Esther Scliar (28 September 1926 – 18 March 1978) was a Brazilian pianist and composer. Biography Esther Scliar was born in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, of parents Isaac and Rosa Scliar. Esther spent the first years of her life in Rivera, Uruguay, but her parents separated and Scliar moved with her father to Passo Fundo where she and her sister were raised by their aunt, Jayme Scliar Kruter. Scliar took piano lessons in Passo Fundo with Eva Kruter Kotlhar and Judith Pacheco. After her father remarried, she moved with him to Porto Alegre where she graduated from the American College and from the Institute of Fine Arts in piano. After graduating, she taught piano and continued studies in composition at the Institute of Fine Arts, and later in Rio de Janeiro with H.J. Koellreuter and in Venice with Hermann Scherchen. In 1950 she attempted suicide, and later became a militant affiliated with the Communist Youth of the PCB. Scliar worked as a pianist and taught harmony, music theory, analysis, and composition at the Instituto Villa-Lobos and Seminários de Música Pró-Arte. In 1952 she studied choral conducting with Nilda Müller in Montevideo and founded and was the first conductor of the Choir of the Musical Youth Association of Porto Alegre. In 1966 she wrote the music for the movie The Loss of Mario Fiorani and received an award for "Best Song" at the Brazilian Film Week II. In 1952 she found she had contracted tuberculosis, and in 1968 she had a stroke and left her position at Villa-Lobos Institute. Her father died in 1975, and she committed suicide at age 51. Works Scliar's compositions were often inspired by folk music. She composed about ninety works. Selected compositions include: 1950 Ao sair da Lua for chorus 1952 A pedrinha vai for chorus 1953 Vira a Moenda for chorus 1953 Dorme-Dorme for chorus 1953 Beira Mar 1953 Maracatu Elefante (after a melody by Capiba) 1953 Papagaio louro (text: Geny Marcondes) 1953 Flor da noite (text: Geny Marcondes) 1953 Acalanto (text: Geny Marcondes) 1953 Oração à manhã (text: Geny Marcondes) 1953 Por sete mares (text: Geny Marcondes) 1953 Bumba meu boi 1953 Uma, duas angolinhas 1953 Romeiro de São Francisco 1953 Si quizieras que cantemos 1953 La Virgen de las Mercedes 1953 Toada de Nanã 1953 No Parque for children's chorus 1954 A Esquila for voice and piano - poetry of