I discovered Brazilian music when I was studying classical guitar. As most students do, I was working on a few preludes and etudes by composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. At some point, I decided to play his piece Choro no. 1 for guitar. At the time I had no idea what a choro and wikipedia only had a few sentences about it. I had to learn about it the old fashioned way, at the library and more importantly, finding people who knew how to play it. My interest and jazz and preference for the nylon string guitar led me to Bossa Nova and samba. I was very fortunate to be able to be a frequent guest of Kansas City group Mistura Fina. Since that time, I’ve accompanied singers and instrumentalists playing the music of Guinga, Jobim, Pixinguinha, and many other marvelous Brazilian composers.