Muito Obrigado Joins KSC Faculty for an Evening of Brazilian Music
KEENE, N.H., 09/08/25 - The Keene State College Department of Music presents world-renown ambassadors of Brazilian music, flutist Toninho Carrasquiera, and his sister, pianist Maria-José Carrasquiera, joined by KSC faculty members José Lezcano and Marcia Lehninger, for a recital on Wednesday, October 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Alumni Recital Hall of the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond. Admission is $10 for the general public and $5 for KSC students, senior citizens, and youth ages 17 and under. For tickets, call the box office at 603-358-2168.
The charm, beauty, and sensuality of Brazilian music has endeared audiences worldwide. When playing together, the Carrasquieras call themselves Muito Obrigado, which in Portugese means “thank you very much.” As concert and recording artists, the Carrasquieras have earned critical praise in European, South American, and U.S. publications, and as professors they have visited Harvard, Berklee, and many other universities.
Toninho Carrasqueria has performed in over 40 countries. He is a professor at the University of Sao Paulo, teaching Brazilian and Latin American music, and frequently gives workshops in both Brazil and abroad, having traveled to New York, Boston, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Chile, and more.
Maria-José Carrasqueira is the producer of Régia Música, a highly respected classical music series with one of Brazil’s major record labels. She has given lectures and recitals on Brazilian music at Harvard University, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, and Berklee School of Music, as well as in Brazil, Latin America, France, Switzerland, Italy, Portugal, England, Germany, Armenia, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
Marcia Lehninger, violin, has received many honors, including winning the CAPES Scholarship from the Brazilian Government for further studies in 1998. She was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra with conductor, Vladimir Ashkenazy in 1996; string winner at the Young Soloist Competition of OSESP (State Orchestra, Sao Paulo) in 1994; and First Prize at the National String Competition, Juiz de Fora in 1993. She has performed with many symphony orchestras in the U.S. and Brazil.
Cuban-born guitarist, composer, educator, and folklorist José Lezcano has presented programs of traditional and South American guitar repertory and Andean music and his own solo, concerto, and chamber works at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York City’s North-South Consonance Series, and major venues and festivals in Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, Brazil, China, Germany, and the Czech Republic.
Lezcano has earned numerous awards, including first prize in the MTNA national Guitar Competition, the NH State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, NHMTA Composer of the Year (2002 and 2007), KSC Distinguished Research Award, and a Fulbright Award to Ecuador. He has been teaching guitar, music theory, and Latin American Music at Keene State since 1991.
