Cassio Vianna
Cassio Vianna is a pianist, arranger, producer, music educator, and an award-winning composer whose work reflects a broad range of musical and cultural influences. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr. Vianna is currently the Director of Jazz Studies, Associate Professor of Music at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA.
After engaging in many recording and performing projects in the vibrant Rio de Janeiro music scene, Dr. Vianna moved to the U.S. in 2009 to further his music studies and career. Dr. Vianna holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Uni-Rio), a Master of Music degree from Western Oregon University, and a Doctor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado, where he studied with David Caffey.
As a very active composer, Dr. Vianna has been commissioned to write pieces in a wide variety of styles, from solo piano to classical chamber pieces, from popular songs to large jazz ensemble charts. His compositions have received awards from the National Band Association, Ithaca College Jazz Composition Competition, Jazz Education Network, and the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers (ISJAC). His jazz big band charts have been performed by artists such as Eric Marienthal, Chris Potter, Ernie Watts, Martha Reeves (Martha & the Vandellas), and the United States Army Field Band (Jazz Ambassadors), among others. His recent albums include Letters to Grace: A Song Cycle (Cassio Vianna, 2011), Infância (Cassio Vianna Jazz Orchestra, 2017), and Vida (Cassio Vianna Jazz Orchestra, 2025). Vida features special guest Eric Marienthal and a stellar group of musicians from the Pacific Northwest.
Over the past 15 years, Dr. Vianna has been featured as an adjudicator, performer, and clinician at jazz festivals and conferences in Latin America and across the U.S. In 2015, he traveled to China to perform and to teach a two-week program at the Guangxi Arts Institute (Nanning Province). He has presented clinics and lectures at several Jazz Education Network Annual Conferences, at the Midwest Clinic, International Composers' Symposium, NAfME Northwest Conference, and at the Washington Music Educators Association Conference. Vianna is also a very active clinician with high school and college bands.