Clarice Assad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Clarice Assad
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Clarice Vasconcelos da Cunha Assad Simão |
| Born | February 9, 1978 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Genres | Jazz, classical, pop, world |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, composer, orchestrator, arranger |
| Instruments | Piano, bass, voice |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Labels | Adventure Music, Cedille |
| Associated acts | Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Yo Yo Ma, Evelyn Glennie, Third Coast Percussion, Marin Alsop, Keita Ogawa |
Clarice Assad (born February 9, 1978) is a famous Brazilian-American composer, pianist, arranger, and singer. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she is known for mixing many styles of music. Her work is influenced by Brazilian pop culture, romantic music, world music, and jazz.
Clarice comes from a very musical family. Her father is the famous guitarist Sergio Assad, her uncle is guitarist Odair Assad, and her aunt is the singer and songwriter Badi Assad. She started performing when she was only seven years old. She earned a music degree from Roosevelt University and a master's degree in composition from the University of Michigan. She has been nominated for both Latin Grammy and Grammy awards for her amazing music.
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A Musical Childhood
Clarice was born in Campo Grande, a part of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her parents named her after the famous writer Clarice Lispector. With her father's help, she started making her own music when she was just six years old.
As a child, Clarice had a health condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. This affects the body's connective tissues and made it hard for her to play instruments. However, it didn't affect her voice. She sang in many commercials for radio and TV. As she got older and stronger, she began playing the piano and fell in love with jazz.
In 1993, when she was a teenager, Clarice moved to France with her father. There, she studied piano and learned to improvise, or make up music on the spot. This was a very creative time for her. After a few years, she returned to Brazil and worked as a pianist and arranger for several musicals. She almost decided to study marine biology in college, but she was given the chance to study film music at the Berklee College of Music in the United States. She left Brazil in 1998 to follow her musical dream.
Career in Music
Composing for Orchestras
Clarice Assad writes music for many different instruments, from solo piano to full orchestras. Even though she writes for classical groups, her music is full of the sounds of Brazil, jazz, and pop. Her pieces Nhanderú and Terra Brasilis are great examples of how she uses Brazilian folk styles in her work.
She became well-known in the U.S. in 2004. Conductor Marin Alsop performed her violin concerto with famous violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. Since then, Clarice has been hired to write many pieces of music.
One of her most interesting works is a concerto she wrote for herself to perform. It's for scat singing (a type of jazz singing using nonsense syllables), piano, and orchestra. Another powerful piece is The Disappeared, which was inspired by the story of a woman who was the only one to survive a terrible event during the Salvadoran Civil War. Her music has been performed by famous musicians like cellist Yo-Yo Ma and orchestras all over the world.
Clarice has been a composer-in-residence for many groups, including the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra. This means she worked closely with them to create and perform new music.
Working on Other Projects
Clarice has written a lot of music for the classical guitar. Her piece Bluezilian is now a popular piece for guitar groups. She also wrote a concerto called Folk Tales for two guitars and a string orchestra.
Her 2021 album Archetypes, which she made with her father Sérgio Assad and the group Third Coast Percussion, was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The album uses music to explore different universal characters, like the Hero and the Rebel.
Clarice loves to experiment with the human voice. She has written pieces that use electronics to change the sound of her voice. She also gets the audience involved in her performances. In her piece É Gol!, inspired by the Brazilian soccer star Marta Vieira da Silva, the audience sings and performs body percussion along with the orchestra.
A Talented Performer and Arranger
Besides composing, Clarice is a skilled singer and pianist. The LA Times called her a "dazzling soloist." She often performs her own music with orchestras and chamber groups. In 2010, she started an ensemble called Off the Cliff, which plays energetic and creative music.
For ten years, Clarice was also the main arranger for the New Century Chamber Orchestra. An arranger takes a piece of music and adapts it for different instruments. She rearranged over 25 famous pieces for the string orchestra, including Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.
Teaching and Inspiring Others
Clarice loves to teach and share her passion for music. In 2015, she created a program called VOXploration. This program teaches people of all ages how to use their voices and bodies to create music together. It encourages everyone to be creative, write songs, and improvise.
She has also worked with many youth groups, helping young people create and perform music. Many of her projects focus on empowering young women through music.
Awards and Recognition
Clarice has won many awards for her compositions. Some of them include:
- American Composers Forum National Composition Competition (2016)
- McKnight Visiting Composer Award (2015)
- Latin Grammy nomination for best contemporary composition (2009)
- Aaron Copland Award (2007)
- Morton Gould Young Composer Award (2006)
Selected Discography
Clarice has released many albums of her own music and has appeared on many others.
Her Albums
- Invitation: Introducing Clarice Assad (2004)
- Love, All That It Is (2008)
- Home (2011)
- Imaginarium (2014)
- Reliquia (2016)
- Archetypes (with Third Coast Percussion and Sérgio Assad) (2021)
- Window To The World (2022)
Her Compositions on Other Albums
- Bohemian Queen on the album Storyteller: Contemporary Concertos for Trumpet (2024)
- Clash and Constellation on the album Takacs, Assad, Labro (2024)
- Sin Fronteras on the album Project W: Works by Diverse Women Composers (2019)
- Hocus Pocus on the album Night Triptych (2018)
- Bluezilian on the album Brazil by the LA Guitar Quartet (2007)
- Família on the album Yo-Yo Ma & Friends (2008)
- Violin Concerto on the album Concertos in D Major (2005)
