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.