Rafael Piccolotto de Lima is a Brazilian composer, arranger, conductor, music director, producer, curator, and educator whose work explores the intersection between orchestral music, jazz, Brazilian musical traditions, improvisation, chamber music, big band, jazz orchestra, and large ensemble and collaborative musical practices. Nominated for the Latin Grammy as a classical composer at the age of 27, Rafael has developed projects involving symphony orchestras, jazz orchestras, chamber ensembles, recordings, interdisciplinary productions, and contemporary Brazilian music projects developed across the Americas and Europe.

His works, arrangements, and productions have involved artists such as Chick Corea, Terence Blanchard, Brad Mehldau, Gregory Porter, Ivan Lins, Romero Lubambo, Hamilton de Holanda, João Bosco, Mônica Salmaso, Liniker, Alceu Valença, Chico César, Mariana Aydar, Vanessa da Mata, Martinho da Vila, Alcione, and many others. His work also includes collaborations with ensembles and institutions such as the Brasil Jazz Sinfônica (formerly Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo), Metropole Orkest, Symphony of the Americas, Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica, Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and National Sawdust.

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​Beyond his work as a composer and arranger, a significant part of Rafael’s activity involves conceiving, directing, and developing long-term artistic projects that bring together orchestras, improvisers, institutions, educators, and creative communities across different musical environments.

Following his Latin Grammy nomination, Rafael became a voting member of both the Latin Recording Academy and the Recording Academy in the United States.

Born in Campinas, Brazil, Rafael began his artistic development through simultaneous experiences in classical composition, Brazilian popular music, jazz improvisation, and large ensemble writing. While studying at UNICAMP - University of Campinas, he developed projects involving chamber music, orchestral jazz, Brazilian instrumental music, experimental ensembles, symphonic collaborations, and big band practices, while also conducting research on the language of the Brazilian big band tradition through a FAPESP-supported study focused on the work of Nailor Azevedo Proveta and Banda Mantiqueira.

Rafael later moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies at the Frost School of Music - University of Miami, where he completed both a Master of Music degree in Studio Jazz Writing and a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Jazz Composition. During his years in Miami, he served as Composer Fellow and assistant conductor at the Henry Mancini Institute, receiving the ASCAP Foundation Henry Mancini Music Fellowship. His connection with the Institute became a central part of his graduate experience, and he remained active there as a Composer Fellow for five years through a special fellowship position created within the organization. During this period, he worked closely with artists, composers, and conductors such as Maria Schneider, Vince Mendoza, Terence Blanchard, and James Newton Howard, participating in concerts, recordings, workshops, productions, and educational activities that deeply shaped his artistic language.

His doctoral research, titled “Blurred Distinctions; Beyond Third Stream – A Study in Composition of Confluent Hybrid Musical Styles: The Amalgam of Jazz and Classical Concert Music,” became one of the central conceptual foundations of his artistic work, particularly his exploration of musical languages connecting orchestral writing, improvisation, Brazilian music, chamber music, and jazz orchestra traditions.

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After moving to New York in 2016, Rafael became a member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, one of the leading international forums dedicated to contemporary big band composition. In New York, he founded the Rafael Piccolotto de Lima Chamber Project, presented in venues such as Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Rockwood Music Hall, and Shapeshifter Lab. A live recording from the project, featuring Brazilian guitarist Romero Lubambo, was released by Sunnyside Records with liner notes by Wynton Marsalis.

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Alongside his activities in New York, Rafael continues directing Orquestra Urbana, a large ensemble founded in São Paulo in 2014 dedicated to his original compositions and arrangements. He also developed the interdisciplinary project Forró Sem Palavras, presented in venues and festivals including National Sawdust, Toronto Jazz Festival, Montreal Forró Festival, SESC São Paulo, and other cultural institutions across the Americas.

In Brazil, Rafael maintains an ongoing collaboration with the Brasil Jazz Sinfônica, writing dozens of arrangements and orchestral works for productions involving artists such as Ivan Lins, João Bosco, Liniker, Vanessa da Mata, Tim Bernardes, Dora Morelenbaum, Mônica Salmaso, Toninho Ferragutti, Alceu Valença, Martinho da Vila, Alcione, Arnaldo Antunes, Chico César, Mariana Aydar, Mestrinho, Céu, and many others. Many of these projects were recorded and broadcast nationally by TV Cultura.

As conductor, music director, artistic curator, and musical curator, Rafael has directed symphonic concerts, jazz orchestra productions, big band projects, and collaborative performances involving Brazilian contemporary music, orchestral performance, improvisation, and interdisciplinary artistic creation, while continuing to develop educational projects, mentorship programs, artistic research, and courses connected to composition, arrangement, creative process, Brazilian music, and large ensemble writing.