Recitals 4 You

Thursday, March 19, 2026

Louisiana Piano Series International

Master Class with Asher Ian Armstrong

March 17, 2026, at 11:30 am

Magale Recital Hall

Natchitoches, Louisiana

PROGRAM included

Ponce: Cello Concerto, movement I, Allegro Selvaggio

Anselmo Mata, pianist

Paul Christopher, cellist

Carnival of the Animals

Rapides Symphony Orchestra

Alexandria Zoo

Concert Pavilion

March 15, 2026, at 2:30 pm

PROGRAM

Carnival of the Animals ... Saint-Saens

Chialing Hsieh and Michael Young, pianists

Karen Riley Simmons, narrator

Aspiration

Rapides Symphony Orchestra with the Red River Chorale and Northwestern Choral Artists

Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center

1202 3rd Street

Alexandria, Louisiana

March 14, 2026, at 7:30 pm

PROGRAM

Edvard Grieg - Piano Concerto in A Minor, mvt 1

Jose Luzuriaga, Youth Division Winner

Franz Liszt - Concerto No. 1 in E-Flat Major

Elijah Asmussen, Young Adult Division Winner

Aaron Copland - "The Promise of Living"

Randall Thompson - Frostiana “The Road Not Taken”

Frederick Delius - Appalachia (Ending)

Leonard Bernstein - “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide

Thursday, March 12, 2026

Masterclass with Cellist Selin Demeril

Saturday afternoon, March 7, 2026

Old CAPA Building, Room 219

Natchitoches, Louisiana

REPERTOIRE:

B Britten Cello Suite No. 1, Op. 72 (1964)

Canto Primo: Sostenuto e largemente

Alejandro Restrepo, cellist

JS Bach Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009

Prelude

Maira Avellaneda, cellist

J Haydn Cello Concerto No. 2, in D Major, Hob. VIIb/2

II. Adagio

Jesus Calderon, cellist

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

Oliverosfest: A Tribute to Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016)

March 4, 2026, at 5:00 pm

Magale Recital Hall

Natchitoches, Louisiana

PROGRAM of works by Pauline Oliveros

Sonic Meditation (1974)

Professor Collier Hyams and students

Tree/Peace (1984)

The Mystery of the Propagation

The Growth of the Seedling

Full Formation and Maturity of the Tree

The Action of the Seasons

The Magical Nature of the Tree

The Death of the Tree

Contemplation

Carlos Diaz Del Valle, violin

Paul Christopher, cello

Karla Gonzalez Bueno, piano

Ear Rings (1995)

Dr. Oliver Molina, percussion

Peyton Johnson, percussion

Caedmon Larson, percussion

Walker Libbe, percussion

PROGRAM NOTES by Dr. John Dunn

Pauline Oliveros (1932-2016) was an American composer and accordionist. She was considered a central figure in the development of post-war experimental and electronic music and was a founding member of the San Francisco Tape Music Center in the early 1960s, where she served as its director. She taught music at the University of California, San Diego and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She developed the practice of “deep listening” as a byproduct of her meditative training with karate master Lester Ingber.

Deep Listening is an aesthetic form of listening to inspire both trained and untrained musicians to respond to the environmental conditions of solo and ensemble performance situations. It differs from hearing because it requires setting the mind to a receptive state, unlike passive involuntary hearing. Her work led to a new musical theory called “sonic awareness,” a practice of focused, nonjudgmental attention to all sound—internal, external, and imagined—to expand perception. She used the “point and circle” model, where attention (the point) focuses on specific sounds while awareness expands to include the entire sound environment (the circle). Oliveros used these theories for sonic activism, a form of social resistance and a way to foster empathy in a fragmented world through collaborative, non-hierarchical music-making.

Sonic Meditations (1974) is a collection of text-based scores designed to foster deep-listening, community, and mindfulness through sound. They are intended for group-work, aimed to create, imagine and remember sounds to foster connections and change consciousness. These sounds include breathing exercises, natural tone vocalizations, and environmental sound conditions (listening to the AC, heartbeats, etc.)

Tree/Peace, composed in 1984 and uses improvisatory techniques to evoke the life cycle of a tree. Originally the work was performed by a trio (violin, cello, and piano) and uses the tree as a metaphor. Sound “branches out” based on the performers’ shared interpretation of a tree—whether a specific specimen or an abstract model of growth. The work consists of seven movements, each at a different point in the life cycle.

Ear Rings (1995) was written for four performers of any instrument or voice. Every few minutes, different duets perform together through six “Rings.” When a new performer enters, there is an overlapping trio of about a minute. During the transition, one partner of the previous pair stops playing and the new player establishes the new pair’s musical material. Each pair “should” have a unique sound. Once all the pairs have played together, there is a final transition into new material for the entire quartet. The final quartet should balance with the length of the six pairs.

Sunday, March 1, 2026

The Sound of Celli

Natchitoches Concert Series

Monday, March 2, 2026, at 7:30 pm

First Presbyterian Church

114 Bienvenu Street

Natchitoches, Louisiana

Program

The Swan ... Camille Saint-Saёns (1835-1921)

Alejandro Restrepo, cello

Mr. Michael Rorex, piano

Butcher’s Death ... Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

Maira Avellaneda, cello

Mr. Michael Rorex, piano

Theme & Variations on “Draw the Sacred Circle Closer” ... Adolphus Hailstork (1941-)

Mr. Paul Christopher, cello

Cello Duet in C Major, Opus 22, No. 1 ... Friedrich August Kummer (1797-1879)

Allegro

Andantino

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Recruiting in Shreveport

Recruiting at C.E. Byrd High School and Captain Shreve High School

3201 Line Avenue and 6115 East Kings Highway

Lori Barrow, Orchestra Director

February 24, 2026, morning

Recruiting at Caddo Parish Magnet High School

1601 Viking Drive

Zachery Grant, Orchestra Director and NSU Alumnus

February 24, 2026, afternoon

Sunday, February 22, 2026

Guest Artist Duo Recital

Saturday, February 21, 2026, at 5:00 pm

Filo-Rosso Duo

Magale Recital Hall

Natchitoches, Louisiana

PROGRAM

The Filo Rosso Duo is José Ottonello on cello and Yin Lin on piano. They will play works by Rachmaninoff, Barber, Schumann, Piazzolla, D ‘ Rivera, Marquez and Estrada.

Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70 ... Robert Schumann

Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op. 6 ... Samuel Barber

I. Allegro ma non troppo

II. Adagio-Presto

III. Allegro appassionata

Pieza en Forma de Preludio ... Carlos Estrada

Sonata for Piano and Cello, Op. 19 ... Sergei Rachmaninoff

I. Lento - Allegro Moderato

II. Allegro Scherzando

III. Andante

IV. Allegro mosso

Danzon No. 5, Portales de Madrugada ... Arturo Márquez