National Choro Day
23 April 2026 — Hear that? A flute and a cavaquinho are playing a choro in the sky!
Choro is the oldest Brazilian urban instrumental genre. It emerged in Rio de Janeiro in the second half of the 19th century, when local musicians began playing European dances such as the polka, waltz and schottische in their own way, blending them with Afro-Brazilian rhythms. A typical ensemble includes a flute, a cavaquinho (a small four-string guitar), a six-string and a seven-string guitar, often joined by a pandeiro (Brazilian tambourine). The playing is full of improvisation and playful musical conversation between the instruments. The day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted birthday of Pixinguinha (born 1897), a flutist, saxophonist and composer regarded as one of the genre's greatest figures. Choro is played at informal gatherings called rodas de choro, where musicians sit in a circle. The day has no direct link to astronomical events, but 23 April falls in autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, when evenings are clear and pleasant for music under the stars.
Flying across the sky: An ethereal, bluish-silver star figure made of luminous dots and fine lines, like a constellation drifting across the sky: a flutist and a small four-string cavaquinho player sitting together on a soft cloud of stardust, gently swaying to the rhythm
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