Socorro – What a great year for music in Socorro! And it’s an auspicious start to the New Year when Awadagin Pratt comes to Socorro to play with Willy Sucre and Friends in a New Mexico Tech Presidential Chamber Music concert. The concert is scheduled for 7:30 pm on Friday, Jan. 26 at Macey Center. The concert is free courtesy NM Tech President Dan López.
http://sonewmex.com/images/viverbrasil.jpg
Viver Brasil will perform at Macey Center on Friday, Feb. 2;
photo courtesy NMTech PAS
Awadagin Pratt is an artist who challenges the classical music establishment and fans alike, forcing them to rethink the way the music is perceived and heard. When Pratt bounded on stage for his winning presentation at the prestigious Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1992, his appearance caused a buzz, but by the end of his performance, he had won over the judges and audience, and rave reviews have been coming in ever since.
His distinctive style with the keys and his distinctive interpretations promise to make the evening particularly memorable.
Pratt took his first piano lessons, at the age of 6, at a local music store with a dozen other children plunking away at small keyboards more or less at the same time. Urged by his parents to excel in everything he did, Pratt as a child was more interested in tennis but decided music was the one thing he could not live without. Pratt studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, part of the Johns Hopkins University, and was the first student in Peabody’s history to receive performer’s certificates in piano and violin and a graduate performance diploma in conducting. “It was fearless and for someone that age, remarkable,” says Robert Weirich of Pratt’s entrance piano audition. “You can’t tell most piano students apart at that age. Awadagin was already Awadagin. In his years with me, he was always experimenting — things went crazy sometimes, but they were never dull. When he plays, he’s one of these very rare people who make you hear a piece as if for the first time.”
Pratt has won numerous awards and has performed worldwide. He has appeared at Lincoln Center, at the Kennedy Center, and at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. He has played with most of the major symphony orchestras in the United States, and appeared in many summer festivals including Ravinia, Blossom, Wolf Trap, Caramoor, and Aspen. He has performed internationally in Japan, Germany, South Africa, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and throughout the Caribbean. He has been featured on a number of radio and television programs including NPR’s Performance Today, Good Morning America and PBS “Live from Kennedy Center – A Salute to Slava.”
Just a week later, on Friday, Feb. 2, the NM Tech Performing Arts Series brings Viver Brasil to the stage. The multi-award-winning Viver Brasil Dance Company creates riveting and passionate Brazilian dance to explore ancient and contemporary art forms and spiritual strength of Brazilian culture.
Under the guidance of co-artistic directors, Luiz Badaró and Linda Yudin, VBDC has developed a body of work that fuses passionate Afro-Brazilian dance, stunning costumes, and exuberant live percussion and vocals.
In 2003 and 2004, Viver Brasil Dance Company premiered, Bahia: Land of Magic and Legends of Brazil at the Ford Amphitheatre receiving critical acclaim by the LA TIMES.
The company received the prestigious Lester Horton Dance Award for outstanding achievement in a company performance/non-western dance. The company furthers its commitment to increasing awareness of the rich history of Afro-Brazilian dance and music through performances and residencies in scores of elementary and high schools, on college and university campuses and on the concert stage nationally and internationally. VBDC has performed in numerous venues: Paradise Performing Arts Center, Chico World Music Festival, Hollywood Bowl, UCLA’s Royce Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The concert at Macey Center is sponsored by the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union, NMTech Graduate Student Association and El Defensor Chieftain.
Don’t forget the 11th annual Community Arts Party, set for Saturday, Feb. 10 from 10 am to 3 pm at Finley Gym. Just in time for making Valentine gifts, or being creative in a number of ways. It’s all free and open to all ages, sponsored in part by New Mexico Arts, the City of Socorro, C.Bonner Oates and STAT-US.
For more information on any of these events, call 505-835-5688 or visit nmtpas.org
Viver Brazil next for Performing Arts Series
By: Socorro Reporter
© 2006 SONewMex.com - Permission To Reprint Granted
Socorro – What a great year for music in Socorro! And it’s an auspicious start to the New Year when Awadagin Pratt comes to Socorro to play with Willy Sucre and Friends in a New Mexico Tech Presidential Chamber Music concert. The concert is scheduled for 7:30 pm on Friday, Jan. 26 at Macey Center. The concert is free courtesy NM Tech President Dan López.
http://sonewmex.com/images/viverbrasil.jpg
Viver Brasil will perform at Macey Center on Friday, Feb. 2;
photo courtesy NMTech PAS
Awadagin Pratt is an artist who challenges the classical music establishment and fans alike, forcing them to rethink the way the music is perceived and heard. When Pratt bounded on stage for his winning presentation at the prestigious Naumburg International Piano Competition in 1992, his appearance caused a buzz, but by the end of his performance, he had won over the judges and audience, and rave reviews have been coming in ever since.
His distinctive style with the keys and his distinctive interpretations promise to make the evening particularly memorable.
Pratt took his first piano lessons, at the age of 6, at a local music store with a dozen other children plunking away at small keyboards more or less at the same time. Urged by his parents to excel in everything he did, Pratt as a child was more interested in tennis but decided music was the one thing he could not live without. Pratt studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, part of the Johns Hopkins University, and was the first student in Peabody’s history to receive performer’s certificates in piano and violin and a graduate performance diploma in conducting. “It was fearless and for someone that age, remarkable,” says Robert Weirich of Pratt’s entrance piano audition. “You can’t tell most piano students apart at that age. Awadagin was already Awadagin. In his years with me, he was always experimenting — things went crazy sometimes, but they were never dull. When he plays, he’s one of these very rare people who make you hear a piece as if for the first time.”
Pratt has won numerous awards and has performed worldwide. He has appeared at Lincoln Center, at the Kennedy Center, and at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. He has played with most of the major symphony orchestras in the United States, and appeared in many summer festivals including Ravinia, Blossom, Wolf Trap, Caramoor, and Aspen. He has performed internationally in Japan, Germany, South Africa, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and throughout the Caribbean. He has been featured on a number of radio and television programs including NPR’s Performance Today, Good Morning America and PBS “Live from Kennedy Center – A Salute to Slava.”
Just a week later, on Friday, Feb. 2, the NM Tech Performing Arts Series brings Viver Brasil to the stage. The multi-award-winning Viver Brasil Dance Company creates riveting and passionate Brazilian dance to explore ancient and contemporary art forms and spiritual strength of Brazilian culture.
Under the guidance of co-artistic directors, Luiz Badaró and Linda Yudin, VBDC has developed a body of work that fuses passionate Afro-Brazilian dance, stunning costumes, and exuberant live percussion and vocals.
In 2003 and 2004, Viver Brasil Dance Company premiered, Bahia: Land of Magic and Legends of Brazil at the Ford Amphitheatre receiving critical acclaim by the LA TIMES.
The company received the prestigious Lester Horton Dance Award for outstanding achievement in a company performance/non-western dance. The company furthers its commitment to increasing awareness of the rich history of Afro-Brazilian dance and music through performances and residencies in scores of elementary and high schools, on college and university campuses and on the concert stage nationally and internationally. VBDC has performed in numerous venues: Paradise Performing Arts Center, Chico World Music Festival, Hollywood Bowl, UCLA’s Royce Hall and Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The concert at Macey Center is sponsored by the New Mexico Educators Federal Credit Union, NMTech Graduate Student Association and El Defensor Chieftain.
Don’t forget the 11th annual Community Arts Party, set for Saturday, Feb. 10 from 10 am to 3 pm at Finley Gym. Just in time for making Valentine gifts, or being creative in a number of ways. It’s all free and open to all ages, sponsored in part by New Mexico Arts, the City of Socorro, C.Bonner Oates and STAT-US.
For more information on any of these events, call 505-835-5688 or visit nmtpas.org