The Berkeley Choro Ensemble is a group of world-class musicians from the Bay Area that made its debut in January 2010 at the Berkeley Public Library. The group celebrates the music, culture, and history of Brazil, with a special emphasis on the Choro genre, a style of music that emerged in the 1800s in Brazil, fusing the music of Brazil’s European immigrants and the native music of Brazil’s indigenous and African-Brazilian population. The choro sound is somewhat akin to a combination of European classical music, ragtime, and blues. Historically, the choro style influenced Brazil’s most famous classical composer, Heitor Villa Lobos, to compose some of the world’s most hauntingly beautiful music, the Bachianas Brasileiras. The group’s repertoire also includes samba, bossa nova, jazz, and the music of Northeast Brazil.