Voted Clarinetist of the Year seven years in a row (2007-2013) by the Jazz Journalists Association (JJA), as well as Multi-Reeds Player of 2012 & 2013, ANAT COHEN is a deeply expressive clarinet virtuoso who has topped critics and readers polls in DownBeat Magazine several years running. Clarinetist-saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera has called her “one of the greatest players ever of the clarinet.” Born in Israel, Anat began clarinet studies at age 12, learned tenor saxophone at 16, and later played sax in the Israeli Air Force Band to fulfill her mandatory Israeli military service. Attending the Berklee College of Music on scholarship, she headed into New York as often as possible, soon becoming part of the New York club scene. Anat has performed at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, and major venues throughout the U.S. as well as in festivals all over the world. This past June, Anat performed at Ravinia in a tribute to Benny Goodman. Anat has recorded 6 albums as a leader on her own label, Anzic. In reviewing her most recent album, Clarascuro, the Jazz Police wrote that “there’s no limit to the joy in her gift.”

 

 

Composer and guitarist DOUGLAS LORA is one of the most prominent Brazilian artists of his generation. Member of the “Brasil Guitar Duo” (with Joao Luiz) for more than fifteen years, also seven-strings guitarist of the choro and samba band “Caraivana” and “Trio Brasileiro,” Douglas Lora has collaborated with great names such as Paquito D’Rivera, Marco Pereira, Parker String Quartet, Mariana Aydar and Irene Atienza, among others. 
He has performed at the main theaters and concert halls around the world from Carnegie Hall to the Concertgebouw; and he has toured the world from Poland to South Korea, Austria to Alaska. He has performed as a soloist with the Dallas Symphony, Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo, and Orchestra of the Americas. His recordings with Brasil Guitar Duo and Trio Brasileiro have been acclaimed by international critics and audiences, and his compositions have been recorded by distinguished artists and chamber ensembles. Douglas has 11 recordings in his discography and sings the original film scoring for two short movies and two theater plays produced in Brazil.