Header photo by Raquel Pimental
Claire Haas is a musician, composer, and trombonist based in Lisbon, Portugal.
As a composer and improviser, Claire seeks to create music that is in dialogue with her communities. In a time of rising fascism and climate change, she takes seriously the role of culture to help us survive, support each other, and fight for the world we believe in.
She is the sopros (winds) instructor for Colombina Clandestina, on the brass staff for Rhythm in Blue (a project of the Bluecoats), and teaches brass private lessons at the Escola Alemã de Lisboa. She also arranges and plays with a variety of groups in Lisbon, and is particularly active during Carnaval.
In March of 2020, 9 months pregnant on the night before her due date, she both nailed a high Db and played an improvised solo she was proud of on the stage of Yoshi’s in Oakland with Mary Lou’s Apartment. It was a great end point to her time in Oakland where she’d played in brass bands, co-led a trad jazz band, and been a regular part of a vibrant musical scene.
In 2015-2016, she spent time in South America and in particular in Brazil, learning about Carnival musical traditions in Rio de Janeiro and studying Portuguese. She played with Damas de Ferro – an all women’s band in the neofanfarrismo movement, as well as playing in a variety of Carnival blocos such as Ceu Na Terra and Na Moita. She also paraded with the samba school Estacio de Sa.
Claire is a composer and arranger in a variety of styles and genres. Dido's Lament, from Henry Purcell's Dido and Aneas, was an early arrangement for trombone choir. She continues to arrange for many groups with works with. Claire also composes new works, such as the music concrete piece "Crossing Under" below, which was featured in the SF Tape Music Festival in 2017.
Originally from Ohio, she is an alumnus of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Capital University Conservatory of Music and a master's degree in Culture and Communications from the University of Lisbon. She speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
As a composer and improviser, Claire seeks to create music that is in dialogue with her communities. In a time of rising fascism and climate change, she takes seriously the role of culture to help us survive, support each other, and fight for the world we believe in.
She is the sopros (winds) instructor for Colombina Clandestina, on the brass staff for Rhythm in Blue (a project of the Bluecoats), and teaches brass private lessons at the Escola Alemã de Lisboa. She also arranges and plays with a variety of groups in Lisbon, and is particularly active during Carnaval.
In March of 2020, 9 months pregnant on the night before her due date, she both nailed a high Db and played an improvised solo she was proud of on the stage of Yoshi’s in Oakland with Mary Lou’s Apartment. It was a great end point to her time in Oakland where she’d played in brass bands, co-led a trad jazz band, and been a regular part of a vibrant musical scene.
In 2015-2016, she spent time in South America and in particular in Brazil, learning about Carnival musical traditions in Rio de Janeiro and studying Portuguese. She played with Damas de Ferro – an all women’s band in the neofanfarrismo movement, as well as playing in a variety of Carnival blocos such as Ceu Na Terra and Na Moita. She also paraded with the samba school Estacio de Sa.
Claire is a composer and arranger in a variety of styles and genres. Dido's Lament, from Henry Purcell's Dido and Aneas, was an early arrangement for trombone choir. She continues to arrange for many groups with works with. Claire also composes new works, such as the music concrete piece "Crossing Under" below, which was featured in the SF Tape Music Festival in 2017.
Originally from Ohio, she is an alumnus of the Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corps and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Capital University Conservatory of Music and a master's degree in Culture and Communications from the University of Lisbon. She speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Musical Mission Statement
Music is a form of culture, and culture is central to the human experience. As musicians, we are both keepers and creators of culture.
It is our calling to invite people into a participatory cultural experience, thus facilitating the full range of human emotion - from singing to a loved one as they pass, to the joy for dancing in the streets on Carnival Tuesday.
As keepers of culture, we must study, understand, and respect our traditions in order to be able to share them with others. It is our duty to challenge the ways that culture and tradition have been used to oppress.
As creators of culture, it is our job to build and embody our dream for the world. We respect and honor what we ourselves, and each other, create and give voice to. We know our work must be in dialogue with our communities, serving to express, inspire, and challenge.
It is our calling to invite people into a participatory cultural experience, thus facilitating the full range of human emotion - from singing to a loved one as they pass, to the joy for dancing in the streets on Carnival Tuesday.
As keepers of culture, we must study, understand, and respect our traditions in order to be able to share them with others. It is our duty to challenge the ways that culture and tradition have been used to oppress.
As creators of culture, it is our job to build and embody our dream for the world. We respect and honor what we ourselves, and each other, create and give voice to. We know our work must be in dialogue with our communities, serving to express, inspire, and challenge.
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Bands
Mary Lou's Apartment (Berkeley, CA)
An all women's big band that plays the music of jazz legends trombonist Melba Liston and pianist Mary Lou Williams, this band is a dream come true for Claire. The band plays some amazing compositions, many of which are little-known. Check them out to hear this beautiful celebration of women in jazz. (2018-2020)
An all women's big band that plays the music of jazz legends trombonist Melba Liston and pianist Mary Lou Williams, this band is a dream come true for Claire. The band plays some amazing compositions, many of which are little-known. Check them out to hear this beautiful celebration of women in jazz. (2018-2020)
Gringa (San Francisco, CA)
An aptly titled band of non-Brazilian women playing Brazilian music, Claire played trombone, assorted percussion, and sang backing vocals. (2016-2018)
An aptly titled band of non-Brazilian women playing Brazilian music, Claire played trombone, assorted percussion, and sang backing vocals. (2016-2018)
Mission Delirium (San Francisco, CA)
Claire was a founding member of this booty-shakin' brass band collective. Be sure to wear your dancing shoes when you come to see them play a broad range brass band styles designed to make you dance.
(2013-2019)
Claire was a founding member of this booty-shakin' brass band collective. Be sure to wear your dancing shoes when you come to see them play a broad range brass band styles designed to make you dance.
(2013-2019)
Fanfare Zabaleta (Oakland, CA)
Claire played baritone with this Balkan brass band dedicated to this amazing tradition of music and dance. (2018-2020)
Claire played baritone with this Balkan brass band dedicated to this amazing tradition of music and dance. (2018-2020)