[caption id="attachment_13304" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Photo Courtesy of adonisgonzalez.com[/caption]
Trading his seat at the Grammys for a piano seat at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC), Grammy Award Nominated Pianist, Adonis Gonzalez, will bring the Latin American culture to life by pounding on those keys on March 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Gonzalez specializes in Latin American music and his show is titled, “A Latin American Evening.”
Dena Levine, associate professor of music and director of the classical concert series at SHU, said Gonzalez’s show features brilliant works of great Latin American composers which includes Heitor Villa-Lobos of Brazil, Ernesto Lecouna of Cuba, Isaac Albeniz of Spain, and Alberto Ginastera of Argentina.
“He plays the music not only with a trained musician’s sense of Photo Courtesy of adonisgonzalez.com
style, but with a deep understanding of the culture,” Levine said.
Levine said she was introduced to Adonis Gonzalez by Dr. Joan Guetti, who was a piano student of Gonzalez’s. Guetti said she was looking for a teacher who would be firm, but also encouraging and someone who would work on the compositions that she wanted to learn.
She added that she knew that Gonzalez was the teacher for her when he played a piece of music without a score or with any hesitation.
Guetti said she instantly knew that she found her teacher and worked with Gonzalez for about five years.
“He helped me to understand that playing piano is really singing between your left and right hands, that there’s a lot to think about in between the notes on the score,” Guetti said.
Levine started to look into interdisciplinary programing for the 2015-2016 season, and decided to invite Gonzalez to co-present an event with Seton Hall’s Classical Concert Series and Joseph A. Unanue Latino Institute.
Although none of the music that Gonzalez performs is written by himself, Levine said she believes that his concert will be a wonderful opportunity for students, especially those who have never been to a piano recital, “to hear what a colorful picture a solo pianist can paint at the instrument.”
Tickets are available through the SOPAC website, or by calling the SOPAC box office.
Seton Hall students with a valid SHU ID can attend the event for free and other tickets are $25 for a single ticket, $15 for seniors and alumni, $8 for faculty and staff with a valid SHU ID, and nonSHU student tickets are $8.
Haley Zenna can be reached at haley.zenna@student.shu.edu
Comments
