad is an award-winning tar player, composer, and educator from Tehran. Trained by some of Iran’s leading masters, she performed internationally for over a decade with the Iran National Music Orchestra before moving to Toronto in 2016.
She is now a core member of KUNÉ – Canada’s Global Orchestra, has appeared on CBC, recorded at the Banff Centre, and continues to perform, teach, and share Persian music across Canada.
Matias Recharte is a Peruvian-born drummer and percussionist whose musical roots lie in Afro-Peruvian and Afro-Cuban traditions. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the Rotterdam Conservatorium, performing with artists from around the world, before returning to Peru to teach and perform.
Now based in Toronto, Matias holds an MA in ethnomusicology and is pursuing a PhD in music education at the University of Toronto while continuing his studies in South Indian percussion with Professor Trichy Sankaran.