ARTISTIC PROJECTS
Original artistic projects exploring Brazilian music, orchestral collaboration, improvisation, chamber music, and contemporary ensemble creation.
My artistic projects function as long-term creative platforms through which composition, arrangement, improvisation, music direction, recording production, and collaborative artistic development evolve over time.
Rather than existing as isolated ensembles, these projects create different environments for exploring musical ideas, ensemble interaction, and artistic collaboration. Each project has its own identity, repertoire, and creative focus, while remaining connected to a broader practice centered on Brazilian music, orchestral thinking, improvisation, and contemporary ensemble writing.
Together, these projects form some of the central creative laboratories through which my artistic work continues to develop.
ORQUESTRA URBANA
Founded in São Paulo in 2014, Orquestra Urbana is a Brazilian jazz orchestra dedicated to original compositions, arrangements, improvisation, and contemporary large ensemble music.
The ensemble brings together musicians connected to the Brazilian jazz, orchestral, and instrumental music communities through projects that combine Brazilian rhythmic traditions, orchestral writing, improvisation, and contemporary ensemble practices.
Over the years, Orquestra Urbana has served as one of the primary platforms for the development of my original large ensemble music, including commissioned works, recordings, interdisciplinary collaborations, and performances presented in venues such as Sala São Paulo, SESC São Paulo, and other institutions dedicated to contemporary Brazilian music.
The project remains an active artistic platform for ongoing creative work involving composition, arrangement, improvisation, and large ensemble collaboration.
RAFAEL PICCOLOTTO DE LIMA CHAMBER PROJECT
Created in New York, the Rafael Piccolotto de Lima Chamber Project was developed as a flexible ensemble dedicated to exploring the relationship between chamber music, Brazilian music, orchestral textures, improvisation, and contemporary ensemble interaction.
Rather than operating as a fixed group, the project functions as a platform capable of adapting to different instrumentations and artistic contexts, ranging from intimate chamber formations to larger chamber orchestra configurations.
The project has been presented in venues such as Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, National Sawdust, Rockwood Music Hall, and Shapeshifter Lab, including collaborations with artists such as Romero Lubambo, Rogério Boccato, John Raymond, Vitor Gonçalves, Haidar Neuber, and Lívio Almeida.
The Chamber Project also became the artistic foundation from which later projects emerged, including Forró Sem Palavras, which grew from ideas first explored within this broader chamber ensemble environment.
Although currently less active as an independent performing project, it remains an important part of the artistic lineage connecting many of my chamber, orchestral, and collaborative works.
FORRÓ SEM PALAVRAS
Founded in New York in 2018, Forró Sem Palavras is an instrumental project dedicated to exploring forró through chamber music, improvisation, orchestral writing, and contemporary Brazilian ensemble practices.
Originally developed from artistic ideas explored within the Chamber Project, Forró Sem Palavras gradually evolved into an independent project with its own repertoire, artistic identity, and performance history.
The project combines elements of forró, Brazilian instrumental music, chamber interaction, improvisation, and orchestral textures through performances involving strings, winds, rhythm section, and guest artists.
Presentations have taken place in venues and festivals including National Sawdust, Toronto Jazz Festival, Montréal Forró Festival, Brooklyn Public Library, SESC São Paulo, and orchestral collaborations in Brazil and Canada.
Today, Forró Sem Palavras functions as one of the central artistic expressions of my ongoing interest in Brazilian musical traditions, chamber ensemble writing, improvisation, and orchestral collaboration.
LONG-TERM ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT
Although each project maintains its own artistic identity, they are connected through a broader creative practice involving composition, arrangement, improvisation, music direction, recording production, artistic research, and collaborative creation.
Ideas developed within one project often influence others, creating an ongoing exchange between chamber music, large ensembles, Brazilian musical traditions, orchestral collaboration, and contemporary performance practices.
Together, these projects function as long-term artistic ecosystems through which new works, recordings, performances, collaborations, and creative directions continue to emerge.