composer-IN-RESIDENCE
November 3 – 20, 2021
Jacinta Clusellas
Jacinta Clusellas is a composer, arranger, guitarist and singer-songwriter based in New York City. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jacinta brings together South American folklore, jazz and chamber music, in the context of songs influenced by poems, literature and nature from South America. She has served as music director-composer-arranger for the ongoing development of the bilingual musical AZUL at the O’Neill National Music Theatre Conference, New York Theatre Workshop, BRIC, The Drama League, Tofte Lake Center, Catwalk Art Institute and the Prelude Festival.
Jacinta’s debut album El Pájaro Azul was released in NYC, and published in Japan under the record label Inpartmaint Inc. Her second album A Dónde Llega el Silencio is being produced by West One Music (London, UK) and will be recorded in NYC.
In New York City, Jacinta has performed at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, The Great Hall at Cooper Union, Americas Society/Council of the Americas, La MaMa Theatre, Le Poisson Rouge, Rockwood Music Hall, Musical Theatre Factory, and Women of Color on Broadway.
Jacinta has toured the US as a composer, songwriter, and performer. Selected: South by Southwest [SXSW] (Austin, TX), Lanesboro Arts (Jerome Foundation, MN), Audacious Raw Theatre (MN), Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (WY). Internationally, she has toured her music throughout Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Canada, Greece and Italy. Jacinta has also worked as an arranger for Grammy award-winning artists Alejandro Sanz (Berklee Performance Center) and A.R. Rahman (Boston Symphony Hall). Jacinta is a Teaching Artist at the New York Philharmonic, where she develops programs and teaches for the Very Young Composers Program, has served as a mentor at Lincoln Center’s Music Across Borders program and as a workshop creator and facilitator at Lincoln Center Passport for the Arts. She is a former member of the Carnegie Hall Music Educators Workshop and holds a B.A. in Contemporary Writing and Production from Berklee College of Music.
Artist Statement:
I compose original music influenced by Latin American poetry, nature and landscapes. I am a guitarist and singer-songwriter.
Throughout my life, music has accompanied me as a universal language, helping me break barriers, connect with people and build community. Music has always made me feel less alone, an ever present feeling of belonging somewhere. Composing brings me closer to myself, and opens the possibility to connect with myself in vulnerable states, while also empowering me to move, change and grow artistically and personally.
As a composer and performer, I seek to push my limits and discover new writing methodologies and voices. I do not define myself within one genre. Collaboration is essential to my process, which is fed by an admiration for artists in all fields, as well as for people who do not label themselves artists but are part of creative communities. I work collaboratively because of the give and take, the real need for deep listening, and the clash of various academic trainings, cultural belongings and aesthetic preferences. These experiences fulfill me in all spheres of my life.
Growing up in Argentina, I was always surrounded by nature, wide landscapes and silence. I spent my childhood traveling to Patagonia for fly fishing trips with my father, spending weeks isolated from the city and in pure contact with the environment. Since then, I have always been drawn to the oscillation between silence and sound, seeking to transmit this peacefulness through my music. In the last few years, new questions and concerns have come to my mind, which have led me to continue writing music in Spanish with more awareness of the impact and the importance of creating work that reflects current demographic changes in the US. I value Spanish lyric writing, music and work that can represent so many Latinx and bilingual communities in this country that have been in the margins of the narrative.
Community Event
