Music teacher, Manoel Raimundo de Souza was born in Campina Grande, Paraíba, and still very young moved with his parents to the city of Feira de Santana.

Since I was a child, I loved to play at building instruments: all it took was a strip of elastic and a stick and everything was already resolved. The teacher learned to play by himself and, at the age of seven, he was already making some presentations.

In the 1980s, he graduated in music at the Catholic University of Salvador, adding knowledge to his practice. His musical awakening was prompted by radio stations.

“Families used to hang around the radio to listen to music, news, football and even soap operas. Of course, I loved listening to music and dreamed of playing on a radio.” It wasn't long before his dream came true: as a boy he played countless times at Rádio Sociedade de Feira de Santana.

Manoel de Souza served in the Air Force, got married and came to live permanently in Lauro de Freitas in 1960; but I had known the city since 1956.

"In the 50's, Lauro de Freitas, or rather, Santo Amaro de Ipitanga [the city's original name] was just a village with welcoming people. Just to give you an idea, a car was something luxurious and a bicycle was a rarity. The musical life of Santo Amaro de Ipitanga was dedicated to cultural traditions, there were few guitarists and none studied as they should."

Always well dressed and at ease with life, the teacher was a passionate man committed to music. He said that he was very 'careful' and that he liked to study. Older residents say that Souza did what he wanted with the guitar and that his skill was impressive.

“Colleagues sought me out to play romantic songs and chorinhos around poets and intellectuals in the city, it was a good time. I remember that some newlyweds even invited me to serenade under their brides' windows. And I was happy to go there, we would arrive on tiptoe and with subtlety I would pull the strings of the pine tree [the guitar] and play something like that".

The practical and theoretical knowledge made him an excellent teacher and musician. Maestro Manoel Raimundo de Souza taught music therapy, vocal technique, guitar, keyboard, cavaquinho and mandolin.

"Music represents life and without it I would not have the age I am. Music is a door beyond the imagination, a universal language that unites and awakens a thousand feelings. I think music should be in schools, in school grids, like this like the other subjects", says Souza. After his death in 2013, Mestre Souza was honored by naming Rua Manoel Raimundo de Souza, in the center of the city of Lauro de Freitas, where he spent most of his life.

Source:

https://www.blogdomarciowesley.com.br/2021/02/mestre-souza-musica-representa-vida-e.html