Free recital explores rhythms in latin american music
The Music on the Hill series will bring Ana Lourdes Rodriguez, a Cuban-American pianist based out of Miami, to Fredericton to give a free recital in McCain Hall on Nov. 3.
“Hispanic Heritage”, which starts at 1 p.m. in room 101 and is open to the public, should give music students and the public alike a unique experience with a professional, Cuban-American pianist.
“Ana brings a very interesting experience with a very flavourful repertoire – Cuban, Latin-American and Mexican,” said Martin Kutnowski, an organizer of the recital and chair of the fine arts faculty at St. Thomas University. “She has studied at Juilliard, she knows the New York scene, and she knows the Miami scene. She travels, so she has very interesting experiences to share with the students.”
The aim of the concert, Rodriguez said, is to encourage students to learn more about Latin American music and for them to try to play a genre of music they may not be familiar with.
“The concert aspect of it is to expose them to these different rhythms we find in Latin American music.”
“I want to encourage them to study this type of music and to play it and try to learn more about them [the composers] themselves.”
The recital will kick off with a piece called ‘Fandango’ by Spanish composer Padre Antonio Soler, and continue with pieces by a mixture of different composers.
The recital is part of the Music on the Hill program, which is a joint funding effort between UNB and STU to bring musicians to the Hill to give free recitals.
It was easy to attract Rodriguez to STU because Kutnowski had worked with her before.
“It’s easier for me to find people I’ve worked with before because you have the chance to appreciate someone who is really talented, someone who is a good professional, and someone with whom you have a dialogue with,” he said.
Rodriguez is taking a break from several other projects back in Florida to make the trip to New Brunswick.
“I tend to work with a lot of living composers, so now I am working with a Brazilian composer presenting all of his piano pieces here in Florida, and his piano concertos in Florida as well with an orchestra,” she said. “So that’s a huge project I have going.”
“That’s going to take up most of my time along with a program I am doing in Canada with other venues in Florida and Texas.”
She will also offer a lecture to Kutnowski’s Master Piano class after the recital. The class is being offered for the first time this semester at St. Thomas, where students will be able to learn one-on-one from the professional pianist.
Rodriguez has been taking piano lessons since she was four, and has been playing for as long as she can remember.
“I don’t remember what it is like to not have to practice,” she said.
Kutnowski said it is because of her many years of experience that the Master Piano students will be able to learn so much from Rodriguez during the lecture.
