Considered one of the great Brazilian guitarists of his generation, composer, arranger and guitarist Alessandro Penezzi was born in Piracicaba, São Paulo state, Brazil in 1974. He began his musical studies at seven years old. Known often as simply “Penezzi”, he plays the seven-string guitar, tenor guitar, cavaquinho, mandolin and flute. His teachers were Carlos Coimbra, Jair T. de Paula, Sérgio Belluco, and João Dias Carrasqueira. He has taught at California Brazil Camp since 2010. He has recorded over 40 CDs with Brazil’s most renowned musicians. In the spring of 2026 he is touring the USA as a duo with the famous mandolinist, Mike Marshall.
In 2017, Penezzi received the Brazilian Music Award , the Brazilian equivalent of a Grammy, for Quebranto, a duo album with Yamandu Costa. Penezzi is a 2026 recipient of an exceptional artist visa from the US government. He lives in Piracicaba and São Paulo, and tours regularly to Europe and Africa.
From a family of professional musicians, Berkeley resident, flutist Jane Lenoir, grew up in Tampa, Florida. She left home at 15 as a scholarship student to the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and then studied at the Oberlin College 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 Ensemble and Berkeley Festival of 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, was celebrated to critical acclaim. She has c0-directed Berkeley Festival of Choro, with Brian Rice, since 2013. Jane has recorded with Alessandro Penezzi, Paulo Sergio Santos, Rogério Souza, as well as Berkeley Choro Ensemble’s CD, The View from Here.
Oakland resident percussionist Brian Rice attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, and graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory with a double major in percussion and ethnomusicology. A faculty member in Latin percussion at the University of California, Berkeley and UC Davis, Brian is adept at numerous musical styles including classical, jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and contemporary experimental music. Brian has studied pandeiro with Guello, Marcos Suzano, Airto, Claudio Bueno and Clarice Magalhaes; and his prowess has led him to perform with Brazilian artists including Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia and Jorge Alabe. Brian has expanded his use of the pandeiro, applying it to Balkan, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Spanish and Cuban music.
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Karen Iglitzin, violinist, director (coach for all camps) Karen has been coaching since 1984, running countless chamber music camps and workshops. She is proud to have been in collaboration since that time with Washington high school orchestra teachers in developing and honing offerings to enhance life for music students and teachers alike. In 2001, she was given the “Heidi Castleman award for Excellence in Chamber Music Teaching” by Chamber Music America. Karen received her B.A. at Indiana University with Josef Gingold, and her Master of Music at Yale University with Joseph Silverstein. In 1984 Karen joined the renowned Philadelphia String Quartet as first violinist and performed over eighty concerts each year. This included two major international tours, to South America and the other to India in 1986.
With her dad, PSQ violist Alan Iglitzin, she helped to found the Olympic Music Festival, now www.ConcertsintheBarn.org. Iglitzin was a professor at Western Washington University, where she led the string program for 10 years. She spent the 1997 academic year as professor of violin in the Shandong Province in China at Qufu Teachers University. In 2000 she established Chamber Music Madness for year-round programs for young players, directing until fall 2009. She is also an avid folk-fiddler and choro player, having appeared many times at Northwest Folklife Festival and been on the faculty of the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes Festival at Centrum. She has selfproduced two CDs: "Fiddling on the Yangtze" and "Stay Tuned".
Stuart Zobel, guitar Choro Camp Seattle, (collaborat0r since start of Karen’s choro camps in summer 2001 )
Stuart is a guitarist and composer who specializes in Latin American and theatrical music. Stuart is a member of Choroloco, a Seattle based acoustic trio that performs choro music, vintage Brazilian jazz. Choroloco has toured widely throughout the West, giving performances and workshops at many festivals including the Berkeley Choro Festival, Wintergrass and the Bellingham Folk Festival. He also plays tango, performing regularly as part of the GloZobel duo, as well as with many other tango musicians and singers in Seattle. He composes and is often a bandleader for theatrical productions. These include Seattle's Moisture Festival, Fremont Players, the Cirque du Flambé and Book-It Repertory Theater. He has also composed music for several films, including an upcoming dance film of The Odyssey. For several years he was on staff at Seattle Symphony teaching at Soundbridge Music Discovery Center, where he did outreach through music history classes, teaching instruments, and musical storytelling. He recently taught improvisation and electronic music with Path With Art. Stuart is a popular teacher of all ages, teaching guitar, as well as music theory and composition. He has also taught Spanish classes, using art, music, and movement to teach the language.