REBECCA HASS

Composer of Brazilian music.

Creative coach who helps musicians self-compassionately support your creative practice and productivity.

MUSICIAN BIO

Rebecca Hass is a pianist, composer, and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area whose biggest passion is Brazilian music. Her debut album of original compositions and arrangements in Brazilian styles, Florescer (Bloom), was described as “a refreshing take on instrumental Brazilian-inspired music”. As a curious human, she is always designing new practices for herself, her students, and her creative coaching clients.

Rebecca also has extensive experience as a collaborative pianist in a variety of styles, working with classical and jazz performers, musical theater companies, groups, and movement artists, most recently working with Berkeley Choro Ensemble, Diablo Women’s Chorale, Bella Musica, Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choirs, and Opera on Tap SF.

She was also a longtime member of the Minneapolis Brazilian percussion group Batucada do Norte, and a founding member of the Modern Spark Trio, a piano trio with diverse repertoire. 

In addition, Rebecca is a creative coach who helps musicians self-compassionately grow their creative practice, and hosted the related podcast Being a Whole Person.

I believe that…

• Everyone is creative (even you).

• Wellness and creativity are interdependent - creativity is a form of self-care.

• It's important to embrace and share the process, not just the product.

• We all figure it out as we go - art and life are experiments.

• Creativity can happen in small bits at a time. Small bits add up to large things.

• A rising tide lifts all boats, and awesome work deserves to be recognized.

• We're all in this together - it's so important to support fellow musicians and creatives.

Read my blog here, where I write about the intersection of all of these things, or, to receive encouraging Creative Wellness Letters every other Monday, hop on my newsletter below!

Hello and welcome! I'm Rebecca Hass.

I’m a pianist and composer in Berkeley, California who is obsessed with Brazilian rhythms and bringing joy to others through music. I write compositions spanning a variety of fun topics, from samba grooves to crime-fighting manatees. 

In Minneapolis I performed locally with Brazilian percussion group Batucada do Norte, and Modern Spark Trio, a piano trio with diverse repertoire spanning classical, jazz, rock, folk, world music, and modern composition. I also perform solo, and as an accompanist. (Learn more here.) 

Over the last several years, I arranged several Brazilian tunes for solo piano, which led to finding my own voice and shifting my focus to original composition. In 2017, I even did 2 100-day projects in which I wrote 8 measures per day, while being otherwise extremely busy (it is possible, and actually really fun to keep a daily habit!) I’ve published many of these compositions, available in my sheet music store. 

My 2nd album, Bright Little Worlds (original piano music in various styles) came out in May 2024, and my debut album of original Brazilian arrangements and compositions, Florescer, is also available!

It’s been a long journey, but I finally feel a sense of ease/satisfaction in my creative life.

In case you’re thinking, “Wow, that all sounds great,” life as a musician has definitely not always been easy or fun for me.

I have spent a lot of time on the brink of burnout (and some time past that point) and I am always engaged in the process of taming (or just co-existing with) my anxiety issues. (We’re in good company.)

I believe that creative people can live balanced and sustainable lives, if we do it mindfully, and I am dedicated to supporting the creative habits of other artists and musicians through wellness and mindset, as well as (in the past) by hosting a local regular networking event for women musicians here in Minneapolis/St. Paul with Lauren Husting. 

More about my story:

I’ve always been drawn to variety - I attended Ithaca College to get a (classically-oriented) degree in piano, and while there, I took every non-classical music class I could, including a survey class for non-majors on Latin American Music, which changed the course of my life and career. My weekly assigned listening for the class turned into long sessions in the library listening to entire albums and researching musicians. A year after I finished school and moved back to Minneapolis, I joined Batucada do Norte, a local Brazilian drum group that I’m still a member of, and the following year I attended the amazing California Brazil Camp, where I got to take classes with master Brazilian musicians and learn about so many styles and sub-genres that I hadn’t previously known. The obsession had taken hold, and shows no signs of stopping.