Sol Garcia | THE RIDER
Since the UTRGV community cannot currently attend concerts, Patron of the Arts has provided an online series with musical performances to view from home. โLive from the Living Room,โ part of the series, is not only viewed at home, but also performed at home.
โLive from the Living Roomโ features students, faculty and guests performing different types of music from their home. It began in April and is still ongoing, although this series will be in the planning stage for the rest of August, said Dahlia Guerra, assistant vice president for Public Art.
โWeโre starting to collect our fall series, and I think weโll premiere it in September,โ she said.
โLive from the Living Roomโ has had violinists, pianists and more. The series is a way to show these musicians are still practicing and performing from home, while also providing relief during the COVID-19 situation.
โWeโre hoping that the community enjoys concerts, just feel a little bit of relief from a very difficult time,โ she said.
The series was uploaded weekly or biweekly, depending on demand and how many people submit performances, Guerra said.
โWeโre hoping that we can at least present something weekly,โ she said about the fall series.
Kurt Martinez, School of Music director, came up with the idea of โLive from the Living Roomโ to provide intimate performances as performers play from their homes.
โItโs almost like if you were in the living room, listening to these performers, you know, right in front of you,โ he said. โTheyโre very sincere, personal performances.โ
Additionally, โLive from the Living Roomโ helps maintain engagement with the community, Guerra said.
โWe do want to โฆ remain vibrant in the community,โ she said. โWe didnโt want to break in our offerings, whether weโre virtual or face-to-face.โ
One performer, Hector Rodriguez, lecturer II in the School of Music, said staying connected with the audience is necessary.
โWe need to engage the audience and, you know, deliver more music to them,โ he said. โIt’s important to maintain the culture that we already have.โ
Together as โDuo Alderman,โ Rodriguez and Krista Jobson, an associate professor at the School of Music, performed โThree Balkan Dancesโ by Clarice Assad, a Brazilian composer, music by Roland Dyens, a French composer, โNubes de Buenos Airesโ by Maximo Diego Pujol, an Argentinian composer, and music by Astor Piazzolla, another Argentinian composer, that was arranged for guitar and flute by Sergio and Clarice Assad.
Rodriguez played the guitar, while Jobson played the flute. The duo has played together for the last five years in many parts of the world and enjoyed performing for โLive from the Living Room,โ Rodriguez said.
โIt has been a great experience for us,โ he said.
While most people cannot hear live music right now, Jobson hopes they can still appreciate music from home through โLive from the Living Room.โ
โ[I] hope that they can โฆ still enjoy music at home, even if they canโt go out to a concert,โ she said. โWe can bring it directly to them.โ
For more information about โLive from the Living Room,โ email Vallerie Hernandez, School of Music program coordinator, at vallerie.hernandez@utrgv.edu.
People can view โLive from the Living Room,โ longer concert pieces, dance performances, and Story Time, where UTRGV faculty or guests read a story to connect with families, on the Patron of the Artsโ website at http://patron.utrgv.edu.
