October 22, 2024
ROME, Ga. — Pianist Jerico Vasquez will present a faculty recital on Monday, Oct. 28, at 7:30 pm in Brookes Chapel at Shorter University. The event is open to the public at no charge.
This recital also celebrates the rededication of the newly rebuilt Steinway Concert Grand. Originally given in 1982 by Dr. and Mrs. Robert Allen Farrell in honor of renowned Shorter piano teacher, Elizabeth Buday, the piano has recently been restored to its original condition.
The program, titled “Impressions,” will include Claude Debussy’s Préludes, Book 1 and L’isle joyeuse, and George Crumb’s A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979. The recital will incorporate a visual component.
Vasquez said, “This recital features music that inspired paintings and paintings that inspired music. Debussy’s 12 Préludes, Book 1 inspired a set of watercolor paintings by the Italian painter, Mario Russo, whereas the L’isle Joyeuse and George Crumb’s A Little Suite for Christmas were inspired by paintings by Jean-Antoine Watteau and Giotto di Bondone, respectively. From the audience’s perspective, I think the visual component really adds dimension to the music.”
Vasquez has presented this program in several private recitals in Atlanta and at the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky. Later this month, he will perform the program in Alabama at Jacksonville State University as part of the Foothill Piano Festival. He will also perform the same program at Samford University and Truett-McConnell University in January.
Hailed for his “formidable and effortless playing” and “intelligent ardor and exceptionally clear and bright technique,” Jerico Vasquez is Chair of the Edith Lester Harbin Department of Music and Artist-in-Residence / Tenured Professor of Music at Shorter University, as well as Instructor of Piano for the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. Recipient of the 2021 and 2022 Top Teacher Award from Steinway and Sons, he is also a Shigeru Kawai Artist. He has performed as a concerto soloist, recitalist, and collaborative musician in Canada, Europe, the Philippines, and all over the United States.
