TICKETS are $10 General/$5 Student. End time is estimate.

Concerts and events made possible, in part, with support from the Wells Philanthropic Services provided by grants from the John, Anna, and Martha Jane Fields Memorial Trust Foundation, Stanley A. and Flora P. Clark Memorial Community Trust Foundation, and the Florence V. Carroll Charitable Trust, The Esther and George Jaruga Charitable Foundation, the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County's ArtsEverywhere initiative, and the Arts Project Support Grant and Arts Recovery Grant through the Indiana Arts Commission. Concert support provided by the Arts Midwest Grow, Invest, Gather (GIG) Fund grant (2022-2023 season).

Our Chamber Arts Series presents Duo Violão plus One, which  started with two guitarists, Rogério Souza and Edinho Gerber, and expanded later to include percussionist Ami Molinelli. The ensemble navigates 20th century Brazilian popular music, emphasizing Brazil’s first original musical genre, choro, while also showcasing original works and inventive arrangements.

Rogério Souza - guitar

Edinho Gerber - guitar

Ami Molinelli - percussion

For info and video samples:

https://www.duoviolaobrasil.com/duoviolaoplusone

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM:

YouTube Historia Do Choro

Bandcamp https://duoviolaoplus1.bandcamp.com/releases

Stream      https://music.apple.com/us/album/historia-do-choro/1459678133

Duo Violão Plus One started with two Rio de Janeiro based guitarists, Rogério Souza and Edinho Gerber, and the desire to explore and expand the musical possibilities of playing two violões, or Brazilian guitars. During their first visit to the Bay Area in 2015, they met percussionist Ami Molinelli and the musical connection was immediate.

The ensemble navigates 20th century Brazilian popular music, emphasizing Brazil’s first original musical genre, choro, while also showcasing original works and inventive arrangements. The group’s first album, “A História de Choro”, was released in 2019 and featured as one of the best musical albums of the Bay Area by the San Jose Mercury News. In 2020-21 they produced a project to further explore the intersections between choro and samba. “Raizes do Choro e Samba” (Roots of Choro and Samba) was an online concert presented during the pandemic that featured a blend of compositions that showcase these connections and will be the basis of their upcoming release.

Performance Venue History Headlined the Berkeley Choro Festival, Blue Whale (L.A.), Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago), Phinney Center (Seattle), Healdsburg Jazz Festival, Sound Room (Oakland), California Conservatory of Jazz, Outpost (Albuquerque), Gig Santa Fe, Muckenthaler Performing Arts Center (L.A.), Harwood Museum of Art (Toas); St. Hilary’s (Tiburon), Old First Church (SF), Maybeck Concert Hall (Berkeley), Yale, Georgetown University, USC, Northern Arizona University, James Madison University, and more.

A master of both 6 and 7 string guitars, Rogério Souza is one of the foremost representatives of the music of Rio de Janeiro. Rogério is constantly producing and performing in concerts and events that showcase traditional Brazilian music, especially Samba and Choro. He has worked with a multitude of world class Brazilian Musicians as musical director and producer for concerts, TV shows, CDs, and DVDs. Some of these artists include: Baden Powell, Paulinho da Viola, Sivuca, Ney Matogrosso, Altamiro Carrilho, João Bosco, Paulo Moura, Ivan Lins, Guinga, Turíbio Santos, Rafael Rabello, Cristovão Bastos, Nó em Pingo D’agua, Época de Ouro, Elizeth Cardoso, Elza Soares, João Nogueira, Dona Ivone Lara, Nelson Cavaquinho, Guilherme de Brito, Delcio Carvalho, Martinho da Vila, and Zeca Pagodinho. Rogério Souza is a pioneer in developing the style of music that is known today as “choro novo” – innovative interpretations of traditional Brazilian instrumental music while remaining true to the roots of the music. He performs regularly in music festivals, concerts, and workshops throughout Latin America, Europe, the United States, and Asia. His current show focuses on the art of Brazilian guitar and includes original works as well as classic repertoire. Along with performing, Rogério frequently gives masterclasses and workshops that focus on guitar styles and cover material from his latest books and CDs.

Ami Molinelli is a professional percussionist and educator specializing in Brazilian and Latin percussion. Ami received her Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. Her performance and recording credits include theater, television (NBC). She is a freelance performing artist as well. She is endorsed by Latin Percussion (LP) and Rhythm Tech. Here last album, “História do Choro” with Duo Violão Brasl + 1 was released in 2019 and was celebrated as one of the best jazz albums from the Bay Area for 2019. (Andy Gilbert, San Jose Mercury News) She is a two-time San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Recipient 2018 and 2020. She co-leads the Brazilian and Jazz ensemble, Grupo Falso Baiano with three albums to their credit: “Depois” released in 2017, “Simplicidade – Live at Yoshi’s” and “Viajando em Choro e Jazz.” Grupo Falso Baiano have been featured on NPR’s the California Report, Radio Latina and Pandora LIVE! Her percussion curriculum has been used and published in clinics and education workshops including the Los Angeles Philharmonic,The San Francisco Jazz Center, Los Angeles Music Center, Music in Schools Today, Young Audiences of Northern California, UFBA Ouro Preto, Brasil, HeadStart (San Mateo County), Los Angeles Music Academy, California Brazil Camp, Jazz Camp West, etc. Her curriculum, “Recycled Rhythm” was created for her artist residency of 7 years at the Los Angeles Music Center. Currently Ami is a music integration and curriculum specialist with organizations such as The San Francisco Jazz Center, Living Jazz and San Francisco Unified School District.

Edinho Gerber possesses a rich musical vocabulary developed in the two countries where he was raised: the United States and Brazil. His work as both a guitarist and composer manifest his unique cultural perspective within a tremendous range of genres, including samba, jazz, choro, blues, experimental chamber, r&b, and film scores.

After being an in-demand musician in the Chicago music scene for many years, he returned to Brazil in 2013 and, alongside choro legend, Rogerio Souza, formed Duo Violao Brasil, a guitar duo that explores the rich history of Brazilian instrumental popular music. The duo soon began to regularly tour the United Sates and, with the addition of percussion phenom, Ami Molinelli, morphed into Duo Violao plus One.

While an eternal student of the musical styles and history of both Brasil and the United States, he often subverts convention to and pushes boundaries to discover unique musical landscapes. A culmination of this can be found in 2019’s “Benjamin e Edinho” a ground-breaking cross-cultural collaboration with kindred spirit and Chicago experimental music hero, Ben LaMar Gay. That year also shared the release of Duo Violao plus One’s “A Historia do Choro”, a musical survey of the history of choro and its sub-genres that explores its idiosyncrasies through inventive arrangements.

Once again living in Chicago, Edinho continues to redefine the music scene with exciting new projects while still touring with Duo Violao plus One. 2022 will mark the apotheosis of his artistic expression to this point with the release of the film “Bodas de Pinho”, which he wrote, directed, and scored.