Bios
Brian Rice Percussion
Below are several biographies of differing lengths and subjects as well as a longer bio for more in depth reading.
Brian Rice Bio
Brian Rice Bio 64 words
Dedicated to all things percussive, Brian Rice specializes in Brazilian and Afro-Cuban percussion but is a musical chameleon. From Celtic-Grateful Dead mashups to Mexican and Indian sounds, jazz and classical, to new music and folk, Brian is comfortable delivering authentic and beautiful performed percussion. An expert of many hand-drums he is particularly well known for his playing of the Brazilian tambourine called the pandeiro.
Brian Rice Bio 179 words
Oakland based percussionist, Brian Rice specializes in both Brazilian and Afro Cuban percussion but can be heard playing a wide variety of music from Mexican son jarocho to the Grateful Dead songbook blended with Celtic music. Brian is a founding member of the Berkeley Choro Ensemble and is frequently called upon for his expertise on the pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine). In 2023 Brian premiered Danzas #4 for pandeiro and orchestra with the Diablo Symphony by Felipe Senna.
In addition to appearing over a hundred recordings, Brian has worked with Mike Marshall, Jovino Santos Neto, Spok, Claudia Villela, Trio Brasileiro, Alessandro Penezzi, Jorge Alabe, Almir Côrtes, and Rogerio Souza among others. Brian performed at the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Savannah Music Festival and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert with the Danilo Brito Quintet. In July 2019 Brian celebrated the release of his first self-produced choro CD, Três Baías with Almir Côrtes and Nando Duarte. Brian is the co-founder and artistic director of the Berkeley Festival of Choro and teaches Samba School, and the Afro-Cuban Ensembles at UC Davis.
Brian Rice Bio 112 words
An acclaimed percussionist, performer, educator, recording artist and specialist in both Brazilian and Afro Cuban percussion, Brian has worked with Mike Marshall, Jovino Santos Neto, Spok, Claudia Villela, Trio Brasileiro, Alessandro Penezzi, Jorge Alabe, Almir Côrtes, and Rogerio Souza among others, and has performed at the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, the Savannah Music Festival and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert with the Danilo Brito Quintet. In July 2019 Brian celebrated the release of his first self-produced choro CD, “Três Baías” with Almir Côrtes and Nando Duarte. Brian is the co-founder and artistic director of the Berkeley Festival of Choro and teaches Samba Bateria, and the Afro-Cuban Ensembles at UC Davis.
Brian Rice Educator 74 words
Brian Rice has been teaching both privately and for groups since 1989. His great patience for teaching and creative approaches to leading students have been keeping him in demand at universities and for local musical groups for decades. Brian is the director of the Brazilian Ensemble and the Afro-Cuban Ensemble at UC Davis since 2014 and has produced performances every quarter since. Brian has conducted workshops and clinics across the US and in Brazil.
My Life Story
Brian Rice is a freelance percussionist with a B.M. in Percussion Performance and Ethnomusicology from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. A well-rounded musician, Brian is a highly acclaimed performer, educator and recording artist adept at numerous musical styles ranging from classical and jazz, to Latin, Afro-Cuban, and Brazilian, to contemporary and experimental music.
Brian began his percussion journey in 6th grade band and earned his first $15 playing jazz xylophone in 7th grade. By 9th grade he had joined the Traverse symphony Orchestra. Brian attended the Interlochen National Music Camp four summers and graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in 1985.
Brian attended the Oberlin Conservatory where he studied percussion with Michael Rosen and played with the Oberlin Orchestra, Oberlin Chamber Orchestra, Oberlin Contemporary Ensemble, and Oberlin Percussion Group. In addition, Brian played with the Oberlin "Can Consortium" Steel Band, the Mandinka Ensemble and the Oberlin Gamelan. In the summers of 1987 and '88 Brian had an opportunity to study tabla with Pandit Sharda Sahai and Bob Becker.
After Oberlin Brian moved to Oregon where he began doing freelance work in 1989. There he played with numerous salsa, reggae, and world beat bands, notably Balafon Marimba Ensemble a Zimbabwean marimba group, and Tiempo Caribe a folkloric drum and dance troupe specializing it the music and dances from South America and the Caribbean. In 1994 Brian moved to Seattle to join Bochinche, performing for about 120 schools across Washington each year in the acclaimed production, "A Musical Tour of the Americas". While in Seattle, Brian founded and directed Samba Seattle, a parade-ready samba percussion and dance troupe. He also created and directed the Afro-Cuban Folkloric Collective, a drum and dance troupe specializing in Afro-Cuban folkloric traditions. Brian taught about 90 classes each year at the famous music store, John's Music and regularly brought guest teachers from Cuba and the U.S. to teach workshops and perform with the Afro-Cuban Folkloric Collective.
Since moving to the Bay Area in 1997, Brian has branched out into a multitude of styles including Spanish flamenco, klezmer, jazz, folk, Broadway musicals, Celtic, Balkan music, and the occasional Chinese funeral. Brian's classical music background and expertise on a vast array of hand drums came into play in 2004 when he performed in over seventy shows of The Lion King. Since 2007 Brian has performed on several occasions with the Santa Rosa Symphony, including a performance of Martin Matalon's score to the 1929 film Metropolis, and more recently to back up singer/actor Kevin Spacey. In 2012 and 2015 Brian was invited to perform John Luther Adams' "Inuksuit". Though Brian enjoys such a wide variety of work, he specializes in Brazilian and Cuban music.
Today Brian directs the Samba Bateria and Afro-Cuban Ensemble at UC Davis and teaches Brazilian music at UC Berkeley and the California Jazz Conservatory.
Brian's study of the pandeiro began in 1986 when the Sao Paulo State University percussion ensemble visited Oberlin and percussionist/composer Carlos Stasi, then a student at SPSU, gave Brian a quick pandeiro lesson after the concert. Since then Brian's obsession with the pandeiro has led him to study with Guello, Marcos Suzano, Airto, Sregio Krakowski, Claudio Bueno and Clarice Magalhaes, and his prowess on the instrument has led him to perform with numerous Brazilian artists including, Alessandro Penezzi, Proveta, Douglas Lora, Rogerio Souza, Jovino Santos Neto, Paulo Sergio Santos, Danilo Brito, Dudu Maia, Almir Cortes, Hamilton de Holanda, Edinho Gerber, Ze Barbero, and Jorge Alabe. In 2017 Brian was invited to tour with the Danilo Brito Quintet performing at the Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and Savannah Music Festival and for NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts.
It was studies with Marcos Suzano that inspired Brian to expand his use of the pandeiro outside the Brazilian music world and apply it to Balkan, Celtic, Middle Eastern, Spanish, and Cuban music with great effect.
With Jane Lenoir of the Berkeley Choro Ensemble, Brian founded the Berkeley Festival of Choro, now in its 11th year. The festival presents high quality choro music in the Bay Area including Proveta and Penezzi, Trio Brasileiro with Anat Cohen, Amilton Godoy/Lea Freire Duo, Choro Das 3, Duo Violao Brasil, Grupo Falso Baiano, Ian Coury, Francois de Lima, Gileno Santana/Henrique Neto Duo and many other artists.
Brian teaches privately and conducts workshops in the Bay Area and has taught at many schools and camps. Since its inception in 1997 Brian has been on the scene at the California Brazil Camp as a dance accompanist and instructor. Brian taught Choro pandeiro at the Centrum Center for the Arts in 2007, 2009 and 2010 with Mike Marshall and Choro Famoso, and members of Trio Brasileiro. Brian has guest lectured at Stanford University, Oberlin Conservatory, Southern Oregon university, University of Tennessee Martin, Cantareira College in Sao Paulo, Brazil, UNICAMP in Campinas, Brazil, Queens College and the University of Washington. Brian was the percussion instructor at California Coast Music Camp from 2005 - 2007, 2016, 2017 and at the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop in 2008 and Family Camp 2008-2018. From 1998 to 2004 Brian was the drum instructor for the Oaktown Jazz Workshop a non-profit jazz education program for youth. Brian's students from OJW have attended prestigious music schools across the country and Brian appears on two OJW recordings.
In 2019 Brian formed the choro trio, Tres Baias with Almir Cortes and Nando Duarte. In January 2019 Tres Baias recorded its first self titled CD, released in July 2019 at the Sound Room in Oakland. Guest Artists include Siverio Pontes, Mike Marshall, Daniela Speilmann, Marcelo Caldi, and Nicolas Krassik.
The Berkeley Choro Ensemble released its first CD "The View From Here' in the fall of 2017 thanks to a generous grant from SF Intermusic. The recording presents choros by modern composers including several original compositions.
Brian currently performs with Tres Baias, Cascada de Flores, Danilo Brito, Mike Marshall and Choro Famoso, Wake the Dead, The Berkeley Choro Ensemble, Samba Rio, Mariah Parker Indo-Latin Ensemble, Sondango and Orchestrating Excellence (performing organizational development workshops for businesses).