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Cassio Vianna
Jazz Composer
About Me
Cassio Vianna is a composer, pianist, arranger, and educator whose work reflects the broad range of musical and cultural
influences he has received during his years of training. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Vianna started his music
studies in classical music, while developing his skills as a composer and interpreter of popular music and Brazilian jazz.
Between 1993 and 1995, Vianna studied under Hungarian teacher Ian Guest, who had a great impact on his decision to
pursue a career as a composer.
After this period, Vianna engaged in several recording and performing projects in the Rio de Janeiro music scene, which
included a successful career with the Brazilian jazz trio Dialeto Brasileiro.
Cassio Vianna holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Brazilian Popular Music from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de
Janeiro, a Master of Music degree in Contemporary Music from Western Oregon University, and a Doctor of Arts degree in
Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado.
Vianna’s arrangements have been performed by artists such as Martha Reeves, Lynn Anderson, Chris Potter, Tony Kadleck,
Danny Gottlieb, Armando Marçal, Chuck Owen's Jazz Surge Band, Clay Jenkins, and the United States Army Field Band (Jazz
Ambassadors), among others. Vianna's compositional styles range from popular music and Brazilian jazz to classical
chamber pieces and works for large jazz ensembles. His most recent albums include Letters to Grace: a Song Cycle (2011,
Teal Creek Music), and Infância (2017, Teal Creek Music). The album Infância features Vianna's recent works for jazz
orchestra; Infância is also the title of his Brazilian Suite in Three Movements for Jazz Orchestra.
Over the past 10 years, Vianna has been featured as a performer and/or clinician at festivals and conferences in Brazil,
Paraguay, China and the U.S. In 2016, he traveled to China to perform and to teach a 2-week program at the Guangxi Arts
Institute (Nanning Provence). In 2017 and 2018 he was featured as a presenter and clinician at the Jazz Education Network
Annual Conferences.
Cassio Vianna lives with his family in the Pacific Northwest, where he is the Director of Jazz Studies, Assistant Professor of
Music at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA.