RAFAEL MARINO ARCARO is a Brazilian composer from the countryside of São Paulo, now based between Berlin and London. His music grows out of the sensibilities of his rural childhood—fruit trees, insects, nighttime creatures—and his reflections on Brazilian artistic identity. Known for an aesthetic of clarity and restraint, he writes works that carry a flavour of sour mango and cotton candy, working within and around classical tradition in an effort to communicate larger truths by playfully eroding meaning. His pieces are emotionally direct yet tinged with a kind of serious playfulness.
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One of his most recent works, invention in language of child, Op. 22, was commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra and premiered in the 2024/25 LSO season at the Barbican Centre under Maxime Pascal. This 20-minute orchestral piece explores childhood, nocturnal atmospheres, friendly “night creatures,” and the warmth of an unexpected sunrise.
MARINO ARCARO’s earlier orchestral work infanthood of clouds, Op. 15—three fleeting impressions on the shapes of clouds—was premiered in 2023 at Sala São Paulo as a highlight of the São Paulo Winter Music Festival, performed in two sold-out closing concerts for an audience of 1,400. And in 2022, his playful and characterful violin concerto, Op. 14, was premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with conductor Brett Dean before receiving its South American premiere at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro with the Orquestra Petrobrás Sinfônica under Isaac Karabtchevsky. Brazilian critic João Marcos Coelho (Estadão) described Rafael’s music as “at the same time extremely sophisticated and accessible to a more attentive listener.”
Rafael initially studied Philosophy as an undergraduate before earning a Master’s degree in Composition from the Royal Academy of Music. He recently completed his PhD at King’s College London under the close mentorship of George Benjamin.
Collaboration with performers plays a central role in Marino Arcaro’s work. He has worked closely with performers throughout his career, writing for artists such as cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, guitarists Plínio Fernandes and Fábio Zanon, and pianist Junyan Chen.
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He is currently developing a project supported by MusikFonds (Germany), for which he is arranging and conducting music by underrepresented South American composers while also presenting works by emerging Latin American voices. As part of this project, he is writing a large-scale song cycle on Retrato do Artista Quando Coisa (A Portrait of the Artist as a Thing), the 1998 poetry book by Manoel de Barros, widely regarded as Brazil’s most influential modern poet.
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Rafael grew up in the countryside of São Paulo, surrounded by fruit trees and a variety of insects, spending his evenings playing with ants and bats. At 17, he moved to the city of São Paulo to pursue undergraduate studies in Philosophy. However, his passion for music led him to shift focus, teaching himself composition. After briefly enrolling in the Master’s program in Musicology at the University of São Paulo, Rafael was accepted directly into the Master’s program in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Following a year off to compose his concerto apinayé, Op. 7, for guitar & orchestra, he went on to complete his PhD at King’s College London in 2025.
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“... his music is at the same time extremely sophisticated and accessible to a more attentive listen. (...) In short, music of flesh and blood, sensual, sensory (...). Rafael’s music attracts because it is not limited to abstraction. It makes a point and maintains as a basic characteristic the motivation to capture the essence of Brazilian music, what it means to be Brazilian and make music, no matter the place.”
João Marcos Coelho, ESTADÃO, Brazil.
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“... cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason gave a duo recital with guitarist Plínio Fernandes. (...) élégie à une mémoire oubliée, written for them by the composer Rafael Marino Arcaro, was delicate and affecting."
Fiona Maddocks, THE GUARDIAN, UK.
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“Put it simply, I’ve been hugely impressed by Rafael’s work. (...) Rarely have I witnessed such dedication and energy. His artistic personality has exceptional dynamism and integrity.”
George Benjamin, composer
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“[à norte, rio preto, op.9] is a musical embodiment of the nature of the Brazilian rain forest and its indigenous people, savagely tender and wildly beautiful (...) this performance was greeted with gasps of astonishment and rapturous approval.”
Graham Marshall, Rochdale Music Society
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“Sometimes, something very important comes along. Rafael Marino Arcaro’s concerto apinayé for guitar and orchestra is groundbreaking, moving, exhilarating, intense, and strikingly original. (...)”
Steve Goss, composer​