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Brazilian Twins Follow Classical Music Dream

By Julie McCarthy
Published September 14, 2006 at 6:00 AM EDT
Twins Wagner and Walter Caldas have been playing the violin for 10 years, initially at the insistence of their mother.
Julie McCarthy, NPR /
Twins Wagner and Walter Caldas have been playing the violin for 10 years, initially at the insistence of their mother.
Jonas and Homalia Caldas in his Niteroi shop, where he makes and restores classical instruments.
Julie McCarthy, NPR /
Jonas and Homalia Caldas in his Niteroi shop, where he makes and restores classical instruments.

A pair of 21-year-old twin Brazilian violinists are working their way out of poverty by playing classical music.

Wagner and Walter Caldas grew up in a poor neighborhood across the bay from Rio de Janeiro. The brothers make their American debut this week, performing with their orchestra for the Brazil Foundation in New York City.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Julie McCarthy
Julie McCarthy has spent most of career traveling the world for NPR. She's covered wars, prime ministers, presidents and paupers. But her favorite stories "are about the common man or woman doing uncommon things," she says.