About

José Ananias, one of the most prominent Brazilian flutists, was born in Amapá in 1958, and began his music studies in São Paulo where he graduated in 1979 from the Municipal Music School under the guidance of Jean Noel Saghaard. He had studied in Paris with Christian Lardé and Pierre-Yves Artaud, and he had participated in master classes by Keith Underwood(USA), Wolfgang Schulz(Austria) and Jean-Claude Gerard(France).

He was member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra in São Paulo and in 1985, was admitted to the orchestra of the Municipal Theatre(Sao Paulo Opera’s House). Since 1986 he is a flutist at the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. (www.osesp.art.br).

The Sao Paulo Symphony is the most important orchestra in Latin America nowadays.

The orchestra has made several international tours; South America(2000,2005 and 2007), United States of America(2002 and 2006) and Europe, 2004 and in March 2007, when the orchestra played 16 concerts at the most importants symphony halls in France, Poland, Austria, Hungary, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland and Spain.

The orchestra records exclusively for the Swedish Label “BIS”, and has won many international prizes(Latin Grammy) for some of its recordings.

During his orchestral life, Jose Ananias, has worked with famous conductors as:

Kurt Masur, Stanilasw Skrovachwiesk, Paavo Berglund, James Sedares, Eleazar de Carvalho, Eiji Oue,Gerard Schwarz, Theodor Guschulbauer, Alain Lombard,Peter Maxwel Davis,Lawrence Foster, Frank Shipway,Helmut Rilling,Claus Peter Flor, Gunter Neuhold and others.

As chamber musician, he was one of the founders of the Wind Quintet of Gramado, a group with whom he has been performing throughout Brazil and abroad, including performances in Portugal in 1988.

He taught at the Tatuí Conservatory from 1983 to 1987, and since 1990 he teaches at the Municipal Music School in São Paulo. Since 2003 Mr Ananias is also flute teacher at the Centro Musical Tom Jobim, Sao Paulo State Music School.Mr Ananias is teaching chamber music at the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s Music Academy since the begining of 2006.

As a teacher and performer, José Ananias has participated in the major musical festivals of Brazil, including the ones in Curitiba(from 1990 untill 1996 and 2007), Belém(1988,1989), Tatuí(1985,1986) and Brasília(1983, 1984,1985 and 2000).

During the years of 1999 and 2000, José Ananias was invited by the “La Scala de San Telmo” foundation(Argentina) to teach one week of master classes and two recitals.

In June of 2004, José Ananias was guest flute teacher at the” III Encuentro de Flauta Del Sur Del Mundo” in Osorno, Chile, presented by:“Fundacion Orchestra Juveniles y Infantiles de Chile”.

During the year of 2005, March and April,Jose Ananias was invited again to present a recital and master class at the “ Instituto Profesional Escuela Moderna de Musica” in Santiago de Chile and also in Argentina, at the Proffessor J. Aguirre Conservatory of Music at Lomas de Zamora, State of Buenos Aires.

José Ananias was back again to Argentina in September, 2006, to teach master classes at : Escuela de Musica,de la Facultad de Humanidades y Artes, de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario and at the “Conservatorio Beethoven” in Buenos Aires.

Since 1999, Mr. Ananias has been invited to present master classes and recitals at the most prestigious United States Music Schools:

January 1999:

SUNY-Purchase, New York.

Hart School of Music in Hartford,CT.

February 2002:

Delta State University,Cleveland, MS.

Rhodes Institut, Department of Music, Memphis,TN

University of North Texas, College of Music, TX

November 2002:

University of Michigan School of Music,Theatre & Dance, in Ann Arbor,MI

Hart School of Music in Hartford, CT

January and February 2006:

Emory University, School of Music, Atlanta,GA

Georgia State University at Athens,Hugh Hogdson School of Music, GA

Florida State University, College of Music ,Tallahassee,FL

Hart School of Music in Hartford, CT

University of Akron, Akron , OH

Carnegie Mellon University, School of Music, Pittsburgh, PA

University of Pennsylvania,Philadelphia,PA

José Ananias was the chamber music coordinator for the Campos do Jordao International Music Festival, from 2001 till 2005.

The Campos do Jordao festival is the most important music festival in Latin America( www.festivaldeinverno.sp.gov.br)

He has been soloist with the majors Brazilian Symphony orchestras, as São Paulo University Symphony Orchestra, Camerata Fukuda, São Caetano Philarmonic and others.

José Ananias was the soloist for the Mozart’s flute and harp concerto in 1990 with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra during the special season of the orchestra to celebrate the W.A. Mozart’s bicentennial death.

As a recitalist he has presented many recitals in Brazil and abroad.

He is a champion of contemporary Brazilian music, and participates regularly in the New Music festival of São Paulo. He premiered several works in Brazil, including “Night Flowers”for flute, guitar and tape, by Jonh Winiarz, the Brazilian premiere of “Folk Pieces” by Luciano Berio, “Toward the Sea”by Toru Takemitsu and the Lucas Foss` Renaissance Concerto for flute and orchestra.

In the year of 1995 José Ananias began his discography production for the Paulus label. (www.paulus.com.br)

The first CD was totally dedicated to the flute music of Joseph Bodin de Boismortieu, with the São Paulo flute quintet directed by José Ananias.

In the year of 1996 the second CD came out bringing the music for flute by the French composer Charles Koechlin.” Charles Koechlin et la flûte”.

This CD was released in United States in 1997 and received raves reviews.

There are some world premiere recordings on this CD.

The third one is a collection of Brazilian Music for flute and guitar , named a “Brazilian Celebration”. The repertoire of this CD offers a broad and highly representative sample of Brazilian music for flute and guitar, two instruments intrinsically associated with the evolution of the main stylistical features and music genres of Brazilian music.

The fourth CD recorded by José Ananias is the Flute Fantasies where he is joined by the famous French flute player, Benoit Fromanger, first flute of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and the Villa-Lobos Chamber Orchestra. They recorded a collections of flute operatic fantasies for one or two flutes and orchestra. This CD was released in 2000.

Jose Anania’s fifth Cd is totally devoted to the music of Brazilian composers:Camargo Guarnieri and Francisco Mignone, the most famous Brazilian composers after Villa-Lobos. On this recording Jose Ananias put together for the first time all the chamber flute repertoire by Guarnieri and made also several first world recordings of Francisco Mignone’s flute music. This CD was released last October, 2007.

José Ananias played for the first time in the United States of America during the 28th National Flute Convention in Columbus(OHIO), August 2000, where he presented two recitals.