Edwin Colón Zayas

​Born and raised in Orocovis, Puerto Rico, Edwin Colón Zayas is known internationally as the master of the cuatro, the national instrument of Puerto Rico. The cuatro, shaped like a small guitar with five double-coursed strings, became the preferred instrument for performing música jíbara (music of the countryside), heard in the small central-island towns of Puerto Rico.

Colón Zayas began playing cuatro at the age of five, learning from his father. He later taught his brother and two sisters several jíbaro instruments, and they often join him in his group, Edwin Colón y su Taller Campesino. Today, he is recognized as an innovative improviser on the cuatro. In addition to 17 solo albums, he has performed on, arranged, or directed more than 250 recordings for Puerto Rican artists.

His collaborations span classical, South American, Latin popular music, and jazz. Highlights of his career include performing at the inaugural concert of the San Juan Pops Orchestra (1991), participating in the International Guitar Festival in San Juan, and receiving a Grammy nomination in 2008 for his album Reafirmación. Though he has shared stages with Latin stars like Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives, Colón Zayas remains deeply committed to Puerto Rico’s traditional music community. For him, the love of the music begins with the love of the cuatro: “I have a sentimental bond with the instrument. Apart from my family, my parents, my wife, my daughters, that I love so much, my instrument has a special place in my life.”

Alexandre Ribeiro

Duo Violao Brasil

Eduardo Neves

Catherine Bent

Grupo Falso Baiano

Daniela Spielmann

Anat Cohen

Berkeley Choro Ensemble

Francois de Lima

Gileno Santana/Enrique Neto Duo

Choro de Ouro

Claudia Villela

Roberta Cunha Valente

Felipe Senna

Trio Brasileiro

Nailor Proveta, Alessandro Penezzi

Sheila Zagury

Past Choro Festival Artists

Ami Mollineli

Almir Cortes

Berkeley Festival of Choro 2026 Artists 

Vitor Goncalves

Clarice Cast

Choro das 3

Amilton Godoy Lea Freire Duo

Daniel Canosa

Choroloco

Tim Connell

Léa Freire

Ian Coury

Irene Sazer

Alessandro Penezzi

Considered one of the great Brazilian guitarists of his generation, composer, arranger and guitarist Alessandro  Penezzi was born in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil in February, 1974.. He began his musical studies at seven years old. A multiinstrumentalist, Alessandro plays 7-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 and is building a following in the US as one of the great virtuosos and composers in the Brazilian popular music genre. He resides in Piracicaba and São Paulo, Brazil. and tours regularly to Europe and Africa. He has recorded over 40 CD’s of music with Brazil’s most renowned musicians. He is currently touring the US with mandolinist Mike Marshall. In 2017, Penezzi received the Brazilian Music Award for Quebranto, a duo album with Yamandu Costa–the equivalent of a Grammy award in Brazilian.  Alessandro is a 2026 Recipient of an exceptional  artist Visa from the US Government.

Brian Moran

Carol Panesi

Silvia Goes