Zondag 19 februari 2012, 16.00- 19.00

projekt 072, Alkmaar

Roberto Sion stands out among the most active and respected names of the Brazilian instrumental music, not only highly regarded as a sax, flute and clarinet player, but also as a composer, arranger, maestro and professor.

Sion pioneered the use of jazz and classical music elements in Brazilian music - whether bossa nova or samba - and this style became his trademark. He started his piano studies at 5, and at 13 he moved on to sax, clarinet, solfege, harmony and choir singing at the Lavignac Conservatory, in the city of Santos. At 25, after graduating in Psychology in the city of Campinas, Sion decides to dedicate himself completely to music, and goes to the Berklee College of Music, in the US, where he develops his skills at arranging and improvising.

He studies the saxophone with Joseph Viola, Ryo Noda, Lee Konitz, and Joe Allard. He develops and improves his career as a composer and arranger, and studies analyses and composition with Damiano Cozzella, Olivier Toni, Willy C. Oliveira, and H. J. Koellreutter. With Grace Bush he improves his flute skills.

Roberto traveled several times to Argentina and Europe, with Vinicius de Moraes and Toquinho, and participated in the famous European tour made by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Miucha.

Sion has been playing since he was 11, and has already recorded 14 albums as instrumentalist, composer, and arranger. He also performed as a soloist in Europe, the US, Japan and more recently in Israel, with Leila Pinheiro, Nelson Ayres, and the Jerusalem Philharmonic.

In 1996, during his stay in Japan, he received the following review from "one of the most important alto sax players in the world": "...for the creativity of his work over the last 30 years ..." (certified translation Japan Consulate in Sao Paulo).

ROBERTO SION