Clarisse Leite (b. 11 January 1917. d. 2003) was a Brazilian composer, pianist and music educator. She was born in São Paulo

São Paulo

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...

 and studied in São Paulo and France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. After completing her studies, she worked as a professor of music at Academia Internacional, Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...

.

Her sons Cláudio César Dias Baptista, Arnaldo Dias Baptista

Arnaldo Baptista

Arnaldo Dias Baptista is a Brazilian rock musician and composer.-Biography:Born from a lyric singer father and a pianist mother , Arnaldo studied classic piano from 1955 to 1959, double bass from 1962 to 1963, and acoustic guitar from1963 to 1965...

 and Sérgio Dias Baptista

Sérgio Dias

Sérgio Dias Baptista , is a Brazilian rock musician, composer and guitar player. He is best known for his work with the band Os Mutantes in the late 60s and 70s...

became rock musicians.

Works

Leite composed for orchestra, chamber, piano and vocal performance. She was known for compositions based on Brazilian folklore. Selected works include:

• Suite Nordestina (1971) including 1) Baticum, 2) Prece por Maria Bonita (A Prayer to Maria Bonita) and 3) Jacunços (Gunmen)
• Duo concertante no. 1 for pianos

Her works have been recorded and issued on CD, including:

• Brasileira: Piano Music by Brazilian Women, 2004, Centaur Records