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Short biography

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, he has lived in Rio de Janeiro since the age of two, where he began his musical studies at 16 through flute and piano. After 3.5 years of studying engineering at PUC-Rio with excellent performance, he decided to take a new university entrance exam for Music. He was admitted in first place, leading him to suspend his engineering studies to delve deeper into music. Ariani graduated in Conducting from the Escola de Música at UFRJ in 1986, where he also earned a Master's degree in Composition in 1992 with the thesis "The Implications of Repetition in the Articulation of Musical Discourse," for which he received an A Cum Laude grade. Starting in 1982, his works were performed at various Biennials, Panoramas, and Brazilian Music Festivals, where he also had opportunities to act as a conductor. He directed several choirs, including the Choir of the Instituto Israelita de Arte e Educação—where he replaced Maestro Henrique Morelembaum for two consecutive years—the Shell Choir, the Vale do Rio Doce Choir, the Sá Pereira School Choir, and the independent vocal group CaraCoro, which specialized in his arrangements and compositions. Ariani was also the director and conductor of the Orquestra Oficina, a Big Band-like ensemble specializing in performing commissioned works by emerging Brazilian composers during 1988 and 1989, for which he also composed several pieces. His compositional activity has always been inspired by imagery. His passion for this connection was solidified when he composed soundtracks for theater productions like Os Meninos da Rua Paulo and Camaleão na Lua. This passion led him to CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) with a CAPES scholarship, where from 1993 to 1996, he researched the relationship between Music, Sound, and Image and specialized in technology applied to music and sound. During his two-and-a-half-year period in Los Angeles, he composed soundtracks for films, animations, dance, and video projects, as well as an interactive CD-ROM that extensively explored the relationships between Music and Image. He was awarded a scholarship by the Academy Foundation of Hollywood to work as an assistant to Gary Chang, an active composer and producer of film scores in Los Angeles. Upon returning to Brazil, he focused on soundtracks, sound design, and sound post-production for films, contributing to various productions such as Baile Perfumado, O Toque do Oboé, La Serva Padrona, Menino Maluquinho II, A Hora Marcada, O Chamado de Deus, Navio Esperança, and O Céu de Iracema, the latter earning him the Best Soundtrack award at the Paraty Film Festival (Paracine) in 2002. He also participated in Ciclofônica (2002–2007), an instrumental group created by Leonardo Fuks, in which musicians played while riding bicycles. From 2007 to 2015, he taught the course "Cinema Sound – From Recording to Production" at the Cinema School of the Communication Department at PUC-RJ. In 2011, he earned a Doctorate in Music from Unirio (Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro), where he defended the thesis "Musical Picnic in 'Com-Junto': Implications of Human Relations in Musical Activity." This research was an extension of projects initiated in 2007 within the Sá Pereira School community, later institutionalized as the "Canto Com-Junto and Its Musical Picnics" extension project at Unirio. This initiative has produced a significant original repertoire developed collaboratively, alongside workshops and public events known as "Musical Picnics in Com-Junto." In July 2015, he passed a public competition for Adjunct Professor (full-time) at Unirio, teaching mandatory courses in the Production Engineering Department – Culture Emphasis, including "Lighting and Photography Engineering" and "Technologies for Cultural Production Lab," focusing on the creation and production of short films. Simultaneously, he taught various courses at CLA (Centro de Letras e Artes), such as "Musical Practices in Scenic Spaces" and "Voice Lab" (Theater School) and "Musicalization Processes" (Music Education Department of IVL – Villa-Lobos Institute). He also institutionalized the "Canto Com-Junto and Its Musical Picnics" project as an extension project at Unirio. Due to his transdisciplinary approach, these courses are interconnected with the "Canto Com-Junto" project, which organizes regular meetings, workshops, and events aimed at fostering inclusion, motivation, integration, and the musical, artistic, socio-affective, and expressive development of any person, community, or group through music as a language and means of communication and expression, without any selection process. Through CultuArTe Desenvolvimentos Ltda, he continues to promote workshops for motivation, integration, and functional team development in companies, organizations, and workgroups. These workshops are also based on the concepts and methodologies of the "Canto Com-Junto and Its Musical Picnics" project, conceived and implemented by Fernando Ariani since 2007.

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Academic Background

More recent and detailed data can be found in Lattes Cnpq

2007 – 2011 PhD in Music from Unirio - Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. 1993 – 1995 Postgraduate studies at the California Institute of the Arts - CalArts in Composition/New Media. He participated in several courses in Music-Technology/Multimedia and Film Sound. The research project that took him to Los Angeles, USA, and which was funded by CAPES, was related to the investigation of the relationships between Music and Image, which resulted in several soundtracks and a CD-ROM that deeply explores these relationships. 1992 Completed his Master's degree in Musical Composition at the School of Music of UFRJ, where in addition to composing several pieces, he defended his thesis on The Implications of Repetition in the Articulation of Musical Discourse. He received the degree A Cum Lauda from the examining board, which included Guerra Peixe, Heitor Alimonda and Ricardo Tacuchian. 1986 Completed his undergraduate degree in Conducting at the UFRJ School of Music. 1977 -1986 Harmony and Arrangement of popular music with Ian Guest. Analysis and Composition with Marlene Fernandez, H.J. Koelreutter and Guerra Peixe. Piano with Judith Coccarelli, Irany Leme and Luizinho Eça. Flute with José Maria Braga. 1977 -1980 Engineering at PUC/RJ.

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Awards, Competitions, and Scholarships

2002 Best Music Award at 'ParaCine 2002' - 1st Parati Film Festival, RJ - for his work on the movie O Céu de Iracema 1994 and 1995 Scholarship from the Hollywood Academy Foundation to intern with Gary Chang, a film soundtrack composer active in the region. 1993 CAPES Scholarship to complete a 2-year postgraduate course at CalArts - California Institute of the Arts, in Los Angeles, USA. 1992 Honorable Mention in the 1st National Composition Competition of SICOM - Society of Performers, Composers and Musicologists for the composition of the Symphonic Poem: Agulhas Negras. 1990 Approved in a public examination to enter the Master's course in Musical Composition at the UFRJ School of Music, with a CAPES scholarship. 1987 Approved in a public examination to become an Assistant Professor of Teaching at UNIRIO.

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Professional experience

2022 Resumes management of the company Cultuarte Desenvolvimentos, created in 1986 to facilitate the production of events by the vocal group Cara Coro and also in its production of soundtracks and post-production work on film sound. (Note: over time this CNPJ has had other names: Ciclos, Imagem e Som and Paragon Sound Design). With all his experience, he is currently open to undertaking new actions with new partners who are interested in mobilizing to make common projects and objectives viable together, especially in the area of Human Development through Art and Expression! 2015 – 2021 Professor of the Department of Production Engineering (Emphasis on Culture) at the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Unirio), where he taught the subjects “Lighting and Photography Engineering” and “Laboratory of Technologies for Cultural Production”, where he guided his students to make short films throughout each semester Professor of “PMEC – Musical Practice in Stage Spaces”, a mandatory subject of the Acting Course of the Theater Department at Unirio Professor of “PROM – Musicalization Processes” and “PC – Ensemble Practice” at the Villa-Lobos Institute, School of Music at Unirio Coordinator of the Extension Project “Canto Com-Junto e seus Piqueniques Musicais”, a project started in 2007 in the context of the Sá Pereira School and institutionalized as an extension project during his time at Unirio 2007 – 2015 He taught the subject “Sound of Cinema, from recording to production” in the Cinema Course of the Department of Communications of PUC Rio 2000 – 2011 He was invited to return to conduct the Children's Choir of the Sá Pereira School, formed by students of the 4th and 5th grades of Elementary School. 1996 – 2006 Founder, technical manager, sound designer, editor and mixer of Paragon Sound Design, a Sound Creation and Post-Production house for Films. Conductor, arranger and music educator of the Sá Pereira School Choir. (resumed work in 2001) Conductor and arranger participating in the Brasília International Festival – Children's Edition of 2006. Guest conductor and arranger of the RioAcapella Festival of 2004 Guest conductor and arranger of the Laboratórios Coral de Itajubá in 2003 and 2004. One of the members of Cyclophonica, an instrumental group that plays while riding bicycles... 1996 – 1st semester Return from Los Angeles, USA, where he lived for 2 and a half years. Creation of special effects for the film Tieta, by Cacá Diegues. Mastering engineer at Visom Digital where he worked with Sonic Solutions. Mastered several CDs for SONY and PolyGram, as well as worked on the restoration of music by Villa-Lobos, for the Villa-Lobos Museum, Rio de Janeiro, RJ. 1994 – 1995 A Hollywood Academy Foundation grant to assist Gary Chang, a film score composer. For a year, he participated in the musical production of feature films produced by TNT, in all stages from Spotting to Print Master: - Avenging Angels, directed by Creg Baxley; - Walking Dead by Preston Whitmor; - Acts of Contrition by Jan Egleson; - AndersonVille by John Frankenheimer, 1988 – 1995 Composed and produced several soundtracks for theater, film, animation, video, documentary, and CD-ROM 1988 -1989 Direction, Production and Conducting of the OrquestraOficina, a Big Band dedicated to performing music composed exclusively for it by the new generation of composers at the time. Composed 3 songs and one arrangement for OO. 1982 -1993 He created, directed or was hired to conduct several choirs and vocal groups sponsored by various institutions such as: Shell; Companhia Vale do Rio Doce; the Israelite Institute of Art and Education; Escola Sá Pereira; the independent vocal group CaraCoro sponsored by the Company in 1985; BNH – Banco Nacional da Habitação; and IFCS-Institute of Philosophy and Social Sciences of UFRJ. 1988 Commissioned to compose one of the pieces for the 9th Rio de Janeiro Choir Competition, sponsored by Jornal do Brasil. 1987 -1991 Compositions performed at the 7th, 8th and 9th Brazilian Music Biennials. 1986 -1989 Compositions and Conducting in the Panoramas of Contemporary Brazilian Music at the UFRJ School of Music. 1982 -1985 Compositions performed at the Festivals of New Composers and Brazilian Performers, of which he was one of the organizers.

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