Feature: Chicago Embraces a Major Talent: Clarice Assad
April 15, 2010[/caption] Assad first started composing and recording melodies in the studio at the very early age of six or seven years old. These pop-influenced jingles were similar to what she heard on the radio in the 1980s. As she matured and lived in many places and cultures she was exposed to new musical concepts. Today she composes and performs classical, jazz, and pop in many styles. When asked to label her music, she paused to reflect. “The only thing that I can come up with is fusion, I enjoy mixing elements from other places. Because I come from a different country and I've traveled to so many places in my life. If you see my DNA makeup, it’s all over the place.” She once received a nomination for Best Contemporary composition in the Latin Grammy Awards. She noted, “because I'm from Brazil I automatically fall into that category, there's just no way around it.” [caption id="attachment_88189" align="alignleft" width="328"] Clarice Assad's compositions cross stylistic boundaries. Photo courtesy of Clarice Assad.[/caption] While retaining her Brazilian citizenship, Assad became a US citizen in 2010. When asked if recent shifts in American policies and attitudes toward immigrants have affected her, she said, “This is very complex. I was never directly affected by it in a way, but it was really hard for me to immigrate. It was a long process.” As an adult when she moved here, she had to go through a lengthy process to get a Green Card, and, ultimately, US citizenship. This did not apply to her two younger siblings, who came to the US to study as minors and easily became citizens with the help of her dad. Ironically, her siblings did not want to stay here, but she did. It took 13 years of student and tourist visas, which required her to leave the country every two months, before she became a citizen in 2010. She recalled, “It’s been a fight while, at the same time, I was also very well received in the US.” Assad is also a passionate music educator. In 2015 she started VOXploration, an interactive course that allows anyone to create spontaneous music with their body and voice. She uses it to allow participants to integrate theater, dance, and visual arts by combining body percussion and any vocal style. As part of the class, Assad teaches a variety of vocal styles, including beatbox and overtone singing. Participants learn body percussion and other effect-based sounds. VOXploration is open to anyone; one needs neither music experience nor knowledge of music notation to enjoy this class. “I wanted to teach music concepts to people who don't read music,” she explained. “I would add elements of educational value more than just improvisation.” She characterizes it as “exploring music through the voice, concepts like writing, and transcribing rhythms and using geometric shapes by just being very creative.” Assad was inspired by the seminar Instant Operas she took from Bobby McFerrin at Carnegie Hall in 2008. She has been a fan of McFerrin since she was a child. “I did this workshop with him and 20 other singers, with everybody coming from a different singing tradition,” she recalled. “That opened a whole realm of possibilities for me. There was a counter tenor, Beatboxing, a singer from Israel and a singer from Lebanon. I had never seen that before.” [caption id="attachment_88255" align="alignright" width="318"] Students in VOXploration learn to make music with their voice and body. Photo courtesy of Clarice Assad.[/caption] McFerrin led everybody in circle songs. “Basically,” Assad explained, “He sings a looping, melody, and he gives it to one singer, and then polyphony happens. All of the sudden, someone beings improvising.” She was attracted to the notion that anyone can do it regardless of musical training. She witnessed people getting the thought, “Oh, I can do that, too,” and jumping right in. She recalls one especially memorable experience using the VOXploration approach with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, which was trying to reach out to different communities. “They needed somebody who could facilitate that encounter,” she recalled. “We put our thinking hats together, looking at how can we get the orchestra to perform with kids, different institutions around the city, who may or may not read music. Who could connect them?” She agreed to do the workshop and a new piece of music emerged. “I wrote a piece without knowing the outcome,” she recalled. “It was like, literally, I had pockets of empty measures to fill with whatever the kids were willing to do. We ended up performing this live, the orchestra with kids from different institutions of the Boston area.” Assad is presently working to make VOXploration a non-profit. Unfortunately, it does not lend itself well to remote, virtual learning. “It is a class that involves people being together in the same space, singing and sharing a microphone so it’s the worst possible idea during a pandemic,” she wrote. “But I did put together a class on Skillshare, which I teach many extended vocal techniques for people interested in experiment with their voices, it’s free.” She is producing VOXploration podcasts during the pandemic. She explained, “It served as a platform for myself to learn more about artists I am interested in, whose lives are somehow tied to the idea of using the voice as an instrument.” Assad uses the podcast medium to introduce rising talent. Ronnie Malley is an amazing virtuoso from Chicago who has immersed himself everything from music composition, performance, theater, business, and teaching. He plays many instruments and speaks many languages. In Polyglot to Polymath, Assad interviewed Malley, who has woven music from his Arab background, India, western culture, and elsewhere into classical, rock and roll, and other musical endeavors. [caption id="attachment_7187" align="alignleft" width="260"] The Ear Taxi Festival Brought had a big influence on Clarice Assad when she moved back to Chicago in 2016.[/caption] "Then, there's the older generation and all that history that comes with them, like my conversation with Leonard Bernstein’s daughter Jamie," she wrote. "We are now exploring the idea of me writing a piece for her to narrate using her poems. It’s amazing how things connect in strange ways." In 2016, Assad established her residence in Chicago following a ten-year stint in New York City, which seemed a bit overwhelming. She found that Chicago has everything New York has. “When I came back to Chicago I felt like a relief,” she recalled. “Yes, there's all of that here too. But it's manageable. It's more like a community; you feel like you're part of everything.” She experienced this immediately with Ear Taxi Festival. When asked what about Chicago’s scene is compatible to her, she replied, “I would say, everything.” Clarice currently lives in downtown Chicago with her life partner Andrea Santiago. Joy recently entered their lives with a baby girl Antonia, who was born on January 23rd. “She’s a miracle in our lives,” wrote Assad. Being her mother gives me a whole new purpose in life.” Their home is close to her father and step mother, Angela Olinto, who is a Dean at the University of Chicago. Her birth mother Celia Vasconcelos still lives in Rio de Janeiro, which Clarice visits often. Outside of music, when asked what interests her, her answer was swift: “I love technology. I love, love to press buttons, coding, working with websites.” When asked about the music she listens to when seeking comfort, she said, “It's never the same. I like to readily find music. I’ve been listing to R&B a lot lately.” The recent release by Jazmine Sullivan, Lost One (Live) has appealed to her. [caption id="attachment_88191" align="alignright" width="402"] Clarice Assad has always been close to her father Sérgio Assad. Photo courtesy of Clarice Assad.[/caption] In these times of pandemic, Assad’s attitude has remained positive. “I’m feeling great right now, even though it’s a difficult time for all of us in the arts,” she said. “I feel hopeful that we’ll get out of this stronger. I’ve been talking to a lot of young musicians who are full of hope.” In addition to a film performance of Archetypes, with Third Coast Percussion and her father, this summer Clarice will be releasing an album with Danish musicians performing the music of Brazilian songwriter Milton Nascimento. She wrote, “I am excited about how it came out!” More information about Clarice Assad can be found at clariceassad.com
#Albany Symphony#Archtypes#Assad Brothers Guitar Duo#Augusta Read Thomas#Boby McFerrin#Cedille Records#Clarice Assad#Ear Taxi Festival#Herbie Hancock#Marin Alsop
Louis Harris
A lover of music his whole life, Louis Harris has written extensively from the early days of punk and alternative rock. More recently he has focused on classical music, especially chamber ensembles. He has reviewed concerts, festivals, and recordings and has interviewed composers and performers. He has paid special attention to Chicago’s rich and robust contemporary art music scene. He occasionally writes poetry and has a published novel to his credit, 32 Variations on a Theme by Basil II in the Key of Washington, DC. He now lives on the north side of Chicago, which he considers to be the greatest city in the country, if not the world. Member of the Music Critics Association of North America.