Sully Productions will present “Los Valientes: The Courageous Ones” at 7 p.m. on Sept. 13 in Marshall Auditorium on the campus of Sul Ross State University, a press release detailed.
The public is invited to attend. There is no entrance fee, though donations will be accepted for Campus Activities, which benefits student enrichment.
“Los Valientes” is a chamber music trio for cello, piano and percussion, and solo theatre production for exploring the artistic and political passions of Diego Rivera, the unwavering commitment to human rights of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero, and the pursuit of social justice by Mexican-American desperado Joaquin Murrieta, aka “Zorro.”
The presentation is a prelude to National Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated annually between Sept. 15-Oct. 15. SRSU is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), a federal designation for higher education institutions with an enrollment of undergraduate full-time equivalent students that is at least 25 percent Hispanic at the time of eligibility.
Cellist Ju-Young Lee, a native of Kansas City, is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he earned a bachelor’s degree for cello in 2013. He has studied under the tutelage of Joel Krosnick, David Soyer and Felix Wang. He has given solo recitals and participated in chamber music performances in both the U.S. and South Korea in cities such as New York, Nashville, Seattle and Washington, D.C. He was invited as a guest soloist with the Nashville Symphony, the Curb Youth Symphony, and as a rehearsal soloist with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble.
Pianist Byron Burford Phearse has performed across North America and Europe since beginning piano studies at age 10 in Ohio. He then continued as a full scholarship student at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with Anton Nel. As a student at Michigan, Burford Phearse was featured on several CD recordings, chamber music recitals and radio programs, including a live broadcast of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy on National Public Radio. Other radio spotlights include performances from the Centre d’Arts Orford featured on CBC in Canada.
As a recitalist, Burford Phearse has performed extensively across the Midwest, including cities such as Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan, he continued as a scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Burford Phearse has made solo and chamber music appearances at the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Centre d’Arts Orford in Montreal, the International Keyboard Festival in New York City and the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris as part of the European American Musical Alliance.
As an accompanist, Mr. Burford Phearse has collaborated with critically acclaimed vocalists such as Suzanna Guzman, Alvi Powell, Patricia Prunty, Robert Sims and Angela M. Brown. Burford Phearse has had coaching from acclaimed pianists such as Sergei Babayan (U.S.), Christopher Elton (London), Peter Eicher (Germany), Roy Howat (Scotland), Narcis Bonet (France) and Abbey Simon. He holds degrees and diplomas from the University of Michigan, the Royal Academy of Music (London) and the Mannes College of Music in New York City.
Percussionist Michael Parola received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the State University of New York at Purchase and his master’s and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His primary teachers were Raymond Des Roches and Richard Horowitz. Parola was a founding member and percussionist with the Aequalis Trio from 1984-1993 and then founded the Core Ensemble in 1993.
With both ensembles he has commissioned dozens of new chamber music trios for the unique instrumental combination of cello, piano and percussion with hundreds of performances and residency programs throughout the U.S. and at international venues in England, Russia, Ukraine and Australia. Orchestral concerto engagements include commissioning and performing with the Aequalis Trio, the Chinary Ung Triple Concerto with the Phoenix, Honolulu, New Hampshire and Stony Brook Symphonies and also commissioning and performing with the Core Ensemble, the Bernard Rands Triple Concerto with the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Florida Philharmonic, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony and New Hampshire Symphony. His recordings have been broadcast internationally and can be heard on the New World, Albany and Centaur labels. Parola served as percussion instructor at the Harid Conservatory of Music from 1993-1999, Florida Atlantic University from 1993-1998 and the Conservatory of Music at Lynn University from 1999-2008. In addition to his roles as percussionist and executive director, Parola has served since 1995 as executive producer for nearly a dozen Core Ensemble multi-genre programs combining chamber music with narrative theatre.
Actor Victor Vazquez has performed a wide variety of roles in productions ranging from Rent to MacBeth. He has performed in cabaret settings (Berlin, NYC-Greenwich Village), the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, and off-Broadway (The Duplex), as well as voiceover media and podcasts. He is a proficient rapper and guitarist. Victor has a degree in Theatre Performance from Marymount Manhattan College. This is his first season with the Core Ensemble.
