Belém Musicians Rally: Benefit Shows Fund Singer Giselle Griz's Cancer Treatment

By Tom Whitfield

Singer Giselle Griz, diagnosed with lung cancer confirmed by biopsy in November, will receive all proceeds from a benefit concert on 23 November at Belém's Teatro Margarida Schivasappa, with tickets priced at R$60.

The musicians and cultural producers behind the event are not funding medical care. That part falls to the public health system — the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) will handle Griz's treatment. What the concerts must cover is everything the health system does not: specialized nutrition and daily living expenses for an artist who has had to stop working entirely.

The diagnosis came in stages. An X-ray first identified pleural effusion; the biopsy that followed, performed in November, confirmed the cancer. Before the benefit concerts were conceived, an earlier crowdfunding campaign — a vaquinha solidária — paid for private examinations at the start of the investigation, tests Griz's supporters described as high-cost. That gap between what public coverage provides and what a diagnosis actually demands is the practical problem these concerts address.

Griz, for her part, has spoken publicly about her condition. She said she is confident and ready to face the current phase, citing faith and the support of people close to her as pillars of her recovery.

Who is organizing, and who is playing?

The initiative for the first show came from singer and producer Flávia Hunter, who shares organization duties with Simone Almeida. Almeida said the Pará artistic community regularly mobilizes for causes like this one. She also disclosed a personal dimension: Griz herself performed in benefit events for Almeida when the producer faced depression and panic disorder. The reciprocity is the point — this is a community that has, by Almeida's account, done this before, in both directions.

All participating artists are donating their fees, and the full box office goes to Griz. The confirmed lineup for 23 November, starting at 20h, includes:

• Nilson Chaves
• Sandra Duailibe
• Mahrco Monteiro
• Lia Sophia
• Lucinnha Bastos
• Alba Mariah
• Pedrinho Cavalléro
• Paulinho Moura
• Ana Mel
• Renato Torres
• Gláfira
• Warilou

What about a second show?

A second concert is in production for 13 December at the Teatro Waldemar Henrique in Belém. This one has a deliberate programming logic: it will focus on pop rock, the genre Griz herself worked in as a performer. Show times and ticket details for the December date have not yet been released; the organizers say they will announce them later.

So what does this change for Griz? Not her treatment — the SUS handles that. It changes whether she can eat properly and live with dignity through months in which she cannot earn. That is a modest goal, and the organizers have been careful not to promise more. The first test comes on 23 November, when the box office at the Schivasappa will show whether the community Almeida describes translates into seats sold.