Paula Robison encore at one of her 92nd Street Y concerts, a dance for flute and pandeiro, a large tambourine traditional in Brazil. Silverman invited the percussionist Cyro Baptista to join her. The flutist Irna Priore, who was at the concert, told her that in Brazil there was a huge repertory for flute in the choro, a tradition of popular song originating in 19th century Rio de Janeiro. Cyro Baptista's wife provided recordings and tapes of music that was largely unknown in the US. Robison began to work on it with Baptista and other Brazilian musicians, who toured with her and eventually
History of the Jews in Brazil The Jewish Confederation of Brazil (CONIB) estimates that there are more than 120,000 Jews in Brazil. There have been Jews in what is now Brazil since the first Portuguese arrived in the country in 1500, notably Mestre João and Gaspar da Gama who arrived in the first ships. A number of Sephardic Jews immigrated to Brazil during its early settlements. They were known as "New Christians" ("Conversos" or "Marranos" — Jews obliged to convert to Roman Catholicism by the Portuguese crown). The Jews from Portugal avoided immigrating to Brazil, because they would also be persecuted by the Inquisition. Most of