QUARTETO LARIANNA (String Quartet)
In 2018 they celebrated twenty years of existence.
Each member is also a soloist and member of some of the greatest orchestras in Brazil. Furthermore, each member teaches in internationally recognized Brazilian universities. The quartet have performed in the Brazilian national SESI and SESC institutions, and worked with the University of Sao Paulo (USP).
CLÁUDIO MICHELETTI
Violin 1
Spalla of the Orquestra Sinfônica OSUSP and Orquestra Experimental;
KAREN MICHELETTI
Violin 2
First violin at the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.
BRUNO ROCHA
Viola
First viola at the Orquestra Sinfônica de Piracicaba. Recently recorded an album, integrating the Ensemble Mentenanuque, for the label USP. The album contains works by Rubens Russomano Ricciardi, faculty member of USP - Ribeirão Preto.
ANDRÉ MICHELETTI
Violoncelo
Faculty member at USP Ribeirão Preto; artistic director of the Orquestra Sinfônica de Piracicaba and also the Festival de Música de Piracicaba. He is also known by his soloist activities and pedagogical work.
LUIS AFONSO MONTANHA
First clarinet player of Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal of Sao Paulo and clarinet Professor at São Paulo University and Doctor in Musicology (UNICAMP University). Montanha plays clarinet and bass clarinet (clarone) in several chamber music ensembles, among them: Quinteto de Clarinetes Sujeito a Guincho, Duo Clarones (with Henri Bok – Holland), ClarinEtc and Opus Brasil.
During the years 1995 and 1996 he completed a master degree for clarinet and bass clarinet at the Rotterdam Conservatoire (Holland), achieving the highest score, having Walter Boeykens and Henri Bok as his teachers. Since 1992 he is Professor at the Music Department at University of Sao Paulo, considered one of the best in the country.
Winner of several awards: Jovens Instrumentistas do Brasil (Youth Players of Brazil), in 1987 and 1988, Jovens Solistas da OSESP (Youth Players of OSESP), in 1988 and 1989, Jovens Solistas da OSPA (Youth Players of OSPA), in 1988, Prêmio Eldorado de Música – Second prize as soloist, in 1993 – First prize with the “Quinteto Sujeito a Guincho”, in 1995, ESSO Music Award – Holland, in 1996 and Sharp Músic Award with the “Quinteto Sujeito a Guincho”, in 1997.
Montanha is regularly invited as a guest teacher in festivals in Brazil and abroad, as well as a soloist and chamber musician in concerts in Brazil, Europe and the United States, playing important premieres within the clarinet and bass clarinet repertoire.
Luís Afonso Montanha plays Selmer instruments.
DANIEL MURRAY
Born in 1981, he began his musical studies when he was 6. Encouraged by guitarist José Murray, at the age of 13 he began to dedicate more intensely to the study of the guitar, having classes with Floriano Rosalino, Celso Brescia (at Cia das Cordas), Edelton Gloeden, Paulo Porto Alegre. Since then, he has given concerts as a soloist and chamber musician in places like Centro Cultural São Paulo, the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, MASP (São Paulo Museum of Art).
At 15, he finished second at the “Concours Internacional de Guitarre de Trédrez-Locquemeau” (France), and studied with Alberto Ponce for one month at La Coûme in the Pyrenees. Since then, he has studied lute with Silvana Scarinci and Carin Zwiling. At 17, he entered FASM-Faculdade Santa Marcelina to study contemporary music with professors Silvio Ferraz and Flo Menezes, going on to post-graduate studies in musical analysis with Menezes. In 2001, he began to study composition with João Carlos Assis Brasil.
In 2002, he formed a Duo with Paulo Porto Alegre, his professor, dedicated to modern and avant-garde repertoire for two guitars. In June, 2003, he presented a solo recital in Nantes-France of Brazilian popular and contemporary music, including some of his own compositions. He participated as a scholar in the XXXIV Festival of Campos do Jordão-SP, Brazil. In August, he played at Festival Música Nova, and in September and October in France, in Lannion and Paris (the Brazilian Embassy and “Maison de l'Amérique Latine”). In 2004, he participated in the creation of the “Me Gusta Neruda” dance-theater show together with clarinetist Gustavo Barbosa Lima and ballet dancers Juan Castiglioni and Marisa Magalhães, as performed an player and composer.
He played in the Cenapoética project with French poet Yvon Le Men in numerous places in São Paulo and at the “Festival Étonnants Romantiques” in Combourg, France. He played in Paris during the “Fête de la Musique” (Brazilian Embassy). He participated in the BIMESP-Bienal de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo (Biennial of Electro-Acoustic Music of São Paulo).
He currently teaches classical guitar at Cia das Cordas. He is playing with Trio Opus 12, a guitar trio, with Paulo Porto Alegre and Edelton Gloeden, and plays regularly with Paulo Bellinati and Israel de Almeida. He is guest guitarist for Núcleo Hespérides - Música das Américas, a group composed of Andréa Kaiser, Antonio Ribeiro, Rosana Civile, José Antonio Soares, Paulo Porto Alegre, Joaquim de Abreu, Rogério Wolf, Heloisa Petri, José Augusto Mannis and Celso Delneri. He has played with them at Sala São Paulo, as well as many other venues.
PEDRO GADELHA
Brazilian-born double bass player Pedro Gadelha studied at the University of São Paulo in Brazil and in the Orchestral Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic. His teachers include Rainer Zepperitz and Klaus Stoll. Gadelha is currently principal bassist of the Sao Paulo State Symphony and was formerly a member of the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra. As a bass section leader, he has workedwith the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, Galicia Symphony and the Rouen Opera. Pedro Gadelha is a frequent collaborator with such European ensembles as the Ensemble Modern and symphony orchestras in Cologne, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. Gadelha has worked with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Georg Solti, Seiji Ozawa, Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez.
Gadelha is professor of bass and chamber music at the Sao Paulo State Music School. He has taught in festivals throughout Brazil and South America and at the Paris Conservatory. His musical interests range form early to contemporary classical music, Brazilian music and jazz.
RAÏFF DANTAS BARRETO
Raïff Dantas Barreto, a cello performer from the Brazilian state Paraiba, studied with Nelson Campos in his home town and Enrico Contini in Parma, Itália. Amongst his many albums, Raïff recorded “Sonatas de Brahms e Franck” with the pianist Álvaro Siviero, “As três primeiras suítes para violoncelo solo de J.S.Bach”, and his solo album “Miniaturas Brasileiras”.
Raïff performed with several orchestras, including the Orquestra Sinfônica Municipal de São Paulo, Orquestra do Teatro Nacional de Brasília, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra (NY-EUA), Sinfônica de Santo André, Sinfônica de Minas Gerais, Sinfônica do Espirito Santo, Camerata de Curitiba, Camerata SESI, and the Orquestra Sinfônica da Paraíba; working with conductors such as Eleazar de Carvalho, Leon Spierer, Ira Levin, Victor Hugo Toro, Abel Rocha, Mateus Araújo, Leonardo David, Marcelo Ramos, Lígia Amadio, and Ênio Antunes.
Raïff performed the Brazilian premieres of the following cello concerti: Shostakovich no2, Kabalevsky no2, and the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and cello by Miklos Rosza. Being active as a chamber music performer, Raïff has worked with Toninho Ferragutti, André Mehmari, Pablo de Leon, Rose de Souza, Marcos Aragoni, and Ulisses Rocha.
Professor at the Instituto Baccarelli and the Projeto Neojiba in Salvador-BA. Raïff if the first cello (soloist) at the São Paulo Municipal Orchestra since 2001, performing, under John Neschling's direction, Beethoven's Triple Concerto in 2016, and Richard Strauss' Don Quijote under Günter Neuhold's direction.
MARCOS ARAGONI
Marcos Aragoni, native of São Paulo, begun his musical studies studying with his mother, Maria Nascimento Aragoni. By the age of 18 he was admitted at the São Paulo Municipal Music School (Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo), to study with Sônia Muniz, having further studies on chamber music with Marizilda Hein. Marcos obtained his piano bachelor’s degree at the Faculdade Mozarteum de São Paulo, with later courses at the Hartford University, USA.
Working as a soloist and chamber musician, Marcos performed at several Brazilian festival and important halls, such as: Festival Eleazar de Carvalho em Itú e Fortaleza, Festival do Theatro da Paz, Concurso Bidu Sayao em Belém, Sala Cecilia Meireles, CCBB, Sala São Paulo, and Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, amongst others.
Since 2004 Marcos works as an accompanist pianist for the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, becoming also the official pianist of the choir for the institution.
Marcos has a prominent experience with the Waldorf pedagogy, teaching at the Waldorf Schools of São Paulo and the Rudolf Steiner School of São Paulo.
In 2009, invited by the Brazilian Foreign Affairs Cultural Department, Marcos performed in Lisbon and Paris. The program included the opera “Yerma” by Heitor Villa-Lobos, in a concert version.
Marcos also has extensive experience in working with musical theater productions, both as a pianist and a director. Among others, Marcos was involved with São Paulo productions of My Fair Lady, West Side Story, and Evita; all produced by Jorge Takla.
Marcos performance abilities, always praised by the music critics, can be heard in many CDs, including the complete works of Jose Guerra Vicente, Carta de Jerusalém and Cartas Celeste 11 by Almeida Prado, and Villa-Lobos’ Fantasia Concertante.
ALEXANDRE RIBEIRO
Alexandre Ribeiro is considered the principal theorbo player of Brazil, holds a master's degree in performance, a bachelor's degree in guitar, a licentiate and a post-graduate in music education. With a international career as theorbist frequently presents in Europe, USA and South America. He began his musical studies in the 90's and in 2007 began to dedicate himself to the early plucked strings. He was a Fellow at festivals in Germany, Portugal and England and has been contemplate by ProAC, MINC and winner of national competitions like CVSL. He is a guitar teacher whose students have won the basic categories of the country's main competitions for more than 5 years. Produced in 2015 the first cd of the group Novos Violoes. In 2017 presents his transcription of the BWV 1007, as well as his transcriptions for the duo Scordatura Antiqua and debut the piece Elegia a Bach in the Bach Society Houston. He is responsible for the prestigious series "Dedilhadas na Sé".
CHLOE BOELTER
Lyric-coloratura soprano Chloe Boelter comes from a diverse background of jazz and orchestral genres, giving her a well-rounded and deep understanding of ornamentation and musicality. From the Chicago area, Chloe studies with Jane Dutton at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, currently pursuing her Masters of Music in Voice, graduating in the spring of 2020. Her solo debut at the Hilbert Circle Theater in Indianapolis was as the Guest Artist performing Eve and Gabriel in The Creation by Haydn, conducted by Eric Stark this past October with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. She has been invited back with the ISC this fall for Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Chloe is debuting in the Czech Republic performing Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Prague Summer Nights at the Estates Theater. Chloe received a Joshi International Fellowship Grant from the Georgina Joshi Foundation last summer that funded her participation with the Vienna Summer Music Festival where she performed as Mimì in La Bohème. Her previous honors include winning 1st place in the Butler University Concerto Competition and performing André Previn’s Honey and Rue with the Butler Symphony Orchestra, and winning the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation Fellowship Award in 2015 as a jazz vocalist.
Guerra-Peixe - Valsa n. 3
Villa-Lobos - Cantiga do Viúvo
LAURENT ESTOPPEY
After studying saxophone at the Conservatory of Lausanne, Switzerland, where he received in 1994, a concert license (master of arts soloist) Swiss saxophonist established in Greensboro in 2010, Laurent Estoppey, devoted himself mostly to contemporary music, but performs and teaches classic saxophone repertoire and transcriptions of baroque music.
Numerous collaborations with composers have led him to create at least one hundred works. Now his musical activity is divided between written music and improvisation, and it occurs throughout Switzerland, many European countries, but also in Canada, USA, Argentina, Guatemala and South Africa.
He works with the following orchestras: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Orchestra (from 2008 to the present, conducted by Marek Janowski, Kazuki Yamada…), Lausanne Chamber Orchestra (1998 to the present (Christian Zacharias…) Basel Symphony, UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra (1999 James Levine) Timisoara, Orchestra of the State of Lithuania, Lausanne Sinfonietta, NEC - Chaux-de- Fonds-Contrechamps Geneva, Staatskapelle Weimar (2010, Heinz Holliger).
Estoppey has founded and developed several chamber music groups including: DILEMME (saxophone / piano with Myriam Migani), ST15 (saxophone / piano with Virginie Falquet) DEGRE21 (saxophone / guitar with Antonio Albanese), 1+1 (duo- concept Anne Gillot, recorders), compagnie CH.AU (set of nine musicians) and the 4TENORS (saxophone quartet with Vincent Daoud, Rico Gubler and Lars Mlekusch). A collaboration with saxophonist Dr.Steve Stusek (professor at UNCG) as well as the foundation of COLLAPSS (Collective for Happy Sounds) in Greensboro are his main activities in the United States. Additionally he is regularly invited to play with the saxophone quartet Basel ARTE Quartet and is a member of baBel ensemBle.
His improvisational collaborations involve meetings and concerts with musicians from all backgrounds. Many groups he has worked with are still alive today, including: HipNoiz51 (DJ, drums, saxophone, clarinet, bass and electronics) BETTY'S QUARTET (two saxophones, two voices Antoine Auberson, Anne-Sylvie Casagrande and Edmée Fleury), YET TRIO (Lingling Yu, pipa and Dragos Tara, doublebass), and Zkrabuj et chou et pâté (saxophone / percussion with LucMüller)
Estoppey as also worked alongside many independant musicians such as Jacques Demierre, Pierre Favre, Pierre Audétat, Malcolm Braff, Urs Leimgruber, Fritz Hauser and Nick Didkovsky.
He is a guest musician of the Russian theatrical troupe Akhe with whom the show "Wet Wedding" was presented in Geneva, Nice, London, Stockholm, and Mexico.
His discography includes sixteen recordings.
His interest in all contemporary arts has led him to collaborate with many artists in interdisciplinary projects including, among others, projects with Georges Haldas (literature), Olivier Saudan (painting and video), Francis Baudevin Stephan Perrinjaquet, Tatiana Rihs, Claudia Comte, Christopher Cassidy, Samantha DiRosa (visual arts) Heidi Bunting, Christine Cruchon, Brianna Taylor (dance), Gil Pidoux (literature and theater).
As an educator, Estoppey used to teach saxophone from beginners to master students for around twenty years in many music schools in Switzerland. He is regularly invited to lead improvisation workshops for musicians of all levels and all instruments, as well as saxophone, improvisation and contemporary music masterclasses.
He has a real passion to share his love for art and music with children as well as teenagers and adults.
As a composer, Estoppey writes music for concerts, but also sound installation and video art.
His piece NFM for saxophone ensemble was recently performed by UNCG saxophone studio and UNCSAx Ensemble.
Estoppey is a reference artist for Italian saxophone makers Rampone-Cazzani.
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