Brazilian Music: Choro/Forró jam

For the month of April 2024, Departure Arts activates Sunday afternoons at Roundhead Brewing in Hyde Park, MA with the Brazilian music duo of cellist Catherine Bent and Brazilian mandolin prodigy Ian Coury.

The local duo will perform their unique take on Brazilian instrumental music for the first set starting at 3p, then later in the afternoon they will be inviting other musicians to join for a “roda de choro”. Audiences may find themselves on a journey into the rootsy dance rhythms of forró, or lifting their voices in a cathartic samba. Choro musicians, bring your instruments!

Catherine Bent, an alumna of Cirque du Soleil, has performed and recorded with Joe Jackson, Lee Konitz, Donna Summer, and many others. She is regarded in Brazil as the leading cellist in choro. Ian Coury is an award-winning 10-string bandolim player and composer from Brazil who has shared stages with Brazilian legends like Toninho Horta and Hamilton de Holanda. The two have a musical connection that transcends their backgrounds and crystallizes around their passion for Brazilian choro music.

Choro (pronounced “shoh-roh") is an instrumental music that has its origins in late 1800s Rio de Janeiro. It's been likened to New Orleans jazz, and shares that tradition's improvisation, soulfulness, and often irrepressible joyfulness.