Isabella Mendes

I Am A NEFA Grant Recipient 

Isabella Mendes is a singer-songwriter, pianist, composer and educator whose work is rooted in Brazilian jazz and bossa nova.  Born in São Paulo, Brazil where she began her training as a classical pianist at age six, Mendes also composed her own music and participated in various competitions, concerts and master classes until the age of fifteen when she moved to the United States and began jazz and vocal studies while attending the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, CT. She continues to write and compose music – her album “Blame Destiny” was released in 2017 - and has developed her own unique sound informed by not only her classical training but also her jazz, bossa nova, Brazilian, and pop influences.

Mendes is also the founder and leader of The Bossa Nova Project - a group of rotating musicians that she performs with regularly throughout CT – as well as the founder of IMMusic, a private music studio where she teaches private voice and piano lessons to children and adults as well as develops workshops that she has brought to schools and other community organizations. The school is based in Hamden, CT where Mendes has been recognized as a “Hamden Notable” for excellence in music.

Recently, Isabella released a new sheet music book titled 'Songs from my Childhood' - a compilation of piano solo compositions that Isabella wrote when she was a teenager. She hopes to use this book in her teachings and share with other piano teachers. 

Her personal and professional goals include collaborating and connecting with a diverse group of performers, musicians, educators, advocating for women in the arts, and bringing people together through their mutual love of creating and sharing music.

For more information, please visit: www.isabellamendes.com and www.immusicstudio.com