On May 29, 2012 I returned to Seattle after 3 months in Brazil as a Fulbright Scholar / Composer-in-Residence at Unicamp in Sao Paulo. While in Brazil I made wonderful new friends, performed with dozens of fantastic musicians, learned to dance (sort of), studied the pandeiro, and enjoyed lots of sunshne. At Unicamp I directed a jazz orchestra and two jazz combos. We performed the music of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and my own pieces. I conducted performances of my compositions in Tatui, Diadema, Rio de Janeiro and Campinas. I was also able to travel to Northeastern Brazil for the first time and spent very memorable days in Recife, Olinda and Porto da Galinhas.
When I wasn’t traveling or performing I was writing and I have a brand new project that I will launch in Seattle towards the end of the summer. Photos of my experience in Brazil can be found here.