Biography
Brought up in an artistic environment, music has always been present in Mariana Aydar’s life - as a source of expression and personal freedom - a connection of sorts as if there were no words – an almost osmotic link - without rules. “Ever since I was quite small, I’ve always wanted to be close to the stage, or on it. I learned a lot just watching and seeing” she remembers “In my house, the music was quite varied, and we listened to everything. Bobby McFerrin, Frank Zappa, Dominguinhos, Luiz Gonzaga, Elis, Ella , Gal, Beatles, Yo-Yo Ma, Donald Fagen, Branca di Neve, Candeia, Lulu Santos, among many”. She studied the violoncello and music for infants and for teenagers from 10 to 15 years of age at the Brooklin Musical Conservatory in São Paulo. In São Paulo she attended the Waldorf School, known for encouraging artistic activities. There she studied theatre, choral work and general arts. She spent a year at the St. Marcelina College, but decided her time would be better spent and she’d get a more practical education, at the Groove School, in São Paulo. It was at the age of twenty, that she understood that after all her previous education what she really wanted to do was singing. In 2000, she began her professional career as a back vocalist with the guitarist Miltinha Ediberto, whose repertoire was on the whole, the north-eastern musical style, Forró. This lasted three years. During this time she had the opportunity to share the stage with some great names of Popular Brazilian Music such as Dominguinhos and Elba Ramalho. She was also a back vocalist for Daniela Mercury during the Carnival of 2004. At the same time, she was part of the musical group of São Paulo composer Dante Ozzetti. At 24, she found herself at a crossroads; she could continue her work with Caruá and record the first CD of the band or she could really expand out on a more varied musical journey. With her demo CD under her arm, she moved out of Brazil, quite alone, to look for new challenges, new points of view, new horizons. She chose Paris for its cultural effervescence and soon saw she had made the right choice “I met a whole range of musicians and heard music from all around the world: African, Asiatic, French; it was a year of personal maturing and musical learning” To see Brazil with “foreign” eyes was very important for her continuing education. She was already passionate about Brazilian music, and now she saw with even greater great clarity a great musical tradition which she’d known since childhood. “Non-Brazilians know and appreciate our culture, oftentimes they know much more than we know ourselves” she says. In Paris, she curated a programme for Brazilian television, getting CD’s from all over Brazil and she came to the realization, from a distance that contemporary culture trends in her own country were evolving. She then felt she was ready and inspired enough to get back to recording her first album, bringing together a host of musical influences acquired during her long stint abroad. And so the CD “Kavita 1” was created under the careful eyes of producers BiD and Duani, and mixed by Mario Caldato and Luis Paulo Serafim. The debut work brought together composers of the old and new generations. João Nogueira, Paulo César Pinheiro e Eduardo Gudin ("Minha Missão” e "Maior é Deus"), João Donato and Lysias Ênio ("Vento no Canavial”), Leci Brandão ("Zé do Caroço"), Theo de Barros ("Menino das Laranjas"), Danilo Caymmi, Edmundo Souto e Paulo Antônio ("Candomblé"), Chico César ("Prainha"), Rodrigo Amarante ("Deixa o Verão"), Giana Viscardi and Michael Ruzitshkal ("Na Gangorra"). On the CD also is “Festança”, his first work, in partnership with Duani. “Kavita 1” was so well received by wider public and Brazilian critics that Mariana Aydar once again journeyed abroad. She got innumerable great reviews everywhere she went. The reception to her first CD in Brazil was overwhelming. She was delighted and surprised and let everyone know that this, her first album had enormous support of the very best of Brazilian music and musicians “ my sound has universal appeal and is sophisticated – and is so without losing its Brazilian roots “ she said. Only recently has she begun to study vocal techniques “I think that singing with all my heart is more important than all the study of technique, which is important, but also pointless if you have no soul” says Mariana who is now 28. After two years of touring with her musicians, singing with well known musicians such as Ivan Lins, Emilio Santigo and João Donato, Mariana decided it was time to return to the studio. With her musical partner and producer Dauni by her side, she invited musical producer Kassin to participate in the making of her new CD “Peixes Pássaros Pessoas” (2009) released by Universal Music. And together with composers of her generation whom she’s long admired, 14 new pieces were created. At the same time, she herself produced new pieces: “Palavras não Falam”, a typical samba, “Aqui em casa” (in partnership with Duani) and the introspective “Tudo que eu Trago no Bolso” in partnership with Nuno Ramos. “This CD” she says “was my start in composition, and I did so because I felt the need to speak of specific themes, and to create the music from the very beginning. I feel I have contributed in terms of composition to all the tracks on the CD, because I was there at all times close to each one. I like what I do, and see that is as an authentic form of expression”. And just like Mariana Aydar herself, her CD “Peixes Pássaros Pessoas” is just part of a career that will be long and productive. Mariana has her feet on the ground. She is happy with all that has transpired so far and she knows that this is just the beginning of a long and continually innovative career.


Discography