Opanijé percussion on stage in Salvador — live performance
The Group · Salvador da Bahia

Rhythm raised in Bahia. Meet the people who carry it.

Opanijé is named for a traditional Afro-Brazilian rhythm — and it is made by people who live that drum: masters from Salvador, artists of the diaspora, and a family raised in Samba de Roda.

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Our Story

From the rodas of Salvador to the world

Opanijé was born in 2020 as a platform for the memory of Afro-Brazilian and Afro-diasporic culture — above all, percussion. The name is a traditional rhythm: we named the house for the beat that carries the tradition forward.

Our roots are the roots of Bahian music: a family heritage of Samba de Roda from the Recôncavo, the blocos and bands of Salvador — from Timbalada to Olodum — and the classroom, where the tradition is handed on, student by student, in Brazil and West Africa.

At the core, a pair: Adson Junior "Pai de Santo", the master who teaches, and Rodolfo "Meu Velho Visconde", the founder who produces and directs. One plays, the other records — and the culture travels.

Everything begins at the drum.

Drums of Tudo Começa no Tambor — where the tradition begins

Rooted in Bahia

Samba de Roda from the Recôncavo and the blocos of Salvador — from Timbalada to Olodum — run through everything we make.

Taught, not just played

The tradition is handed on in the classroom, student by student. Tudo Começa no Tambor is recognized by the Prêmio Cultura Viva.

A bridge to West Africa

From Mali's Festival Sur le Niger to a cultural exchange in Accra, we carry the drum between Brazil and West Africa.

The Team

Masters, performers & the founder

Real roles, real stage names — no invented titles. The people you see here are the people who play, teach and produce.

The pair at the core
Adson Junior "Pai de Santo" at the timbau

Adson Vasconcelos dos Santos Junior "Pai de Santo"

Percussion Master · Lead Teacher

A Bahian percussion master and educator. Behind the drum since age five, from Salvador's legendary Timbalada to stages with Carlinhos Brown, Marisa Monte and Olodum, he has trained over a thousand students.

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A drummer since boyhood in Salvador, Adson "Pai de Santo" Junior joined the legendary Banda Timbalada in 1996, honing the timbau until 2000 — a defining milestone. From there he performed with Carlinhos Brown, Marisa Monte, Olodum, Baianada and Lua Cheia, and toured Europe and Asia. A teacher since his Salvador years with Ação Criança/FUNDAC, he moved to Brasília in 2012, where he has taught more than a thousand students in the public school network and hundreds more through Ijexá com Gana in Ceilândia. Today he leads the percussion school Tudo Começa no Tambor at Cio das Artes and performs with Grupo Afirmação — from "Donde eu Vim" to Festa das Águas.

Rodolfo "Meu Velho Visconde" Ogliari, founder of Opanijé

Rodolfo Celliert Ogliari "Meu Velho Visconde"

Founder · Cultural Producer & Audiovisual Direction

A percussionist and cultural producer rooted in his family's Samba de Roda tradition. Founder of the Opanijé platform, he bridges Brazil and West Africa — from Mali's Festival Sur le Niger to Accra.

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Raised in a family tradition of Samba de Roda, Rodolfo "Meu Velho Visconde" Ogliari turned professional in 2014. A multi-artist — percussionist, cultural producer, arranger, arts educator, writer and film-maker — he founded the Opanijé platform and co-founded ensembles devoted to the diaspora: Grupo Afirmação, Gã Star and Ijexá com Gana. He co-created Tudo Começa no Tambor, recognized by the Prêmio Cultura Viva and built on a direct partnership with IPHAN. He has produced and performed from Mali's Festival Sur le Niger, with Grupo Afirmação on Malian soil, to a cultural-exchange project in Accra, Ghana — sharing stages with Carlinhos Brown, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Dona Jenice and Raimundo Sodré — and serves as a direct bridge between Brazil and West Africa.

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