14 // COASTWEEKEND.COM
Attend the Tillamook Head Gathering
SEASIDE — The third
annual Tillamook Head
Gathering will take place
on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the
Seaside Convention Center.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and
the program will begin at 7
p.m.
Soul singer Kelsey Mou-
sley, who graduated from
Seaside High School about
10 years ago, will provide
music with her Portland
band. Local artists donated
items for a silent auction,
and light fare will be pre-
pared by The Stand.
All proceeds from the
event support enrichment
in the arts for Seaside High
School students.
Last year’s gathering
helped fund an arts day at
Seaside High School, in
which local artists gave
workshops for the entire
student body.
The event also helped
support a choir trip to Los
Angeles, bring in profes-
sional musicians to perform
in various classes and
provided a stipend for a pro-
fessional dance instructor to
share his expertise through a
dance club. A yearbook staff
photography workshop was
also assisted by the event.
Tickets for the Tillamook
Head Gathering are $10 in
advance and can be pur-
chased at Seaside Coffee
House, Beach Books, or the
Seaside High School busi-
ness office.
Tickets will cost $15 at
the convention center the
day of the event.
Enjoy quirky Brazilian
music with Rio Con Brio
LONG BEACH, Wash. — Rio
Con Brio will bring Bra-
zilian choro music to the
Peninsula Arts Center for a
concert at 7 p.m. Saturday,
Jan. 7.
Rio Con Brio began in
2006 as a vehicle for virtuo-
so mandolinist Tim Connell
to indulge his burgeoning
obsession with the Brazil-
ian national choro music.
Joined by fellow gypsy jazz
string player Mike Burdette,
the two soon accumulated
a large repertoire of these
quirky instrumental tunes
from early 20th century
Brazil— preceding the
samba, bossa nova and MPB
— complex yet accessible,
exotic yet familiar — and all
addictively danceable.
By 2008, the duo found
themselves performing all
over the Northwest and,
by 2010, across North
America. Rio Con Brio has
been a staple of Brazilian
music and mandolin events
and, due to their technique
and Connell’s adventurous
improvisation, have also
been featured in traditionally
classical concert series and
jazz festivals. Rio Con Brio
has recorded three acclaimed
albums of choro music and
have performed with top
Brazilian musicians, includ-
ing Trio Brasilerio, Choro
das Tres and Almir Cortes.
Connell is a graduate of
the New England Conserva-
tory of Music and a virtuoso
mandolinist with over 20
years professional perform-
ing experience. Connell has
created a sophisticated and
original global mandolin
style. Regarded as one of the
top North American inter-
preters of Brazilian choro, he
has also developed his own
unique voice for the instru-
ment, described in a recent
Mandolin Magazine cover
story as “fiery and energetic,
soulful and evocative.”
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Guitarist Mike Burdette, left, and mandolinist Tim Connell per-
form Brazilian Choro music as Rio Con Brio.
Connell has performed
alongside top Brazilian
musicians including Dudu
Maia, Alessandro Penezzi
and Eduardo Neves. He
collaborates with jazz
clarinet superstar Harvey
Wainapel and the Berke-
ley Choro Ensemble and
performed in the premiere
of Wainapel’s new piece
at the Berkeley Festival
of Choro in May 2015.
He has performed with a
roster of the greatest living
American mandolinists,
including David Grisman,
Mike Marshall, Don Stier-
nberg, Rich Del Grosso,
Chris Acquvella and many
others.
Burdette has been per-
forming Brazilian choro and
gypsy jazz guitar for the
past seven years with many
of Portland’s best, includ-
ing Jason Okamoto, David
Stassens and Joseph Appel.
His pursuit of excellence in
these styles has led him to
study with many of today’s
leading players, including
Mike Marshall and Choro
Famoso, Dudu Maia, Doug-
las Lora, and Don Stiern-
berg. He also builds and
repairs instruments for many
of Portland’s finest play-
ers at Portland Fretworks,
and pickers throughout the
Northwest enjoy playing
on frets he has installed.
He lives in rural Newberg
with his wife, chickens and
honeybees.
The Peninsula Arts Cen-
ter is located at 504 Pacific
Ave. N. Admission is $15 at
the door or online through
Brown Paper Tickets, or call
Bill at 360-901-0962. Wine,
beer, and other refreshments
are available for purchase.
Concerts benefit the Long
Beach Peninsula Acoustic
Music Foundation, a 501(c)3
non-profit charitable organi-
zation.