12 July 2 - 15, 2011 Jazz sisters from Page 1
Tissiana and Renata live in Chandler with their dad, Carlos Vallecillo, and their mom, Rossana Menna.
Carlos Vallecillo says from the time his daughters were babies he and Menna would play Brazilian music and dance with them during the day, but “no special talents were noticeable” until both were enrolled in East Valley Yamaha Music School, where the girls started taking piano and music lessons at age 4. “Renata composed her first composition at age 8 and Tissiana at age 7,” Vallecillo says. “As advanced students at the music school, composition is part of the curriculum and they are encouraged to compose.” Since then, the sisters have continued to compose and perform their original jazz ensembles. Last year, Renata composed “Forgiveness,” an ensemble for piano, drums, bass and saxophone, which Vallecillo says his daughter told him was
how rocks are formed and used this knowledge to describe the piece and how “our emotions become hot like molten lava and we need to face it and cool down like igneous rock which is born of fire.”
Tissiana and Renata performed “Born of Fire” together in Los Angeles and Boston last year.
Submitted photo
ON STAGE: Jazz pianist and composer Renata Vallecillo performs with a small group at the Chandler Jazz Fest in April.
Renata was recently selected to perform her current original composition called “Just Under the Surface” at the Yamaha 2011 National Junior Original Concert in Los Angeles on July 31. The pair were also recent recipients of the 2011 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award. The sisters say there is just something magical about jazz that drew them both to that type of music.
Submitted photo
ON THE GRAND: Tissiana Vallecillo plays a jazz composition on a grand piano during this year’s Chandler Jazz Festival.
inspired by the “feeling of forgiveness which fills your heart with peace and love.”
In 2009, Tissiana composed “Vuela Mariposa” for piano and in the same year she wrote “Born of Fire,” a duet for four hands. Vallecillo says Tissiana took what she learned in school about volcanoes and
“I love the swing rhythm and the feel that jazz has,” Renata says. “It makes me relax and enjoy the music I’m playing.” To find inspiration for her
next composition, Tissiana says she listens to some of her favorite music. “This is important,” she says. “Then I fool around on the piano.”
While the girls admit composing can be very challenging at times, “there is nothing easy about it,” Renata says. But both agree: being up on stage
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playing their own pieces makes it all worthwhile.
“I feel important and extremely happy,” Tissiana says. “Performing is my reward for my hard work at the piano.”
Submitted photo
ALL THAT JAZZ: Peterson Farms residents Tissiana and Renata Vallecillo dress the part of young musicians.
Vallecillo says he and his wife feel just as thrilled when they sit in the audience and listen to their daughters play the jazz music they both love so much. “We feel very
proud watching them perform,” he says. “We never fail to be amazed at the dedication and maturity they have shown in both preparation and performing.” As for the future, neither Renata nor Tissiana say they have any intention of stopping what they love doing most.
“I would definitely like to continue composing,” Renata says. “I think it would be rewarding to continue to make music for everyone to hear.”
“I love making my audience happy,” Tissiana says. “Making a living as a composer would be a blast.”
Alison Stanton is a freelance writer who lives in the East Valley. She can be reached at
Alison@SanTanSun.com.
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