The Collegio Pittsburg's student voice since 1916
Curtis Meyer reporter
Isaac Hernandez, graduate student in music, gave a piano recital in McCray Hall, featuring pieces from a variety of Hispanic composers from a variety of countries.
“I was trying to do like a mix of academic music from Latin America, also something related to the folklore. Some of the music in the program has a folk background, it was important just to show fiesta music but also academic stuff,” Hernandez said.
This event was free and open to the public. Held at 5 pm on Sept. 22, the Sharon Kay Dean Recital Hall had flags from several Latin American countries during the recital.
The program featured music from five different countries: Argentina, Cuba, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela.
For Hernandez, this was a great opportunity to perform in front of a live audience.
“It’s incredible how many people are hearing new things, especially us international students I think, everyone here in Pittsburg is just wanting to learn more about the world and to hear more. I think music is the perfect opportunity to share that,” Hernandez said.
This comes as Pitt State celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, running from September 15 to October 15. Hispanic refers to anyone of Spanish descent. It starts on Sept. 15 in conjunction with the independence days of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition Mexico also celebrates its independence day on Sept. 16.
Each of these countries gained its independence from Spain, who controlled most of Central and South America at that time.
Featured composers included Ernesto Lecuona from Cuba, Manuel M. Ponce from Mexico and Astor Piazzolla from Argentina.
The piece by Piazzolla was titled Adios Nonino, a farewell written by Piazzolla when his father died in 1959.
Not all the music was serious, as the performance included Mexican folk songs such as La Cucaracha, a very widely known piece.
On the program was a QR code, which people attending could use to view a very in depth slide show presentation that went through the history of each song and artist. With 43 slides of information, anyone wishing to know more about a specific artist or piece had the opportunity to do so. Hernandez himself did not speak until after his performance was over.
“I loved it. It’s been just amazing.” Said Hernandez.