Jazz's Brazil Exchange Continues

Jazz in Brazil

Juilliard Jazz had its third exchange with the São Paulo-based Santa Marcelina Cultura cultural group this fall. Faculty member Bruce Williams and the Artist Diploma Ensemble spent a week at the São Paulo State School of Music (EMESP) studying and performing and then EMESP students came to Juilliard for a weeklong residency culminating in the Titans of Brazilian Music: Pixinguinha, Santos, and Jobim concert in Paul Hall.

It was the second time that Williams had served as faculty chaperone for the exchange. “During each visit I’ve witnessed a huge change in the students' attitudes toward music and different cultures and sparks of curiosity about other musical genres,” he said. “They’ve taken on a deeper sense of responsibility and care in learning the cultural nuances of Brazilian music as well as American jazz.”

The forum for that learning included what master's jazz bassist Adam Olszewski called “Brazilian music boot camp,” which covered a broad swath of Brazilian composers, rhythms and styles. “In the evenings we would hear modern interpretations of what we learned during the day, and at night we danced to those very same rhythms!”

>Learn more about Juilliard Jazz's engagement with the global jazz community in this story about Australian visitors to Juilliard and check out these photos from a Juilliard Jazz trip to Bolivia.