KSC Guitar Orchestra and Latin Ensemble to Perform
KEENE, N.H., 3/21/07 - The Keene State College Guitar Orchestra and Latin Ensemble, both directed by Professor of Music José Lezcano, will perform on Wednesday, April 11, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Recital Hall of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Tickets are $7 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth ages 17 and under. Call the box office at 603-358-2168.
The Guitar Orchestra’s nine members will perform works by Bach, including the lovely aria from “Orchestra Suite no. 3”; Hindemith’s original work (not a transcription), “Rondo for Guitars,” as well as pieces by Schubert, Praetorius, and Oliver Bensa.
The Latin Ensemble will play folk, traditional, and urban popular music from Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Cuba, Brazil, and Portugal. Student soprano soloist Vivienne Belanger will sing Fado’s “O Gente da Minha Terra,” accompanied on guitar by Dr. Lezcano. The 25-member ensemble includes panpipes, flutes, guitar, charango, and both Andean and Caribbean percussion instruments. The ensemble consists of both music majors and students from other disciplines taking Latin American Music. The ensemble is a component of the academic course.
Lezcano, who was named Composer of the Year in 2002 by the New Hampshire Music Teachers Association, has been teaching guitar, music theory, and Latin American Music at Keene State since 1991. He has a doctorate in music theory from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Music in guitar from Peabody Conservatory. He received two honors in 2003: a New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Individual Artists Fellowship and Keene State College’s Award for Distinction in Research and Scholarship in recognition of his activities as performer, scholar, and composer. In 2004, he was selected for the New Hampshire Touring Artist Roster, in which he continues to participate, and lectures around the state on the mythical traditions of the indigenous guitar in Ecuador.
