Soon after, Bethencourt was introduced to Jazz and Bossa Nova by a neighbor, saxophonist Victor Assis Brasil, who performed alongside Chick Corea, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ron Carter.
[1] He was accepted at Musicians Institute (MI) in Los Angeles, California, but lost his funding a few months short of the trip, when the newly elected - and later impeached - Fernando Collor de Mello assumed the presidency of the country in 1990, freezing personal assets of all Brazilian citizens and ending all federal cultural grants.
[4] Bethencourt received the Culture, Arts & Communication Award in May 2014 for the production of "Rio Ecstasy.” The same show opened a year later at the Oasis Hotel in Cancun, Mexico.
As a producer in the album “Evolución” by the artist Luis Enrique (Warner Music Group),[7] Bethencourt received a nomination for the 43rd Grammy Awards by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Bethencourt moved to Los Angeles, California, resuming his career as a soundtrack composer until 2014, when he returned to Florida to assume the Vice Presidency of Marketing & International Operations for Lennar Homes, the second largest homebuilder in the United States.