The Brazilian/African rhythms of her birthplace and the classical European melodies of her grandfather’s homeland flow from the keyboard when Michele Adler Cohen sits down at her grand piano. She has a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University, where she met her mentors – distinguished pianists Michel Block and Arnaldo Cohen – as well as her future husband, Yaneav Cohen.
Whether playing Carnegie Hall or at a benefit for a local Jewish organization, Michele’s concerts include both classical and Brazilian repertoires. She’s played at places as far away as the Brazilian Embassy in Washington, D.C., the Chicago Cultural Center and Ernen Musikdorf in Switzerland, as well as performing locally at benefit concerts for the King David School and an event at Beth Tefillah to mark the installation of Rabbi Pinchas Allouche.
“When I have the chance to help the community and bring joy to the community through music, I always enjoy doing that,” says Michele.
Born in Salvador, the capital of Bahia, Brazil, Michele grew up surrounded by diverse musical traditions. “Bahia is the most African place in Brazil; there’s a very African flavor in terms of music and food influenced by the slaves (an estimated 4 million Africans were brought to Brazil before the country abolished slavery in 1888),” says Michele. “I’m very influenced by the music I heard – the rhythm. Therefore my playing sometimes is not as traditional.” Her earliest traditional classical influence was in the home of her grandfather, Salomon Adler, who emigrated from Poland to Brazil about 1930. Educated in Austria, Salomon originally went to pre-state Israel as one of the early pioneers (chalutzim) to build roads and drain swamps. But when he fell ill (Michele believes it was malaria), he returned to Poland and then emigrated to Brazil. Salomon frequently had the classical music of Europe playing in his home – perhaps in memory of his wife, Judith Adler, an accomplished pianist who died in 1957.
The richness of her Jewish environment was due largely to her mother’s grandfather, Rubin Müller, who migrated from Lodz, Poland, to Brazil in 1924. Michele says her great grandfather uprooted the family looking for “a place they could live more freely as Jews.” “When he arrived, there were only a few Jewish families,” says Michele. “He was instrumental, with others, in forming a community and establishing institutions to serve the community. They decided to establish a Jewish cemetery, Jewish day school and synagogue.” “In my day, we had a JCC with Maccabiah games and a pool …,” says Michele, fondly recalling the Jewish life available to her as a child. Michele attended the day school through fourth grade, but the school closed just a few years later. “Many Jews went to Sao Paulo or Israel … then there was assimilation. It is a small place for Jews. As far as I know, Bahia never had more than about 200 Jewish families.”
Bahia has since had a bit of a renaissance in Jewish life. The community raised funds to establish a new community center and hired a rabbi from Sao Paulo. With the arrival of Chabad there are now two synagogues in Salvador, where Michele’s brother, Marcelo Adler, and parents, Jorge and Celia Adler, still live. Her sister, Claudia Adler, lives in Paris. But it was a search for a bigger musical community – not a bigger Jewish community – that drew Michele to the United States. Though her focus was music, “I always wanted to keep a connection with my Jewish roots,” she says.
Michele began formal piano lessons at age 6 with Maria Carneiro, the person Michelle still considers her main mentor. She captured first prizes in National Brazil piano competitions and began to perform around the country before winning a full scholarship to the National Academy of the Arts in Champaign, IL, at age 16. She stayed in the states for all her college years and became active in Hillel at the University of Illinois. When she moved to Indiana for her doctorate, she wasn’t as active at Hillel, but did attend some programs, where she met Yaneav Cohen, who had been born in Israel but moved to the United States at age 10. The couple married in 1997 and soon moved to Yuma, where Yaneav was stationed as a Navy officer. Their oldest son, Ari, now 14, was born in Yuma. It was while they lived in Yuma that Michele had her Carnegie Hall debut, which she calls a highlight of her performing career. “Everyone would love to play in Carnegie Hall.”
Arizona’s weather and landscape reminded the couple of Israel, so when Yaneav finished his dental training after he got out of the service, they looked for a larger Jewish community in Arizona and made the move to Scottsdale. Yaneav is now a pediatric dentist at North Scottsdale Pediatric Dentistry. Twins Benjamin and Jonathan, 10, and Ari all attended Har Zion Preschool, the King David School before it closed, and Pardes Jewish Day School until Ari started high school. The family attends Congregation Beth Tefillah, and Michele is active in the Women’s Philanthropy group of the Jewish Community Association. In addition to teaching and performing, Michele is in the process of recording a CD. Indiana University has published several CDs of Michele’s performances. Some of her work can be heard on YouTube, including a piece by Schuman that features photos of Bahia while her music plays. Search Michele Adler Cohen on YouTube to hear her play.
For more information visit brazilianpianist.com.
