For more than 30 years, Patron of the Arts events have entertained students and the Rio Grande Valley community. This week is no exception.
Today, Assistant Professor Krista Jobson will perform a flute concert featuring Lecturers Hector Rodriguez on the guitar and Dino Mulic on the piano at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Complex on the Edinburg campus.
“We are going to have a lot of variety,” Jobson said. “We are hoping to provide a concert that is enjoyable for the audience of all ages.”
She started playing flute about 20 years ago, when she was in the sixth grade.
Jobson said she would always listen to music when she was growing up, and always had music “around her.”
“My mother would tell stories while we listened to classical music, and the sound of the flute was always a bird, or a fairy or a princess and I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, I have to play that,’” she said.
Besides performing across the United States, Jobson has also performed in France, Mexico, Germany, Puerto Rico, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
“Music enriches our life no matter what,” Jobson said. “Music is really interesting as an art, because it is an art form that is created at the moment.”
Jobson encourages students and the community to attend her concert.
“Patron of the Arts is wonderful,” she said.
Jobson said it is fantastic that Patron of the Arts is able to bring classical performances to the Valley.
Also taking place this week:
–The Guitar Ensemble Festival begins with a performance by Thibaut Garcia, a Guitar Foundation of America competition winner, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Texas Southmost College Arts Center in Brownsville.
–The festival continues with Jason Vieaux, an American virtuoso classical guitarist, at the same time Friday in the TSC Arts Center.
–Guest artists Walter Gray of the Seattle Symphony and Andrew Smith of the University of Nevada Las Vegas will perform with Assistant Professor Katherine Decker and Lecturers Stacy Kwak and Tido Janssen in the Pan American Cello Festival: Showcase Recital, scheduled at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Performing Arts Complex.
–Guitarist Grisha Goryachev, a Russian virtuoso, flamenco and classical guitarist, will close the Guitar Festival at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the TSC Arts Center.
–The Pan American Cello Festival: Ensemble Concert will take place at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in the Performing Arts Complex.
Ticket prices for each event are available at patron.utrgv.edu.
“I always see these events as a way to relieve myself from all the stress I have from classes,” said special education sophomore Jaqueline Alvarado. “They are always entertaining, surprising and really beautiful.”
Patron of the Arts Program Coordinator Valerie Hernandez said the program sends out weekly emails about its upcoming events.
To receive the email from Patron of the Arts, subscribe at the Patron of the Arts website.
“We have a lot of free events coming up,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said the free events will help students and community members who do not have those extra $5 to attend the events hosted by Patron of the Arts.
For the list of free events, go to patron.utrgv.edu.
