Guiomar Novaes (February 28, 1895 – March 7, 1979) was a Brazilian pianist known for individuality of tone and phrasing, singing line, and a subtle and nuanced approach to her interpretations.

[1] Born in São João da Boa Vista (in the area of São Paulo state in Brazil) as one of the youngest children in a very large family, she studied with Antonietta Rudge Miller and Luigi Chiafarelli before she was accepted as a pupil of Isidor Philipp at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1909.

Debussy wrote a letter in which he reports his amazement about the little Brazilian girl who came to the platform and, forgetting about public and jury, played with tremendous beauty and complete absorption.

[4] Novaes' technique and musical interpretations may have already been fully formed by the time she reached Paris.

Returning to Brazil at the start of World War I, she made her U.S. debut in Aeolian Hall in New York City in 1915.

"[4] Dubbed "the Paderewska of the Pampas,"[4] she continued playing in the United States frequently, mostly in New York.

[1] Novaes commanded a very large repertoire in her early touring days, narrowing it in later life.

Because of her relaxed, effortless nature at the keyboard, she was one of the few pianists about whom it seemed the instrument was a welded extension of her arms and fingers.

[7] In his obituary of Novaes in The New York Times dated 7 March 1979, Schonberg stated: "The sheer beauty of her playing managed to transcend any other considerations; it was its own reward.

[9] Her mid-century recordings of concertos, encore pieces, and Chopin solo works have been reissued by Vox on CD.

[11] At Philipp's urging, she recorded a set of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words, which he said were "unduly neglected.