Pitt professor sings Brazilian jazz as well as she teaches

Pittsburgh is a city full of surprises. One of them is a restaurant called Mahoney’s, located in… Pittsburgh is a city full of surprises. One of them is a restaurant called Mahoney’s, located in Downtown. A second is Pitt Professor Lilly Abreu. And both, once discovered, are superbly satisfying. From Liberty Avenue’s street view, Mahoney’s might look like an average Downtown eatery equipped with a bar and various celebrity photographs hanging from the walls. However, take a step inside and venture to the second floor to find Little E’s Jazz Club. Among the cozy dinner tables with an open view of the stage, Little E’s hosts various entertainers after business hours. Abreu is one of them. Many know her as a triple-institution professor at Pitt, Chatham University and Carnegie Mellon University. But take a seat in any of the candle-lit tables on particular nights at Little E’s, and get to know Abreu for a different type of education. Born in Portland, Maine, Abreu and her family moved to Brazil when she was young.’ A native English speaker, she learned the Portuguese language and fell in love with it. ‘My mother would ask my sisters and I questions in English and we’d answer her in Portuguese,’ said Abreu. While in Brazil, she also embraced the culture. It was then that she adopted the art of Brazilian jazz. The market was open for popular music, said Abreu, and though her training was in classical music she decided to try something new. Abreu sings Brazilian jazz from various popular artists and from her CD, Brasileira. What she loves about this specific genre of music is the freedom it allows her to have while maintaining her heritage. ‘I liked that it was informal. With classical music, there are dynamics, and everything is done note by note. Everything has to be perfect. In Brazilian jazz, it’s easier to express yourself,’ she said. Abreu relates to the songs she sings and therefore makes it easier for her audience to feel more involved. For example, a night at Little E’s with Abreu on the stage includes moments when she steps into the audience and encourages her listeners to participate in the performance. Still singing the Brazilian tunes, she provides a few partakers with maracas and teaches the samba. During the week, Abreu takes a break from the samba and jazz to teach Portuguese 1, 2 and 4 at Pitt. She describes her teaching experience as a learning process for both her and her students alike. Not only does Abreu want to promote the Brazilian culture, but she also wants to equip her students with knowledge and skills they need beyond college. ‘One of the reasons I like teaching Portuguese is to help our students have more opportunities in the job market. Usually the students come to us having learned Spanish, French or Italian. Potential employers are looking for someone different, and a jazzed-up resume with an extra language like Portuguese can take them further,’ she said. These words come from a woman who has an elaborate resume of her own. Her experiences consist of singing with the Pittsburgh Opera, interpreting and translating for the American Translators Association and performing for Brazil’s first lady, among others. If her students take Abreu’s advice, they might encounter opportunities similar to hers. It’s this cross-cultural synthesis that drives Abreu in both her music and teaching. ‘The more we know about other cultures, the more we can live peacefully,’ she said.