Roger Henri

Roger Henri Barroso Huthmacher was born in Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, on 22 May 1955. He began formal music studies at the age of ten and went on to work as a conductor, arranger, composer and record producer. Few details of his family background have been made public.

His first credited film work was the score for O mágico, a short film by Luiz Bandeira de Mello, in 1978. Between 1981 and 1984 he was musical director of festivals in Minas Gerais, and in 1981 he was arranger and conductor for the RGE label at TV Globo's song festival. In the same period he produced and arranged records for RGE, RCA, PolyGram and Som Livre, and between 1983 and 1986 he directed the music for shows at the Sala Funarte in Rio de Janeiro.

He joined Rede Globo in 1983. Until 1990 he was a conductor and music producer at the network, responsible for many of the musical signatures of its idents, and he arranged and conducted the station orchestra. From 1990 to 1995 he produced and arranged Som Livre albums of soundtracks from Globo telenovelas and miniseries, and he composed incidental music and orchestrated themes for drama. Until 1995 he also created music and openings for the network's annual news retrospectives.

From 1991 to 1998 he was responsible for the music production of Globo Repórter and composed and orchestrated themes for Fantástico. He wrote the opening music of Supercine, the Saturday night film slot. His drama credits included Memorial de Maria Moura, Engraçadinha, Decadência, Anjo Mau, Força de um Desejo and Porto dos Milagres, and from 1998 to 2000 he created and produced the soundtrack for No Limite. In all, he took part in more than 2,000 compositions for the network.

Away from television he directed shows by Leila Pinheiro and Sérgio Ricardo, and his songs were recorded by Daniela Mercury, Nana Caymmi and Simone. He arranged the national anthem recorded by Fafá de Belém and the Som Livre album Tributo a um Campeão, in tribute to Ayrton Senna. Through RH Produções he composed jingles and music for advertising, documentaries, party political broadcasts and federal government campaigns.

Roger Henri lived in Miguel Pereira, a town in the interior of Rio de Janeiro state. Although his music was part of everyday life for Brazilian viewers, he worked away from the cameras and joked that he was the invisible man of Brazilian television. His family and a press office managed his public announcements in his final years.

Roger Henri died on Friday 6 November 2026 at his home in Miguel Pereira, Rio de Janeiro state, aged 71. His family said he had suffered a heart attack while he slept. The death was first announced on his official Instagram profile, which said further details of the farewell would follow, and was reported by g1, O Globo, UOL and Rolling Stone Brasil.

His wake was held from 8am on Saturday 7 November at the municipal cemetery of Miguel Pereira, in Governador Portela, and he was buried there that afternoon. Jornal Nacional marked the funeral with a report recalling his best known themes.

Roger Henri gave a musical identity to programmes that became part of the shared memory of Brazilian television audiences, from the Supercine opening to themes for Globo Repórter and Fantástico. Reporting on his funeral, Jornal Nacional observed that most Brazilians might not recognise his face but that his work was unmistakable, describing a legacy of four decades in Brazilian television and music.