BIOGRAPHY

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Brazilian pianist, composer, and educator, Eloá Gonçalves is graduated from the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Graz (KUG - Austria) in Jazz Piano, under the guidance of German pianist Olaf Polziehn (having completed the course with outstanding performance mention). She holds also a bachelor's and master's degree in Popular Music from UNICAMP (Brazil). Her discography (among project collaborations or bandleader) includes 15 albums and 4 DVDs.

 

Recently she released her debut album leading her trio (Eloá Gonçalves Trio) under the Austrian label Alessa Records. 

The album has been mentioned by jazz critics in renowned magazines such as Downbeat (USA), Kulturní Magazín (Czech Republic), Jazz 'Halo (Belgium), and Concerto (Austria).

 

As a pianist, she has performed and/or recorded with both instrumental and pop music names such as Sandy (Brazil), Zalon Thompson (England), Vinicius Dorin, Nailor Azevedo “Proveta" (Brazil), Ivan Vilela, Daniel Barry (USA), Marcelo Martins (Brazil), Marco Lobo, Joe Fiedler (USA), Luis Bonilla (USA), Sigi Feigl (Austria), Vine St. Horns - Brad Cole & KUG Jazz Orchestra (USA/Austria), Kaya Meller Quartet (Poland), Jaka Arh Triptych (Slovenia), Experience of the North (Denmark/Austria), Iñaki Askunze (Spain), Cristina Miguel Martínez (Spain), Mario Campos and Orchestral Collective (Brazil), Rafael de Lima Quartet (Brazil), UNICAMP Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), Indaiatuba Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), Campinas Jazz Big Band, and KUG Jazz Orchestra (Austria).

 

As a composer, there were pieces played in Brazil and abroad: "Salão de Beleza" (2007, collaboration with Arrigo Barnabé, Institute of Arts, UNICAMP); final of the Latin American Music Center Recording Competition - Indiana University, 2015; Afro-Brazilian Concerts, Caixa Cultural - curated by Fábio Caramuru and Prof. Ligia F. Ferreira, 2016.

 

She was a soloist with the symphony orchestra of UNICAMP (2015 and 2017 - for two concerts conducted by composer and guest conductor Rafael Piccolotto de Lima, Latin Grammy-nominated composer), and the Indaiatuba Symphony Orchestra (2016) with Trio Matiz and Weber Marely, where she also presented some of her pieces and arrangements for quartet and orchestra.

 

In 2015, she was awarded an honorable mention for the international artistic residency One Beat ("2015 One Beat Honorable Mention"), and finalist of the same artistic residence in 2016.

 

In 2016 she was a finalist of the MIMO Instrumental Prize with her trio, Trio Matiz. She was selected to attend international events such as Hudson Jazz Workshop - 2012 (Hudson, NY, USA) and Keep an Eye Summer Jazz Workshop 2017 (Amsterdam, Netherlands; Conservatorium van Amsterdam in partnership with Manhattan School of Music - NY - USA).

 

She has studied with pianists such as Olaf Polziehn (Germany), Armen Donelian (USA), Rob Van Bavel (Netherlands), Phil DeGreg (USA), Jaime Barbosa, Rafael dos Santos, Leila Kfouri Bernardi (classical piano), and Hilton Valente "Gogô". She has also studied with names such as Luis Bonilla (USA), Renato Chicco (Austria), and participated in workshops with Marc Mommas (USA), Joe Locke (USA), Yaniv Nachum (Netherlands), John Riley (USA), Ari Hoenig (USA), Nitai Hershkovitz, Or Bareket, Joelle Léandre (France), among others.

 

Leading her trio in Brazil before moving to Europe, she was invited to inaugurate the partnership of SAVASSI Jazz Festival (Belo Horizonte) with the Women Creating Collective, presenting with her trio on the stage "Women Creating Music" in 2017. After moving to Europe for her studies, the trio was also invited to join the Jazzwerkstatt Graz 2019 (Graz, Austria) and Steyr Jazz Festival 2020 (Steyr, Austria).

 

In Europe, she has been performing in Austria, Croatia, Slovenia, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany, at jazz clubs and festivals such as the renowned Unterfahrt Jazz Club (Munich), Regensburg Jazz Club, Jazzwerkstatt Graz 2019, Warsaw Summer Jazz Festival 2019, Jazzwerkstatt Graz 2020, All That Jazz Art Festival Malinska 2019, Graz Jazz Nacht, Kranj Jazz Camp 2020, Steyr Jazz Festival, and Jazz Im Generalihof.

 

In September 2020 she was selected with her Trio as a finalist of the Central European Jazz Showcase, an event realized in partnership with JazzFest Brno (Czech Republic).

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In April 2023 the pianist and composer is releasing her second album under Austrian label Alessa Records, "Sobre o que move as coisas" (About what moves things) recorded in June 2022 at Sounddesign Studios (Hagenberg, Austria).

The album was sponsored by SKE (http://www.ske-fonds.at/), presenting her trio with the participation of the French singer/cellist Mathilde Vendramin and the German trumpet player and composer Jakob Helling. 

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As an educator, she has already taught masterclasses and workshops at universities and festivals such as the prestigious Campos do Jordão Summer Festival (Brazil, 2023), UNILA (Federal University of Latin American Integration; Brazil, 2022), and Frost School of Music (Miami, USA, 2012), in an exchange program from the Brazilian Ministry of Culture. 

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