A classical guitarist from São Paulo, Brazil, Nander Novaes is regularly noted for his outstanding communicative gifts, as well as for his engaging and virtuosic skills as a music performer. Nander Novaes began his music studies in guitar and music theory under the guidance of his parents, Eunice e Orlando Novaes, both professional musicians and ministers of music in the Methodist Church of Brazil. In his home country, Mr. Novaes first formal studies in classical guitar took place at the Heitor Villa-Lobos Conservatory of Music under his father’s advisory. At the age of 18, he was the youngest musician to be invited by the leadership body of the Methodist Church of Brazil to occupy a position as a Director of Music, an unprecedented achievement which years later would give him the opportunity of representing Brazil at the CIEMAL – Congresso de Igrejas Evangélicas Metodistas da América Latina in Argentina.

 

In 1999 the Escola Municipal de Música de São Paulo accepted him on a competitive basis, granting him a scholarship in guitar performance program under the tutelage of Henrique Pinto. At this same Brazilian institution, he attended the nationally acclaimed course in choir conducting under the advisory Naomi Munakata, director of the Coro Sinfônico do Estado de São Paulo. In the meantime, the Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul granted Mr. Novaes a scholarship to complete his Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance under the tutelage of both Dr. Paulo de Tarso Salles and Dr. Edilson de Lima. Already in his first year as a student at this institution, he was invited to assume a position as an Assistant Instructor in Guitar and Music Theory. His recital debut took place at the Sala Assis Chateaubriand at the Museu de Artes de São Paulo (MASP).

 

After his graduation in 2003, Mr. Novaes decided to pursue further graduate studies at the Universidade de São Paulo, where he attended Lorenzo Mammi’s classes as a special student in the Musicology Program course Genesis of Music Notation, presented his monograph Tablature Notation System for Old Plucked Stringed Instruments - from Renaissance to Baroque Period. In 2004, in the category of a special student at the Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, he pursued further studies in the subjects Methodological Perspectives in Brasilian Historic Musicology. Subsequently, he gave recitals throughout Sao Paulo dedicated to the repertoire related to his areas of research, and attended conferences and masterclasses in Brazil with worldwide renowned classical guitarists such as Fabio Zanon (Brazil), Eli Kasner (Canada), Hubert Küppel (Germany), and R. Thomas Patterson (University of Arizona).

 

Upon the invitation of Maestro Ernesto Bitetti and recommendations of Henrique Pinto, Dr. Thomas Patterson, and Dr. Edilson de Lima, Nander Novaes accepted an invitation to pursue graduate studies in Music Performance at the international acclaimed Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Besides having completed a Guitar Performer Diploma degree in 2010, the university granted Mr. Novaes the prestigious Associate Instructorship. Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s in Guitar Performance under the tutelage of Ernesto Bitetti. As for his complimentary degrees at the Jacobs School of Music, Nander Novaes graduated in Sacred Music and Early Music Voice, having as his advisors the professors Dr. Janette Fishell (Organ Department Chair) and Dr. Paul Elliott (Early Music Department Chair).

 

Also regarded as a gifted low bass singer, Nander Novaes has performed concerts in the United States as a member of the prominent vocal consort Vox Reflexa under the direction of Ben Geier, and the Concentus Ensemble under the direction of both Paul Elliott and Nigel North. Nander Novaes has concertized in Brazil, Argentina, and the United States. His repertoire includes works by J. S. Bach, Fernando Sor, Dionisio Aguado, Johan Kaspar Mertz, Francisco Tárrega, Enrique Granados, Isaac Albèniz, Augustin Barrios, M. Castelnuovo Tedesco, and Villa-Lobos among others. In 2012 he released his first guitar solo album entitled Allegro, recorded at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church of Bloomington. The project had Nander as its executive producer and Vince Go as its producer and engineer.

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The triadic areas of music performance, sacred music and theology play a central role in Nander’s vocational calling. As a recipient of the prestigious Elisa Garrett Leadership Distinguished Alum Award and the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts Award, he pursued a Master of Arts in Music Ministry at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Nander was mentored by Dr. Ernest Byron (Ron) Anderson and graduated with honors becoming a member of the Theta Alpha Kappa National Honors Society for Religious Studies and Theology.

 

Currently, he is pursuing a  Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Guitar Performance and Music Theory mentored by Anne Waller at the internationally acclaimed Northwestern University Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music in Evanston, Il. Aside from his duties as a performer, Mr. Novaes is highly dedicated to the art of teaching, and first at the Indiana University and now at Northwestern's music school he has built a solid foundation towards an academic life as a music educator. He serves as Director of Music Ministry and Choir Director at First United Methodist Church in Des Plaines, Illinois, and resides in Evanston with his beloved wife Ana Cláudia de Novaes.