Berkeley Choro Ensemble – January 15, 2017

Berkeley Choro Ensemble

Jane Lenoir, flute; Harvey Wainapel, saxophone & clarinet; Ricardo Peixoto, guitar; Brian Rice, percussion

Berkeley Choro Ensemble will present a program of Brazilian music, featuring music by contemporary Brazilian composers, in preparation for the recording of their first CD. The Ensemble is a group of world-class musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area that made its debut in January, 2010, at the Berkeley Public Library. The group celebrates the music, culture and history of Brazil, with a special emphasis on the Choro genre, a style of music which emerged in the 1800’s in Brazil, fusing the music of Brazil’s European immigrants and the native music of Brazil’s indigenous and African-Brazilian population. In particular, the choro sound is somewhat akin to a combination of European classical music, ragtime, and blues. Historically, the choro style influenced Brazil’s most famous classical composer, Heitor Villa Lobos, to compose some of the world’s most hauntingly beautiful music, the Bachianas Brasileiras. Berkeley Choro would like to thank San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music Musical Grant Program for their support in awarding a grant in 2016 for this project.