Carvalho began his residency last fall as Brown prepared for the official opening of The Lindemann, where Carvalho and the International Players, a popular Rhode Island group, performed in September 2023 as part of a series of events that enabled the Brown Arts Institute team to test the building’s acoustic and technical capabilities.

The culminating concert of his residency, called Global C.A.F.E., “celebrating art from everywhere,” featured four hours of lively performances on July 13 by Carvalho and musicians from around the country representing various styles and genres, including hip-hop, Afro house, Cape Verdean, Latin and Brazilian music.   

“It was exciting to introduce people to The Lindemann and to different musical genres, and to activate the space during the typically quieter summer months,” Carvalho said.

Carvalho is a longtime presence in the Providence-area music scene. Off the stage, he serves as the City of Pawtucket’s inaugural chief equity officer. Previously, he worked as the culture and community engagement coordinator at his alma mater, Charles E. Shea High School, in Pawtucket, as well as in other roles in education.

His collaborations with Brown have been particularly meaningful, Carvalho said, including his participation as a member of the BAI's Artistic Innovators Collective, a group of about 40 artists from around the world who regularly engage with Brown in a variety of ways.

“Chachi is an incredible artist with a distinct vision whose projects here at Brown exhibit the type of meaningful and longstanding creative relationships we seek to cultivate in our academic and artistic programming,” Brown Arts Institute Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman said.

Leading the workshop for local musicians in mid-July was an especially rewarding way to give back to the community, Carvalho said. Called the Cypher Academy, it enabled him to talk about his personal journey with the 12 musicians, share insights about the music business and create new music together.

“I grew up being a little self-conscious, but I’ve found that the more I share my true authentic self — I am a father, husband and a grandpa rapper, who also happens to be the chief equity officer for the city that I was born and raised in — helps me serve as an inspiration for the next generation,” said Carvalho, who is of Cape Verdean descent. “I want some of these young artists to bypass some of the self-doubt that I had when I was younger and know that if you want to do this, you can, and there are resources to help you.”

As part of the academy, the participating artists toured The Lindemann and even heard recordings of the songs they created earlier in the week played for hundreds of listeners in The Lindemann’s main hall during Saturday’s Global C.A.F.E. event.