Vocalist Chrystal E. Williams and accordionist Felipe Hostins share their magnetic husband & wife duo, Forrópera, in an afternoon of song. The dynamic duo beautifully melds classics with original works in a joyous, dance inducing program featuring voice and accordion.
Photo Credit: OSKY
Date: Sunday, 21 September 2025 at 4:PM
Pay What You Can (Minimum $20 Suggested)
Location: St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church
1989 NJ-70 E
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003
(856) 424-2229
office@stbarts-cherryhill.org
Come close out the summer with tunes from across the world. From South America to Europe with stops in between, this hour long program features works by Bizet, Gershwin, beloved Spirituals and original pieces by the artists themselves. Let’s dance-Vamos dançar!
Forrópera is a project co-created by American vocalist/composer Chrystal E. Williams and Brazilian accordionist/composer Felipe Hostins as a way to foster unity, peace, and understanding through their musical marriage.
Combining elements of Brazilian folk music and classical opera, the husband/wife duo began their musical collaboration in 2016. They started out working with inner city schools; helping students use music as a way of expression and growth. Working with students of different backgrounds and prior levels of musical training, Forrópera residencies joyfully empower participants through co-created music, drama, and dance. A combination of forró (meaning “for all”) and opera (meaning “work”), Forrópera’s mission is to create and share works of art that are truly for all.
Felipe Hostins, composer and accordionist/multi-instrumentalist, was born in Blumenau, Santa Catarina in Brazil. He discovered the accordion through his paternal grandfather, Valmor Hostins, at the age of 3. At the age of 21, he moved to the United States, starting his international career.
From an early age, Hostins explored various musical styles, creating a unique blend of his own from diverse influences. A recent review of his new composition Meu Brasil de Cristal raved “Hostins had an entire orchestra in his accordion. He asked of Williams both bel canto agility and low register digs into sorrow, and she carried it beautifully.”
Recent seasons marked new milestones, including the duo’s Carnegie Hall debut in a world premiere written for them and the American Composers Orchestra by composer John Glover and librettist Kelley Rourke. They were also featured in Accordions Around the World (NYC), in concert with Opera Delaware, performers in the Music Haven Outdoors Concert Series (Schenectady, NY), featured performers of the Black Heritage Day celebration in coproduction with Greensboro Opera and the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum Music Festival; as well as featured performers of the American Composers Orchestra’s Gala Fundraiser.
Hostins is part of the Gadji Accordion Team (www.gadji.fr) and has been featured in the Festival Internacional de Acordeões de Setúbal, the Festival Internacional de Acordeões de Algarve, the inaugural Brazilian Accordion Panorama Festival; as well as the Montana Folk Festival, the National Folk Festival and the Richmond Folk Festival. Hostins was a 2024 finalist in the 2nd Prêmio da Musica Instrumental (Brazil) competition, and was recently featured in the American Accordionists’ Association Gala.
Praised by Opera News as “fiery and gorgeous’, GRAMMY Award-winning artist Chrystal E. Williams has recently sung with The Metropolitan Opera, English NationalOpera, Birmingham Opera Company (UK), Opera North (UK), Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Bard SummerScape, Dayton Opera and On Site Opera. Recent engagements include AURELIA BROWDER in the world premiere of Jasmine Arielle Barnes’/Deborah D.e.e.p. Mouton’s SHE WHO DARED Chicago Opera Theater, ROSINA Il Barbiere di Siviglia Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and a return to The Metropolitan Opera for productions of Carmen and El Niño.
This season will mark her Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam debut as NEFERTITI in Akhnaten.
Her ingenuity and gifts have been acknowledged by numerous organizations, including the Classical Post, the Musical Fund Society (Career Grant Award 2020), InternationalOpera Awards, and The First Prize and Audience Choice Award winner at the 2014 Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition in Sweden. She founded the Chrystal E. Williams Scholarship, now in its twenty-second year, in 2004 to help students wishing to pursue a career in the performing arts. Her annual concert, An Evening with Chrystal E., will be held 3 October 2025 in Norfolk, VA.
Forrópera: forropera@gmail.com
