Ernesto Nazareth was born in Rio de Janeiro on March 20, 1863. From childhood, he was intimately involved with music. His mother, a pianist, often played polkas, waltzes and modinhas. With her as his teacher, he learned his first chords from Chopin, Mozart and Beethoven. After his mother's death in 1873, Nazareth was educated by his father, Vasco Lourenço Da Silva Nazareth, a modest employee who, when he went to work, left little Ernesto at home alone with his piano all day.

At the age of 14, Ernesto wrote his first composition, the polka Vocí bem sabe, which was published the same year. He continued to write small popular pieces and, at 17, joined other musicians to give a concert at the Club Rossini. That same year, he joined a group of chorinhos, performers of the urban variety of folk music he loved. These itinerant serenaders use guitar, mandolin, flute, clarinet and the small Portuguese guitar called cavaquinho, to perform nostalgic songs called choros.

Interprète de ses propres compositions, Nazareth se produit comme pianiste dans des salles de cinéma, des bals, des réunions et des cérémonies sociales. De 1909 à 1913 et de 1917 à 1918, il travaille dans la salle d'attente de l'ancien Cinéma Odéon où de nombreuses personnalités illustres viennent l'écouter, entre autres, le pianiste Arthur Rubinstein et le compositeur Darius Milhaud - qui mettra des extraits des compositions de Nazareth dans son ballet Le Bœuf sur le toit et la suite Saudades do Brasil.

Nazareth a été l'un des premiers à mélanger la polka et la maxixe avec la habanera, ce qui a donné naissance à un nouveau rythme de danse qu'il a nommé Tango Brasileiro. Il est le compositeur le plus illustre de la musique nationale brésilienne et a exercé une profonde influence sur le cours de la musique brésilienne, tant populaire que classique. Son compatriote Heitor Villa-Lobos l'a qualifié d'« incarnation la plus authentique de l'âme musicale brésilienne ».

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).
He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).
Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, but also performs his own version for clarinet, piano and string orchestra of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.
Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of pieces of light music and a considerable number of arrangements in all styles and for all instruments acclaimed by numerous personalities in the music world:

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation