CANTO, Ida Leal Do

Ida Leal do Canto (1898–1976) was a Brazilian pianist and composer associated with the tradition of choro and Brazilian popular instrumental music. She was born in São Paulo on 6 September 1898 into a musical family. Her father was the conductor Antônio Quirino Leal, while her uncle, Arlindo Leal, was a playwright and author of musical revues.
As a young musician, Canto studied alongside the distinguished Brazilian pianist Guiomar Novaes, with whom she reportedly performed piano duets at school events. She possessed a highly developed musical ear and could learn and reproduce music aurally, although she did not acquire conventional music-notation skills. Her surviving compositions include Lelê, a maxixe preserved and recorded within the Brazilian choro repertoire, and É Só na Cangica. Lelê was included in the album Mulheres do Choro, devoted to recovering music by Brazilian women composers. Canto also worked as a primary-school teacher. She died on 29 May 1976.