RUBENS SALLES is one of the most prominent Brazilian pianists/keyboardists of his generation. Rubens has graduated with honors at the New England Conservatory in Boston where he achieved his Master of Music in Contemporary Improvisation, being one of a few Brazilians to do so in such course. Prior to that Rubens pursued a Professional Diploma in Professional Music at Berklee College of Music also completing the course with honors (Cum Laude). Rubens holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and Classical Piano from FAAM, Brazil.

Rubens Salles had the opportunity to study/perform with top professors such as Charlie Banacos, Ran Blake, Ken Schaphorst (chair of the Jazz Dept at NEC), Hankus Netsky (chair of the Contemporary Improvisation Dept at NEC), Dominique Eade, Laszlo Gardony, Wilson Curia (World’s Best Jazz Educator – American Jazz Society/99). Rubens Salles has played and recorded with some of the world’s most acclaimed musicians such as American guitarist David Fiucinsky (Jack DeJohnette, Hiromi, Torsos), Portuguese singer Sara Serpa (Greg Osby, George Garzone), Turkish sax player Serhan Erkol (Rick Ford, Butch Morris), Latin Grammy nominee Brazilian singer/songwriter Zeca Baleiro (Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Ná Ozzetti), singers Alcione, Emilio Santiago, Luciana Mello, Brazilian Guitar Player Magazine editor Marcio Okayama (Stu Hamm, Mike Stern), Brazilian Bass Player Magazine editor Nilton Wood (the Brazilian Michael Manring), Clube do Balanço and Cravo e Canella band, a Brazilian samba rock group that achieved the record mark of 300.000 (three hundred thousand) albums sold in Brazil, being the recipient of many awards. His performance background include shows at venues of the likes of the Jordan Hall and the Williams Hall at NEC; the Berklee Performance Center; the Zinc Bar; The Music Café, the Theater Café, the Kursaal and the Springfield Pub in Rome; Sesc Pompéia, Maria Antonia Theater and the Rio de Janeiro Sambódromo in Brazil. Rubens has appearances at special TV shows in Boston for ABC, in Brazil for Globo TV, Cultura TV and SBT, at magazines such as Brazilian Keyboard Player, at newspapers and radio stations.

Rubens Salles is also an avid Music Instructor with more than 20 years of teaching experience. Prior to coming to the United States, where he has taught privately, Rubens was a faculty at the Piano, Ear Training and Theory department at EM&T (Escola de Música e Tecnologia) in São Paulo, which is the Brazilian affiliate school of the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. Rubens was also the Music Coordinator for CEU, a charter music school focused on the artistic development of children and adults living in socio-economic disadvantage in Latin America’s largest city. Rubens has lectured at the New England Conservatory and at Università della Musica in Rome.

Rubens has recently released his first album, ‘Munderno’, a World Music masterpiece with lots of Jazz, Samba, Brazilian, African and Indian rhythms and another Brazilian Jazz album in partnership with Brazilian singer Claudio Lima in which Rubens is the arranger, producer and performer. Rubens Salles currently lives in New York where he promotes not only his albums but actively performs along with Austrian flutist Christian Artmann and their Contemporary Jazz Quartet.

Mr. Rubens Salles has joined the faculty of the Piano School of NYC in 2009.