Latin American Art Music Festival

Aleia Gonzalez is a Paraguayan classical guitarist based in Great Bend, Kansas, holding a Master of Music degree in guitar performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. An active performer in the Kansas City area, she frequently presents solo recitals and collaborates with singers, instrumentalists, and ensembles. As a soloist, she integrates works from her native Paraguay alongside compositions by contemporary composers into her repertoire. Recent collaborations include performances with the Kansas City Chorale and the Salina Symphony. Aleia is a founding member of Jopara Ensemble, which blends traditional Paraguayan music with classical and modern influences to create a unique and dynamic sound. She serves on the board of both the Kansas City Guitar Society and the Salt Creek Song Festival. In addition to her performance career, Aleia is the Guitar Instructor at Barton Community College in Great Bend and also teaches at Kansas Wesleyan University and Joyful Noise Studios in Salina.

• Sunday, March 9, 5:00 PM, Swarthout Recital Hall
  Alumni Lecture Recitals
  Dr. Alejandro Ávila and Aleia González, "Ñandutí; a Paraguayan collection"

Pianist Alejandro Avila was born in Asuncion, Paraguay, and began his piano studies at the age of 7. Concluding his conservatory studies in Asuncion, Alejandro was awarded a full scholarship to pursue a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance degree at São Paulo State University (UNESP), in Brazil, where he studied with renowned Brazilian professors Dr. Cláudio Richerme, and Dr. André Rangel. After finishing his studies in São Paulo, Alejandro received a full assistantship position at Central Michigan University, where he worked as a piano instructor for piano class and private lessons, as well as a collaborator for choir, instrumentalists, and singers. During these two years, Dr. Avila pursued his Master of Music degree in Piano Performance studying with Portuguese pianist Alexandra Mascolo-David. 

Dr. Avila is a recipient of several prizes, grants, and music awards. Among these are the first prize at the Rosa Mistica competition in Curitiba, Brazil in 2003 when he was 12, the first prize at Momento Musical competition in Asuncion, Paraguay in 2012, as well as two Silver Medals at the KMTA Honors competition at the graduate level in Emporia, KS in 2018 and in Lawrence, KS in 2019. Alejandro is also a recipient of the Koch Cultural Trust grant for his work at the Cortona Sessions for New Music, in Italy, as well as a Reach Out Kansas grant, for his collaborative work with The Meadowlark Project.

Alejandro received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Kansas in 2020, after defending his dissertation Iguazú:  A Collection of South American Piano Pieces, a research project passed with Honors that focuses on the incorporation of pedagogic pieces outside the main canon. Dr. Avila is currently Instructor of Keyboard Studies and Director of Accompaniment at Barton Community College in Great Bend, Kansas. Prior to his current appointment, Dr. Avila worked as an adjunct faculty and collaborative pianist at Washburn University in Topeka, as well as a professional staff pianist at The University of Kansas, in Lawrence, collaborating with the voice, string, choir, and opera departments at both institutions. Dr. Avila was also faculty of piano and theory for all levels at Language and Music House of Kansas City from 2021 to 2022. Alejandro keeps an active and successful career as a recitalist, both in solo and collaborative settings, and is one of the most sought-after collaborative pianists in the region. Dr. Avila also keeps a piano studio across Kansas and different online locations. 

International outreach and educational development are also key endeavors in Alejandro's agenda as an educator. In 2021, Dr. Avila was appointed Director of the South American division of the International Piano Professionals Association (IPPA), position in which he has worked to develop locations in Asuncion, Paraguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina to host regional competitions that connect to the grand final of the international competition that is hosted every summer in Recanati, Italy. In addition to the competition, Dr. Avila gives lectures, workshops, recitals, and other pedagogical events throughout the region, in his mission to educate and foster piano education in his native continent.

An enthusiast of chamber music and Latin-American repertoire, Alejandro performs regularly with singers and instrumentalist of the Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri areas. Premiering new works by living composers and reviving lesser-known compositions are among Alejandro's main endeavors as a contemporary artist. Ongoing summer residencies include the Salt Creek Festival in Ashland, Nebraska as a guest artist, the Vocal Academy of Opera (VAO) in Bodrum, Turkey, where he coaches singers and plays for recitals and concerts in the region, as well as a Associate Faculty at the Conero International Piano Festival in Recanati, Italy. He is also a co-founder of The Meadowlark Project, a new music ensemble that brings Kansas-based art songs into new audiences and small communities within the states of Kansas and Missouri.

In his free time, Alejandro enjoys cooking, running outdoors, and playing keyboard with his Lawrence-KC-based Brazilian band Balacobaco.

• Sunday, March 9, 5:00 PM, Swarthout Recital Hall, Alumni Lecture Recitals
  Dr. Alejandro Ávila and Aleia González, "Ñandutí; a Paraguayan collection"

John L. Walker has enjoyed a distinguished career as a performer, composer, educator, and musicologist. He holds a D.M.A. in music and Spanish from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Walker has held many professional positions, including principal oboe in the National Symphony of Ecuador and the University City Symphony Orchestra in St. Louis. He has performed as a soloist with the USAF Heritage of America Band, the St. Louis Chamber Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra of Loja, Ecuador. As a musicologist, he has published articles in both English and Spanish and has presented papers about Latin American classical music at conferences throughout the Americas. The recipient of a Fulbright award, Walker carried out archival work in Ecuador on the relationship of Italian immigrants and the history of that country’s national conservatory. In 2019 he co-founded the Cayambis Institute for Latin American Studies in Music (CILASiM). This organization includes Cayambis Music Press, which, since 2013, has been publishing some of the most significant instrumental music from Latin America.

Latin American Art Music Festival 

• Friday, March 7, 3:00 PM  "Musicological Disparities: The State of Affairs regarding Latin American Classical Music."  Steinhardt Lecture Series
  Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the KU School of Music. Room 238 Murphy Hall
• Monday, March 10, 6:45 Keynote Speech, Swarthout Recital Hall
  "Discovering Our Shared Cultural Heritage: A Re-imagination of 20th Century Inter-Americanism for the 21st Century."
• Monday, March 7, 7:30 PM Sinfonietta Concert, Swarthout Recital Hall
  Performing the classical music of the Americas, including four works for chamber orchestra that represent the richness and diversity of this hemisphere's many classical music traditions and in so doing, develop bonds of goodwill and unity among the peoples of the Americas.

Nicholas Susi, pianist. 

Described in The WholeNote as “an innovative musician and aggressive thinker with a gift for keyboard brilliance,” pianist Nicholas Susi enjoys a multifaceted career as performer, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer. His artistry has been recognized through top prizes in such competitions as the NFMC Young Artist Award, while his research has been awarded prestigious grants from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst amongst others. Noteworthy appearances include two concerts for the Princess von Hohenzollern, his semifinalist recital during the 2014 International Franz Liszt Piano Competition (Utrecht, The Netherlands), and concerto solos with several orchestras across the United States and Europe. His debut recording, Scarlatti Now, has received critical acclaim and international radio airplay. Dr. Susi is Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of South Carolina. He received his doctorate from the University of Michigan, with previous studies at the University of Kansas and Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. Primary teachers include Zena Ilyashov, Jack Winerock, Nina Tichman, and Arthur Greene. For more information, please visit www.nicholas-susi.com.

• Saturday, March 8, 10 AM- 1 PM, Swarthout Recital Hall, Guest Artist Piano Class
• Sunday, March 9, 5:00, Swarthout Recital Hall Alumni Lecture Recitals. 
  "Ecuador's Polytonal Nationalism: Piano Sonata no. 2 by Luis Humberto Salgado”

Dr. Fanny (Po Sim Head) is a passionate pianist and musicologist who is dedicated to rediscovering lesser-known musicians and their compositions. She hails from Hong Kong, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Music Composition and Production from Hong Kong Baptist University. Dr. Fanny then pursued her master's degrees in Piano Performance and Musicology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her doctorate degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Kansas, where she studied under the renowned pedagogue Dr. Scott McBride Smith.

Dr. Fanny is an active member of academia, frequently presenting at various music conferences and contributing articles to Interlude.hk. She has also established a website that offers invaluable teaching resources for young piano teachers and students.

With over 20 years of teaching experience, Dr. Fanny has helped her students become active participants in piano recitals, festivals, and competitions. She is an active member of local music teacher associations and is often invited to judge local and international competitions.

Despite her busy schedule between school, writing, and teaching, Dr. Fanny still finds time to perform on stage and participate in music events and masterclasses worldwide. Her commitment to teaching and music is commendable and exemplifies her passion.

• Sunday, March 9, 5:00 Alumni Lecture Recitals, Swarthout Recital Hall
  “Piano Works by Peruvian Composers from 1900s and Onwards”