Before there was bossa nova, there was choro – a uniquely Brazilian form of high-energy improvisational music that blends European and African traditions.

Centrum is proud to announce the return of choro to the Olympic Peninsula in a concert featuring the internationally acclaimed mandolinist Dudu Maia at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 16 at Joseph F. Wheeler Theater in Fort Worden State Park. The concert is the capstone event for a weeklong choro intensive educational workshop produced by Centrum, April 14-17.

“This is very unusual to have a big choro week like this in America,” said John MacElwee, Centrum’s executive director. “The choro workshop at Centrum is a huge success story and draws people from all over the West Coast.”

Many ethnomusicologists believe that the word “choro” comes from the Portuguese verb chorar – which means “to weep or to cry.” It is one of Brazil’s oldest traditional musical styles, often compared to jazz because of its improvisational form. But, it has a sadder side as well, notes clarinetist and ethnomusicologist Andy Connell.

“There is a wonderful bittersweet quality about it,” he said. “It often seems bright and happy on the surface. But if you dig deeper you find a kind of sadness, a longing that the Brazilians call saudade, which gives the music its emotional power.”

In addition to Maia (mandolin) and Connell (clarinet and saxophone), the concert features Brian Rice (pandeiro and other Brazilian percussion instruments), Douglas Lora (seven-string guitar) and Jovino Santos Neto (piano).

Neto, a three-time Latin Grammy nominee, master pianist, composer and arranger, is among the top Brazilian musicians working today. Currently, he leads his Seattle-based quinteto, and teaches piano and composition at Cornish College of the Arts. He can also be heard as a piano soloist, working with symphony orchestras, jazz big bands, chamber music groups, and in collaboration with musicians such as his mentor, Hermeto Pascoal, Bill Frisell, Paquito D’Rivera, Airto Moreira, Claudio Roditi, David Sanchez, Joe Locke, Marco Granados and many others.

Connell has played in ensembles ranging from jazz to classical to Brazilian music. In addition to his work as a performer, Connell is an ethnomusicologist whose primary research focuses on issues of musical identity and globalization in Brazilian popular instrumental music. He is currently an assistant professor of music at James Madison University in Virginia, working on a book about Brazilian jazz.

Rice is a percussionist much sought after for his wealth of experience and skills in a multitude of styles. He is the founder of Samba Seattle, a 90-member escola de samba, and has played everything from Brazilian, Cuban and Middle Eastern music to jazz, klezmer and Celtic.

The concert is Maia and Lora’s first visit to the area. Tickets – $25 for adults, free for ages 18 and younger with advance reservations – are available at

centrum.org or by calling 800-746-1982.

More choro

Prior to the April 16 concert, two local venues in Port Townsend also celebrate choro on Wednesday, April 13.

First, the Upstage Restaurant, 923 Washington St., hosts the music of Rio Con Brio, along with the Brazillionaires, from 7 to 8 p.m. From Portland, Ore., Rio Con Brio features Tim Connell on mandolin and Mike Burdette on guitar.

Also from Portland, the Brazillionaires are Zak Borden, mandolin and percussion; Peter Fung, guitar, cavaquinho and percussion; and Simon “Do Pandeiro” Lucas, percussion and melodeon.

Admission is $10. For more information and reservations, call 385-2216.

At Undertown Coffee & Wine Bar, below street level at 211 Taylor, the music of Choro Tocando begins at 6:30 p.m. From Seattle, Choro Tocando, formed in 2009, is a flute, guitar and percussion trio.

There is no cover charge. For information, call 385-1410.

“Our workshop and concert, plus the events at Undertown and the Upstage, are really made possible by the promotion and work of Al Bergstein, who plays mandolin and is on our board of directors,” said MacElwee.