11th Annual ‘Guitarras de Navidad’ Coming Next Friday

The sounds of the season strummed by guitar strings will once again fill the Texas A&M International University Center (TAMIU) for the Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA) Recital Hall for the 11th Annual Guitarras de Navidad on Friday, Nov. 30 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is free of charge and open to the public

Sponsored by the TAMIU College of Arts and Sciences, department of Fine and Performing Arts, and co-sponsored by the Women’s City Club, Guitarras de Navidad will also feature Dr. Larysa Davis as a guest artist.

Dr. Davis is an American pianist and a Ukraine native. She holds a doctorate in Piano Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Master’s in Piano Performance from Central Michigan University.

The concert program draws from holiday songs and features the TAMIU Classical Guitar Ensemble, directed by Dr. Gilberto D. Soto, professor of Music Education/Guitar. The TAMIU Classical Guitar Ensemble is a music performing class comprised of mostly music majors or minors, as well as other instrumentalists who share experience in reading and performing guitar literature for instrumental ensembles.

“Guitarras de Navidad is one of the oldest music concerts sponsored by the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and we are very proud to continue this annual musical tradition,” said Dr. Soto.

The Ensemble has an exciting program of musical selections for this event.

Among them is a special guitar arrangement of the “Concerto in D major” by Antonio Vivaldi. Other selections include “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” and “Brandenburg Concerto No. 6/Largo” by Johann Sebastian Bach, “Fugue in D Major” by George Frederick Handel, “The Boxer” by Paul Simon, and the famous “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The ensemble will also present special Spanish arrangements of popular Christmas classics such as “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Greensleeves,” among others.

A special performance by the TAMIU Chamber Singers is also on the program. Under the direction of Dana Crabtree, TAMIU instructor of music and voice, they will perform a special musical presentation of  “Oh Holy Night” with the Guitar Ensemble.

Members of the TAMIU Guitar Ensemble include José Luís Macias, Patricia González, Carlos Morales, Leonel Salinas, José Arriaga, Eddie Aviles, Miguel Ruíz, Carlos Limón, José Sánchez, Robert Batey, Roberto Coronado, Marco López, Mark Martínez and Alejandro Peña.

Members of the TAMIU Chamber Singers include Valerie Cruz, Raquel González, Leonardo Galvan, Adeliza Espinoza, Selena González, Mario Jarero, Edna González, Marissa Treviño and Eliborio López.

Also, Margaret Medellín, Rebecca Vera, Eduardo Lozano, Amelia Amaya, Francisco Arriaga, Daniel Maldonado, Patricia González, Ronald Chamberlain, Luís Martínez, Carlos Morales, Angel Ortiz, Samuel Pozas, Alexis Reyes, Miguel Ruíz, Enrique Alvarez, Ricardo Reyes, José González, Juan Herrera, Osvaldo Ibarra, Juventino Lozano, Mark Martínez, Raymond Martínez, Matthew McVinnie, Alejandro Mireles and Leonel Salinas.

Registration for Spring 2013 is currently underway at uonline.tamiu.edu

For more information about this class and/or how to join this organization, please contact Soto at 956.26.3046, or email at gsoto@tamiu.edu. For recorded messages about campus arts events, call 965.326.ARTS (2787).

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Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu