Mossa Bildner is a Brazilian multi-disciplinary artist best known for vocal work with

Henry Threadgill Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...

and for arranging the ''Colours of Ritual'' performances in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Background

Bildner grew up in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

where she was exposed to a wide variety of music. In her teens she attended

Umbanda Umbanda () is a syncretic Afro-Brazilian religion that blends traditional African religions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. Although some of its beliefs and most of its practices existed in the late 19th ce ...

and Candomble ceremonies and formed a lifelong love of the Afro-Brazilian styles. Bildner studied Opera Performance at the

Conservatorio Santa Cecilia The Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia is a state conservatory in Rome. History The institution has its roots dated back to the Congregazione de' musici di Roma named after Saint Cecilia in 1565 (now Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia). Sin ...

in Rome, Italy, graduating in 1983. Her tutors included Yolanda Magnoni,

Franco Mannino Franco Mannino (25 April 1924 – 1 February 2005) was an Italian film composer, pianist, opera director, playwright and novelist, born in Palermo. He made his debut as pianist at the age of 16. He conducted the National Arts Centre Orchestra ...

, and

Luigi Ricci Luigi Ricci may refer to: * Luigi Ricci (composer) (1805–1859), Italian composer * Luigi Ricci (vocal coach) Luigi Ricci (1893–1981) was an Italian assistant conductor, accompanist, vocal coach, and author. Career Ricci began studying music ...

. She continued her vocal studies in London with Vera Rosza and Robert Southerland, in Vienna with

Tito Gobbi Tito Gobbi (24 October 19135 March 1984) was an Italian operatic baritone with an international reputation. He made his operatic debut in Gubbio in 1935 as Count Rodolfo in Bellini's '' La sonnambula'' and quickly appeared in Italy's major oper ...

and

Sena Jurinac Srebrenka "Sena" Jurinac () (24 October 1921 – 22 November 2011) was a Bosnian-born Austrian operatic soprano. Biography Jurinac was born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina (then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), the daughter of a Croatia ...

, and at the

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...

in Salzburg. Bildner went on to perform at the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

Scottish Opera Scottish Opera is the national opera company of Scotland, and one of the five national performing arts companies of Scotland. Founded in 1962 and based in Glasgow, it is the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. History Scottish ...

, and elsewhere in Europe, including two years as a member at the

Theater Augsburg The Staatstheater Augsburg is a theatre of Augsburg, Germany. Until 1999 it was called Städtische Bühnen Augsburg, from then until the end of August 2018 it was called ''Theater Augsburg''. It offers on four stages musical theatre, plays and bal ...

. After arriving in New York in 1990,

heard Bildner sing and invited her to record with his ensemble Very Very Circus. She appears on ''

Too Much Sugar for a Dime ''Too Much Sugar for a Dime'' is an album by Henry Threadgill, released in 1993 on the Axiom label. It has been described as: "a mad, glorious romp which explores some very dark timbres and tonalities and yet remains witty, fresh and consistent ...

'' ( Axiom, 1993), '' Song Out of My Trees'' (Black Saint, 1993), and '' Carry the Day'' ( Columbia, 1994) after which, with Threadgill's encouragement, she left the group to embark on her own projects.

Harvest of my Tongue

''Harvest of my Tongue'' is a 26-piece musical work, composed by Bildner, based on a poem ''Recueil des Mots de ma Langue'' by French artist Michele Blondel. It was first commissioned & performed in 1994 at the

Fine Arts Center (Amherst, Massachusetts) The Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (FAC) is an arts center located just north of downtown Amherst, Massachusetts and contains a concert hall and a contemporary art gallery. The building is a 646 ...

retrospective of Blondel's work. Since then it has been performed at

The Living Theatre The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/p ...

and at the Brecht Forum, both in New York City.

After the Storm

In 2012 Bildner recorded an improvisational album ''After The Storm'' (FMR) with British guitarist

Philip Gibbs Sir Philip Armand Hamilton Gibbs KBE (1 May 1877 – 10 March 1962) was an English journalist and prolific author of books who served as one of five official British reporters during the First World War. Four of his siblings were also write ...

and vibraphonist/pianist

Karl Berger Karl Hans Berger (born March 30, 1935 in Heidelberg, Germany) is a German jazz pianist, composer, and educator. Career Berger played piano in Germany when he was ten and worked in his teens at a club in Heidelberg. He learned modern jazz from v ...

. Bildner included readings of two poems by Dylan Thomas in her performance.

Film

A short film ''A Vida É Estranha'' ("Life is Strange") that Bildner co-directed with

Glauber Rocha Glauber de Andrade Rocha (; 14 March 1939 – 22 August 1981) was a Brazilian film director, actor and screenwriter. He was one of the most influential moviemakers of Brazilian cinema and a key figure of Cinema Novo. His films ''Black God, White ...

premiered at the Curitiba International Film Festival in 2015. The film documents Rocha and Bildner's 1973 trip to Essaouira, a city in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

Discography

With

*'' Carry the Day'' (Columbia, 1995)

References

External links

* https://mossabildner.wordpress.com/
Colours of Ritual at Kaye Playhouse, Hunter College
details of 2007 event. * Living people Year of birth missing (living people) FMR Records artists Columbia Records artists {{Brazil-musician-stub