$15 youth, $25 Senior/Student, $30 general admission
Tickets available through Eventbrite.
Original compositions by living Brazilian composers that cover styles ranging from maxixi, walz, chamamé, and baião.
The concert will feature original compositions and other works by living Brazilian composers in solo and ensemble settings, featuring choros composed by Alessandro Penezzi for members of the group, as well as works written for the local community. His music covers styles including maxixi, waltz, chamamé, baião, and includes elements of jazz improvisation. Berkeley Choro Ensemble has collaborated with Alessandro Penezzi for many years due to his annual residence at California Brazil Camp in Cazadero, celebrating his great artistry and repertoire.
Artist Profiles
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Born in Piracicaba (SP), Alessandro Penezzi is one of the great virtuosos of Brazilian guitar. His concerts have been seen in various countries including the USA, Russia, Japan, Gabon, Angola, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Kosovo, Macedonia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Morocco, and Portugal. He graduated in Popular Music from Unicamp with a specialization in Creative Processes from Faculdade Souza Lima, he has been teaching courses, workshops, and seminars at various music festivals in Brazil and abroad. A multi-instrumentalist – he plays 7-string guitar, tenor guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin and flute – and [is] a prolific composer.
He has received honors and nominations for his performances as an instrumentalist and composer, and has been highlighted in the Visa MPB Instrumental (2001), Tim de Música Brasileira (2006), Shell de Teatro and Prêmio da Música Brasileira (2006) awards.
In 2017, his CD Quebranto recorded with Yamandu Costa in a program of duos and original compositions, won the top award in the Brazilian Music Awards for instrumental music. He is the recipient of an Exceptional Artist Visa from the US, and recently completed a US tour with mandolinist Mike Marshall. He is a faculty member at California Brazil Camp in Cazadero.
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From a family of professional musicians, Berkeley resident, flutist Jane Lenoir, grew up in Tampa, Florida, and left home at 15 as a scholarship student to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and then to Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A performer comfortable in many diverse styles, Jane appears regularly as a soloist, chamber player, orchestral musician, baroque flutist, and jazz performer. A founder of Berkeley Choro, Jane is particularly interested in Latin flute styles, which celebrate the instrument’s ancient, rich history , virtuosity, and lyrical sound. Her 2017 CD, Jane Lenoir plays Penezzi, celebrated the São Paulo guitarist/composer’s compositions to critical acclaim.
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Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Berkeley resident, Harvey Wainapel, has forged a well-earned reputation as one of the foremost artists in Brazilian styles in the US today. Trained as a jazz saxophonist and celebrated for his numerous recordings in the jazz idiom, Harvey has spent many years touring and studying in Brazil with the leading musicians of the day, including Airto and Flora Purim, ..... His 2006 CD, Amigos Brasileiros, received rave reviews as a testament to the history of Brazilian styles of music. With over 40 Brazilian musicians represented on the CD, it was a musical odyssey and labor of love. In 2014, Amigos Brasileiros Volume 2 came out to rave reviews. Harvey has done extensive arrangements for the group over the years, and in 2021 the group premiered an entirely new repertoire on contemporary Brazilian choro compositions. He wrote extensive program notes for our online festival during covid, A Celebration of Women in Brazilian Music.
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Originally from Rio de Janeiro and based in the Bay Area, Oakland resident, guitarist/composer Ricardo Peixoto is among the top representatives of Brazilian guitar in the US, with a fluid melodic style and a keen compositional sense. His performances explore Brazil’s rich and diverse traditions, both in his original work as well as in arrangements of Brazilian classics. His approach is grounded both in the jazz and Brazilian music traditions, but always ventures well beyond their borders, combining rich melodies, sophisticated harmonies, and the unmistakable rhythms of Brazil.
Ricardo came to the US on a scholarship to the Berkeley School of Music in Boston, and later continued his studies in classical guitar at the SF Conservatory of Music.He has recorded, performed, and collaborated with, among others, Claudia Villela, Flora Purim and Airto, saxophonist Bud Shank, percussionist Dom Um Romão, Toots Thielemans, Dori Caymmi, Guinga, guitarist Carlos Oliveira, Harvey Wainapel, Marcos Silva and Terra Sul. He has performed throughout the US, Europe, Canada, Japan and Brazil. He has taught an ongoing class in choro at CJC for several years now, educating a new audience to choro and Brazilian music.
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Oakland resident percussionist Brian Rice graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and Oberlin College Conservatory of Music with a B.M. in Percussion Performance and Ethnomusicology. A faculty member at UC Berkeley and UC Davis in latin percussion styles, Brian is a highly acclaimed performer, educator and recording artist adept at numerous musical styles ranging from classical and jazz, to Latin, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian, to contemporary and experimental music. Brian's study of the Brazilian pandeiro began in 1986 when the Sao Paulo State University percussion ensemble visited Oberlin and percussionist/composer Carlos Stasi, then a student at SPSU, gave Brian a quick pandeiro lesson after the concert. Since then Brian's obsession with the pandeiro has led him to study with Guello, Marcos Suzano, Airto, Claudio Bueno and Clarice Magalhaes, and his prowess on the instrument has led him to perform with numerous Brazilian artists including, Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia and Jorge Alabe. It was studies with Marcos Suzano that inspired Brian to expand his use of the pandeiro outside the Brazilian music world and apply it to Balkan, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Cuban music with great effect.