by Alvaro NederMauro Senise started to study music rather late in his life at the age of 20. He had Odette Ernst Dias as his teacher of classical flute and Paulo Moura taught him to play the saxophone. He quickly became a busy sideman for popular music artists, participating in several recordings and performances. As an instrumental musician, he worked with most important artists in Brazil, like Wagner Tiso, Hermeto Pascoal, and Egberto Gismonti. In 1981, along with Robertinho Silva, Zeca Assumpção, and André Dequech, he founded the group Alquimia. Senise has played many times in Europe and the United States. He recorded his first solo album only in 1988, Mauro Senise, which is the result of the lack of interest in instrumental music in Brazil. Senise recorded several other albums since then, in some of them having the company of such musicians as Romero Lubambo, Gilson Peranzzetta, and Raul Mascarenhas. In 2001, he participated in two important jazz festivals in Brazil, the Chivas Jazz Festival and the Free Jazz Festival (performing in the latter in the exciting Moacir Santos tribute). He has also been a member of the instrumental group Cama de Gato since its formation in 1982. Also a classical musician, Senise developed work with Rosana Lanzelotte (clavier) and David Chew (cello).