About Choro Camp
If you have fallen in love with the Brazilian musical tradition called “choro” (or “chorinho”) we know this much: you have good taste.
Paradise Pond, Smith College
We know too that as a musician setting out to play this music you’ve got a lot of fun – and, let’s be honest – a piece of work ahead of you. Even in Brazil learning to play choro presents daunting musical challenges. The repertoire is vast and complex; the masters are, well, masterful. Taking on the challenge in North America we face additional obstacles: few experts nearby, few people to play with, barriers of language and culture, etc.
About Choro
The musical genre of “choro”, also known as “chorinho,” began to take shape in mid-19th century Rio de Janeiro, where the music of the Portuguese court – ballroom dances such as the polca, waltz and schottisch – met that of Afro-Brazilians.
A similar process took place 5,000 miles to the north, where African-American skills and sensibilities combined with European music – especially that of military bands – to bring forth first ragtime, then jazz. And just as ragtime and jazz are universally regarded as prototypically American, so too is choro recognized as uniquely, exquisitely Brazilian.