Extended Bio
Born and raised in Brazil, Felipe is heavily influenced by Brazilian music, which translates to emotional solos that may resemble a relaxing walk in the beach as well as explosiveness and intense playing that comes from Brazilian passion. His use of dynamics in his improvisation and comping evokes a wide range of emotions, setting him apart from most jazz pianists. His piano playing has been described as “masterful” by Ron Jackson from “The Smooth Jazz Ride”. Felipe’s love for music and instrumental virtuosity goes beyond the piano. He has worked professionally as a drummer, bassist, saxophonist, xylophonist, guitarist, singer and organist. Felipe is also learning how to play the Trumpet and Violin, and hopes to pick up the cello one day.
First Album
Felipe Paccagnella is a well-rounded musician based in Laurel, MD. He is very grateful to God for allowing him the opportunity to finish his second album in 2018, which is composed of original music and christian hymns in a Bossa Nova style. He hopes to expand the horizons of music in church as a ministry to encourage listeners to focus on heaven in order to glorify God, who is the giver and owner of his talents, according to Felipe. Along with his interest in playing music, Felipe believes in music education and also works as a teacher. He is passionate about making sure that parents are equipped with tools to better educate their children. Felipe also has a degree in psychology from the University of Maryland and hopes to conduct research on how learning jazz can improve an infant’s self-confidence, awareness, and ability to focus.
National Television
Felipe also has great amounts of experience when it comes to music directing, especially in a live band setting. As a music director, he has coordinated live music for several events throughout the years. One of the most memorable events where Felipe played and directed a live band was the Washington Brazilian Choir’s (CJW) 15 year reunion March 31st of 2018. High caliber names in the adventist music community such as Williams Costa Jr. and Jader Santos both congratulated Felipe on his excellent performance and band competence.
Music Directing
As a composer, Felipe loves challenging music theory and mathematics, creating pieces that are not only pleasing to the ear, but also theoretically intriguing. His compositional range goes from simple, emotional melodies to fugue-like pieces that feature complex harmony and poly-rhythms. His love for creating new music, like his love for learning new instruments, goes beyond the piano, resulting in compositions that feature guitar, orchestra, choir works, and even simple singer-songwriter songs. Felipe also has a passion for arranging music, including jazz standards, popular tunes, and hymns. His arranging style often features bossa nova, unexpected harmony structures, and odd meters. He strives to push music to new grounds, while at the same time maintaining familiarity and emotion in order to create a new experience to his listeners every time.
EP Christmas Jazz
In 2013, Felipe released his first EP, entitled Christmas Jazz. The album features three Christmas carols re-arranged by Felipe himself and played live on a studio with a drummer, saxophonist and bassist. The EP includes complex harmonic and rhythmic content put together in a musical way with exceptional musicians. The tunes in that album were all recorded in a single take, with all the instruments playing simultaneously in the studio. Because of that, a jazz enthusiast is enabled to enjoy the complexity of the music itself along with the interaction between the musicians during the recording.
Aside from music and teaching, Felipe also works as a studio engineer, photographer and videographer. Since he is able to play several instruments at once, recording, mixing and mastering are powerful tools in his hands. He has composed, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered an entire EP with Linda Harris. In that EP named “Don’t you Dare”, Felipe recorded all of the instruments, except for a saxophone in one track where he invited his friend Douglas Lira to play. These songs can be accessed in the discography page on this website. Videos that he has filmed and/or edited can be found in the media page. Felipe is also producing Linda’s “Shaking off the Dust” album, scheduled for a re-release by the end of December, 2018.
Felipe has a letter of recognition in music therapy from Howard Community College and is a firm believer in the healing power of music. He has experience working with children who suffer from autism, down syndrome, and has volunteered with music therapists in a psychiatric hospital located in Springfield, MD for a entire school semester. He hopes to further his research in music therapy, and support its introduction to the adventist education system in the United States and Brazil.
Music is a huge part of Felipe’s life, but he is also passionate about psychology. He hopes to get a Master’s in Family Counseling and another in Music Therapy. After that, Felipe hopes to obtain a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, and further his research on how music can be used to improve people’s lives and our society.
Second Album
Musically speaking there is a lot going on in Felipe’s life. Feel free to read the Extended Bio to the left. Felipe is very excited about the release of his second album “My Home” in 2018, and plans on keeping God as the center for everything he does.
Felipe's Story
I've thanked God for every minute of my journey
From an Early Age
Started Piano Lessons at 7
Felipe deeply in love with music and dedicated life to Christ at age 13. Went to Howard Community College and received a Associate of Arts Degree in Jazz Piano in 2014.
