Clarice Assad

Clarice Assad
Born	(1978-02-09) February 9, 1978 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Genres	Classical, Jazz, World Music, Pop
Occupation(s)	Composer, arranger, pianist, singer, teacher
Years active	1996–present
Website	http://www.clariceassad.com

Clarice Assad is a classical and jazz composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist.

A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Clarice Assad has performed professionally since the age of seven. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Roosevelt University, in Chicago, IL, and a Masters degree in Composition from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is the eldest daughter of Sergio Assad. She is a 2009 Latin Grammy nominee.^[1]

Her works have been published in France (Editions Lemoine), Germany (Trekel), and in the United States (Virtual Artists Collective Publishing), and have been performed in Europe, South America, the United States and Japan.

Clarice Assad is a NSS Music^[2] and Adventure Music artist. Her music is licensed through ASCAP and Parma Recordings. She was the featured composer for the 2008-2009 season at the New Century Chamber Orchestra,^[3] where she currently works as the orchestra's primary arranger and orchestrator.

Compositions

Her music has been performed and recorded by orchestras, soloists, and chamber musicians,such as violinists Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Iwao Furusawa, violoncellist Yo-Yo Ma, the guitarists Assad Brothers, the LA Guitar Quartet, the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Cavatina Duo, the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, as well as conductors Marin Alsop (Baltimore Symphony) and Christoph Eschenbach (National Symphony Orchestra and Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.), Robert Bernhardt (Chattanooga/Louisville Pops Orchestra), Kazuyoshi Akiyama (Tokyo Symphony Orchestra), Carlos Miguel Prieto and Alondra de la Parra (Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas), among others.

Her compositions and arrangements have been recorded on Sony Classical, Universal Music, NSS Music, Nonesuch, Cedille Records, Adventure Music, Chandos Records, Telarc and Rob Digital in Brazil. She has been commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, the New Century Chamber Orchestra, the Rochester Chamber Orchestra,Concordia Chamber Players, Ethos Percussion Group, PRO MUSICA Chamber Orchestra, Cabrillo Music Festival, the Cavatina Duo, the LA Guitar Quartet, Aquarelle guitar quartet, pianist and Vail Music Festival's artistic director Anne-Marie McDermott, to name a few.

Performances

Clarice Assad has performed extensively throughout the USA, as well as Brazil and Europe.

As a vocalist, Assad sings in Portuguese, French, Italian and English, but is mostly known for her "Brazilian scat" performances which combine extended and innovative vocal techniques in conjunction with the piano.

She has appeared on Brazilian, American and European radio and television numerous times, including NPR’s "All Songs Considered" as a favorite of the week, Marshal Vente’s show on WDCB, and on Chicago’s WLUW with Steve Shroeder. Clarice's music frequently featured on WNYC and the Columbia College Chicago radio station WCRX.

Press

“Her impassioned vocal work and her descent from one of Brazil’s leading musical families have combined to enable her to offer an inimitable style—already matured—that’s unlike anyone else’s. In contrast to the expectation of Brazilian singers remaining within a narrow range of coolness expressing romantic ambivalence, Assad rejoices through singing, her multi-faceted talent uncontainable as she energetically bends music to her will and reshapes it with fascinating results.” — Jazz Improv

“She has that trademark Assad style of flying-fingered aplomb. At times it sounded like she had eight hands on the keys while her scat style floated effortlessly above it.” — Classical Guitar Magazine

“[This] siren’s voice croons elegantly and seductively from the speakers on the very first note.” — Indie-Music.com

“As Brazilian dynasties go, few can rival the breadth or depth of the tri-generational Assad clan.” — JazzTimes

"...serious triple threat..." - San Francisco Chronicle

"An arranger and orchestrator of great imagination." - SF Classical Voice

"A charismatic singer." - The New York Times^[4]

Teaching

California Brazil Camp 2011 | Body Percussion & Vocal Workshop Improvisation - Private Composition Lessons
Conservatory, Rahway, NJ 2010–present
Private instruction in classical piano and theory, jazz piano, jazz theory Private Studio, 2004–present
Private instruction in composition, arranging, theory, jazz and classical piano University of Michigan, 2002–2004
Tutor in classical and jazz theory, aural skills, dictation Roosevelt University, 1999–2002
Tutor in classical and jazz theory, aural skills, dictation

Awards & Fellowships

Van Lier Fellowship – Meet the Composer (2010)^[5]
Latin Grammy Nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition (2009)^[1]
The Bobby McFerrin Carnegie Hall Professional Workshop Series (For Vocalists) (2008)
Yaddo Composer Residency (2009)
MacDowell Colony Fellowship (2008)
Osvaldo Golijov | Dawn Upshaw Carnegie Hall Workshop Series (For Composers & Singers) (2007)
The Aaron Copland Award (2006)
ASCAP Plus Award (4) 2007–Present
ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Award (2005)
Encore Grant - Meet the Composer (2005)
RUMOS Itaú Cultural - São Paulo, Brazil. (2005)
International Association for Jazz Education Award (IAJE) (2005)
All Songs Considered NPR (Best Song Competition) (2004)
University of Michigan. (Graduate Fellowship) (2003)
Samuel Ostrowsky Humanities Award (2002)
Franklin Honor Society Award (2002)
Chicago College of Performing Arts (Undergraduate Scholarship) (2001)

Partial List of Works

OPERA

Ópera Das Pedras Commissioned by the SESC Foundation, São Paulo, Brazil. Libretto by Denise Milan, directed by Lee Breuer, 2010

BALLET

Essentials of Flor Choreography by Kristi Spessard Mabou Mines Suite Resident Artist Program. Premiere: January 2011
Impressions Suite - For String Orchestra - Choreographed by Steve Rooks - Masterworks Festival, Indiana, 2011
Steps To Grace Commissioned by Lou Fancher, 2002

PLAYS

A Lição de Anatomia By Carlus Mathus, 2003

Large Ensembles

Toward the Unknown Region - Commissioned by the Rochester Chamber Orchestra, 2010
Suite Back To Our Roots (co-written by Sergio Assad) For strings, winds, guitar and sazouki
Scattered Concerto for scat singing, piano and orchestra (Possible through a grant by Meet The Composer’s Van Lier Fellowship) 2009
Dreamscapes: Fantasia for Strings and Solo Violin, 2009
Impressions: Suite For Chamber Orchestra Commissioned by the New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2008
Circense: For Wind Ensemble, 2007
Brazilian Fanfare: Overture For Orchestra Commissioned by the Chattanooga Orchestra, 2005^[6]
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra Commissioned by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, 2004^[7]

Small Ensembles

Suite Back To Our Roots (co-written by Sergio Assad) Arabic text by Christiane Karam, Portuguese translation by Daniel Basilio
Z Sonata (piano, cello & violin)
Scatocello Variations (cello and scat singing)
Obrigado (string quartet and solo mandolin) Commissioned by the Concordia Chamber Players, Premiere 2011
Cirandada, Clássicas Cantigas Commissioned by American Composers Alliance, 2010^[8]
Quebra-Queixo Commissioned by the Trépanier/Donkin guitar piano duo, 2008
Ratchenitsa (string quartet and two guitars) 2008
Three Balkan Dances Commissioned by the Cavatina Duo, 2007
Pole To Pole - 2 Flutes, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, piano and 2 percussionists - Commissioned by the Cube Ensemble, 2007
O Curupira (percussion ensemble) Commissioned by the Ethos Percussion Group, 2006
Song for my father (mandolin orchestra) Commissioned by the Providence Mandolin Orchestra, 2004
Three Sketches Commissioned by the Assad Brothers, 2003
Flutuante (guitar and clarinet) Commissioned by Gabriele Mirabassi, 2000
The Imperial City (violin, clarinet, cello and piano) 1999

Guitar

The Last Song (guitar arrangement by Ondrej Vesely) 2011
Maré de Água Viva (guitar version by Sergio Assad) 2010
Danças Nativas Commissioned by the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet (Nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Contemporary Composition – 2009)
Brasileirinhas Commissioned by the Eterna Guitar Duo, 2004^[9]
Bluezilian Commissioned by the LA Guitar Quartet, 2004
Valsas do Rio (guitar duo) 2001
Mercador de sonhos (guitar duo) 1997

Arrangements

Nightclub (Piazzolla) - For guitar, violin & cello Commissioned by Sens Management, Korea, 2011
Cinema Paradiso - For guitar, violin & cello, Commissioned by Senes Management, Korea, 2011
4 Schubert Lieder - Commissioned by the New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2011
Tango Suite – Astor Piazzolla (piano four-hands) Commissioned by Svetlana Gorokhovich, 2010
Pictures At An Exhibition – Modest Mussorgsky (string orchestra, prepared piano & percussion) - Commissioned by New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2009
O Magnum Mysterium – Morten Lauridsen (string orchestra and soprano) Commissioned by New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2008
An International Holiday Medley (string orchestra, flute, oboe, trumpet chorus and soprano) Commissioned by New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2008
Three Piazzolla Etudes For Solo Flute (guitar & flute) Commissioned by the Cavatina Duo, 2008
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 – Villa-Lobos (string orchestra) Commissioned by the New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2007
Praeludium & Allegro – Fritz Kreisler (string orchestra) Commissioned by the New Century Chamber Orchestra, 2007

Piano

CAMINHO PRA SANTIAGO (2010)
WHEN ART SHOWED UP (2008) - Commissioned by Anne-Marie McDermott^[10]
THE GRAND CIRCUS (2003)
THE PRIMARY COLORS (1999)

Song Cycles

Noite Fria, Commissioned by DavidMichael Schuster & Peter Fletcher (Amocanti) - Lyrics by Daniel Basilio
The Four Elements - For piano & soprano - Commissioned by soprano Nihan Devecioglu 2010 - Lyrics by Daniel Basilio
Love, All That It Is - 2008
Confessions - For soprano, piano, violin & cello - Commissioned by Carnegie Hall, 2007^[11]