Roxana Amed, an acclaimed jazz vocalist, songwriter and producer who made a powerful impact as a faculty member at the Frost School of Music, died Sunday of cancer at the age of 63. She discovered the disease over the summer. Her fellow Frost School faculty, students and friends and colleagues across the music world mourned her loss.
Amed was revered in her native Argentina and the jazz world for her adventurous vision of jazz and her unique fusions with the country’s folkloric music and rock nacional. She studied classical piano and voice before beginning her career in Buenos Aires' jazz bars, and co-produced or produced all 12 of her albums, starting in 2004. Amed won her second Premio Gardel, Argentina’s top musical prize, for her critically praised 2021 album “Ontology,” which received two Latin GRAMMY nominations.
Her 2022 recording “Unánime” (Unanimous), an exploration of Latin jazz in which she collaborated with renowned artists including Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés; flamenco guitarist Niño Josele; bassist, Pat Metheny band member and frequent collaborator Pedro Aznar; and Frost School alumnus Julio Reyes Copello, was nominated for a Latin GRAMMY and received positive reviews from the New York Times and DownBeat. In last year’s “Todos Los Fuegos” (All the Fires), Amed reimagined the music of legendary Argentine rock artists such as Charly García, Fito Páez and Gustavo Cerati.
Her passing was noted in leading Argentine publications such as El Clarín and Diario Perfil. Her label Sony Music Latin posted this tribute on social media Sunday. “We deeply mourn the passing of Roxana Amed, an extraordinary artist, songwriter and producer, whose voice, sensitivity and musical vision left a unique mark on music.”
Frost School professor and jazz pianist Martin Bejerano, who collaborated with Amed on “Ontology” and “Unánime” and was part of her core group of musicians in Miami, called her “one of the sweetest, kindest, and most encouraging people I know” on Instagram.
“In a time where too many artists play it safe, chase trends, and eschew creativity for safer, more tried and tested routes, she was incredibly fearless in her artistry and need to create bold, inventive, and forward-thinking music,” Bejerano wrote. “But what really made her music special was the incredible depth of emotion she poured into every single note.”
Amed studied classical piano and voice at the National Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires and earned postgraduate degrees in literature at the National Institute for Educators, Instituto Superior del Profesorado and in filmmaking at the Fundación Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. She created and led a workshop for singers at the Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival from 2009 to 2018.
In 2013, Amed moved to Miami with her husband, Daniel Arano, an executive at Sony Music Latin, and earned a master’s in jazz vocals at Florida International University on a full scholarship. She became an adjunct teacher at the Frost School in 2021 and a full-time lecturer in 2023, teaching voice and music theory, and mentoring the student Latin music ensemble Café Con Leche with professor Rey Sanchez.
Raina Murnak, the chair and program director of the Frost School’s Modern Artistry Development and Entrepreneurship (M.A.D.E.) program, said Amed channeled her profound passion for music into her teaching and her students.
“As an artist, she poured every bit of her human experience into her work,” said Murnak. “She often spoke about the importance of not wasting time and she wasted not a moment of her life.”
Amed’s Café Con Leche students will pay tribute to their teacher in their Nov. 4 concert at the Frost School’s Knight Center for Music Innovation.
“Each of them considered her a mother, a mentor, an empath who could feel when something was off,” Murnak said. “She did not have children, but these were her children. Her generosity and care about all she did is something that each and every one of those young artists vowed to take with them for the rest of their lives.”
Sanchez, who brought Amed on to lead Café Con Leche with him, said it was an honor to work with her on the Latin singer-songwriters ensemble.
“Roxana was one of the most talented, skilled, and creative musicians I've ever worked with,” Sanchez said. “She was also a profoundly caring, loving, and dedicated educator and colleague. I saw firsthand how she transformed our students' lives, making them not just better artists, but better humans as well. While her passing has left a huge hole in our hearts and our community, her influence will live on for generations through the lives of all those she touched.”
Amed, who was the only Frost School instructor to teach singing in Spanish and had a sophisticated understanding of literature and art, worked with the Café Con Leche students not only to improve their songwriting in Spanish, but to deepen their cultural and musical understanding. “We encourage them … to find the heart in the language,” Amed told Frost News last spring. “We work on the arrangements, the vocals and the songwriting. This is not just entertaining music for you to dance to. This is honoring traditions.”
She was particularly proud to mentor aspiring young women artists. “I especially try to help female singers so they don’t have to rely on someone else to tell them what to do,” she said. “You are the songwriter; you have to know your craft. I empower them.”
