Rate My Professor Cassio Vianna

Cassio Vianna serves as Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, where he directs the University Jazz Ensemble, coaches jazz combos, and teaches courses in jazz theory, jazz history, jazz piano, and jazz composition. A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Vianna began his musical journey at age nine, playing traditional hymns on the organ at a Presbyterian church and studying classical piano. He earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Uni-Rio) in 2003, focusing on Brazilian popular music and arranging. After moving to the United States in 2009, he obtained a Master of Music degree from Western Oregon University in 2011 and a Doctor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado in 2017, studying under David Caffey. Prior to his appointment at Pacific Lutheran University in 2019, Vianna held faculty positions at Western Oregon University, Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, and the University of Northern Colorado. In Brazil, from 2004 to 2008, he taught at Instituto Villa-Lobos and several music academies while actively performing and recording in the Rio de Janeiro music scene, co-leading the Brazilian jazz group Dialeto Brasileiro.

Vianna's compositions and arrangements blend Brazilian jazz, popular music, classical influences, and big band styles, earning performances by renowned artists such as Eric Marienthal, Wayne Bergeron, Chris Potter, Ernie Watts, Martha Reeves of Martha & the Vandellas, Tony Kadleck, Greg Gisbert, and ensembles including the United States Army Field Band Jazz Ambassadors, UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival All-Star Big Band, and Colorado Jazz Repertory Orchestra. His discography includes No Caminho by Dialeto Brasileiro (Teal Creek Music, 2009), Letters to Grace: A Song Cycle (Teal Creek Music, 2011), Infância by Cassio Vianna Jazz Orchestra (Teal Creek Music, 2017), and Vida by Cassio Vianna Jazz Orchestra (Teal Creek Music, 2025). Vianna has garnered significant recognition, including a 2025 Latin Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement, the Outstanding New Instrumental Composition Award from the International Society of Jazz Composers and Arrangers for 'Baião Moderno' (2017), composition wins from the Jazz Education Network Young Composer Showcase for 'For the Rise of a New Day' (2017), National Band Association Jazz Composition Competition for 'April Song' (2016), and Ithaca College Jazz Ensemble Composition Contest for 'For the Rise of a New Day' (2015-2016). He has received grants such as Artist Trust Grants for Artist Projects (2024), Pacific Lutheran University Karen Hille Phillips Professional Development Grant (2023), and Tacoma Arts Initiative Program Grant (2023). As a clinician and adjudicator, Vianna has presented at Jazz Education Network Annual Conferences, the Midwest Clinic, International Composers’ Symposium, NAfME Northwest Conference, Washington Music Educators Association Conference, and internationally in China at Guangxi Arts Institute (2015).