Marisa Rezende facts for kids

Marisa Rezende (born August 8, 1944) is a talented Brazilian musician. She is known as a music teacher and a composer. A composer is someone who writes music.

Personal Life

Early Life and Music

Marisa Rezende was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her father was a doctor, and her mother had Portuguese family roots. Marisa started playing the piano when she was only four years old. She didn't even have a teacher yet! She began formal lessons at age five.

She studied piano at the Escola de Musica in Rio. But her studies paused when she got married. In 1964, Marisa and her husband moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Her husband was studying for a special degree at MIT.

Family and Continued Studies

While in Boston, Marisa had two daughters. In 1967, her family moved back to Rio. She then had a third daughter. After this, she went back to her music studies. She focused on composition, which is the art of creating music.

Later, her family moved to Recife, another city in Brazil. There, Marisa worked as a pianist with an orchestra. She also finished her first university degree. She learned about fugue and counterpoint from Morelenbaum and Virginia Fiuza. These are special ways to write music. She also studied composition with Padre Jaime Diniz.

Career

Advanced Studies

After finishing her first degree, Marisa continued her education. She earned a master's degree in piano. This was at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). While there, she also studied composition with Peter Fricker and David Gordon.

She then earned a doctorate degree in composition from UCSB. A doctorate is the highest university degree. She also did more advanced study at the University of Keele in England.

Teaching and New Music

After her studies, Marisa Rezende became a teacher. She taught composition at the Escola de Musica in Rio. In 1989, she helped start an organization called Musica Nova. This group helps new music compositions be performed for the first time. She worked with Rodolfo Caesar and Rodrigo Cicchelli on this project.

In 1999, she received a special award called the Bolsa Vitae de Artes. She stopped teaching full-time in 2002. However, she still works at the Music and Technology Lab. This lab is at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Marisa Rezende also continues to write new music.

Published Works

Marisa Rezende has written many pieces of music. Her compositions have been performed all over the world. She has written music for:

• Orchestra: A large group of musicians playing different instruments.
• Chamber ensemble: A small group of musicians.
• Solo instrument: Music for just one instrument.

Here are some of her selected works:

• Volante (1990) for flute, clarinet, cello, and piano
• Syntagma (1988) for flute, percussion, and piano
• Variations (1995) for flute
• Elos (1995) for harpsichord
• Resonances (1983) for piano
• Mutations (1991) for piano played by four hands
• Contrasts (2001) for piano
• Vortex (1997) for string quartet (two violins, a viola, and a cello)
• Schisms (1997) for violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano

Her music has also been recorded. You can find it on CDs, including:

• Marisa Rezende - Música de Câmara (2006)