Brian Rice Lecturer in Music Director of Samba and Afro-Cuban Percussion
Brian Rice is a highly acclaimed performer, educator, and
recording artist and one of the most versatile percussionists in
the Bay Area. Though best known as a specialist in Brazilian and
Cuban music, he can be heard playing a multitude of styles,
and his percussion playing graces over sixty recordings.
Brian Rice received his Bachelor of Music from the
Oberlin Conservatory of Music in percussion performance and
ethnomusicology, and he has been a freelance musician since 1989,
founding the bateria Samba Seattle and the Afro-Cuban
Folkloric Collective, and traveling to both Cuba and Brazil for
musical studies. He currently performs with Mike Marshall
and Choro Famoso, Claudia Villela, Jorge Alabe and Samba Rio,
Cascada de Flores, the Berkeley Choro Ensemble and Wake the Dead.
He is an endorser of Latin Percussion instruments.
Modeled after the famous baterias of Rio de Janeiro’s
renowned samba schools, the UC Davis Samba School performs
high-energy music of Brazil’s Carnaval for audiences throughout
Northern California. The group was formed in 2004 and has since
become a vibrant force in campus life, performing at festivals,
fundraisers and community events across the region. A contingent
of 25 drummers muscle through traditional material taken from
Rio’s major samba schools as well as original music created by
the group.
The Afro-Cuban Ensemble studies and performs music from the
African-derived folkloric traditions of Cuba, the instruments and
techniques of the Yoruba, Bantu, Arara and Iyesa drumming, and
song traditions including the bembe, batá, guiro
(chekere), as well as Cuban secular music such as Rumba, La
Conga, Conga Santiago. Includes an introduction to the
historical and cultural context of folkloric traditions and
practices in Cuba.
Delayed from fall of 2020, this year’s festival features eight
women, including co-director Jane Lenoir, in celebration of 100
years since ratification of women’s right to vote in the
United States. Concerts will be livestreamed via
the Berkeley Choro Ensemble’s YouTube
channel. Pioneering women composers of Brazil, notably
including Chiquinha Gonzaga and Carolina Cardoso de
Menezes, will be featured in this year’s festival.
The Afro-Cuban Ensemble studies and performs music from the
African-derived folkloric traditions of Cuba, the instruments and
techniques of the Yoruba, Bantu, Arara and Iyesa drumming, and
song traditions including the bembe, batá, guiro
(chekere), as well as Cuban secular music such as Rumba, La
Conga, Conga Santiago. Includes an introduction to the
historical and cultural context of folkloric traditions and
practices in Cuba.
