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The Conservatory is excited to welcome RIQUE PANTOJA RIO JAZZ QUINTET for a night of Brazilian jazz music!

Rique Pantoja is a composer, arranger, producer, songwriter, guitarist and jazz pianist. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, he has been based in Los Angeles for nearly two decades. Rique’s work embraces a wide range of musical styles. He is in great demand worldwide for concerts, recordings, TV and film work and advertising projects.

Rique studied at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, then traveled to Paris to work with legendary American jazz trumpeter Chet Baker. Back home in Brazil, he founded Cama de Gato (Cat’s Cradle), which quickly became – and remains – one of the outstanding Brazilian jazz groups of that era. Rique has worked with many other heavyweights on the international musical scene: Gloria Estefan, Alejandro Sanz, Carlos Santana, sax master Ernie Watts, Ricky Martin, classical guitarist Christopher Parkening, among many others. Rique has also composed and arranged themes and underscoring for hit TV shows as well as TV and radio jingles. His music appears on the soundtrack of Disney’s hit comedy Jungle 2 Jungle. Rique contributed to the soundtrack of the animated movie Rio, alongside Sergio Mendes and film composer John Powell.

Rique has taught or held workshops at Southern California’s Biola University, Cal Baptist University, Maranatha Worship Training and Pepperdine University.