Yury Martynov will perform a piano recital at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Texas Southmost College Performing Arts Center in Brownsville. His work combines traditional Russian piano music with the style of Western-European keyboard.
Martynov was invited to perform at UTRGV as part of the Distinguished Artist Series, which invites outside musicians to perform.
According to his website, he is regarded as “one of the most interesting and versatile Russian musicians of his generation.” He was the first to perform a number of solo and chamber works of the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classicism eras on instruments of the corresponding period.
Music education senior Jesse Bautista, who works for the School of Music’s recital labs in Brownsville, looks forward to the concert and commends the artist on his caliber and skill.
“This guest artist has a doctoral [degree] in piano studies,” Bautista said. “He has studied for a long time. In his résumé, he has [performed] some exceptionally long pieces. When you see a piano player play at that high level, it’s unbelievable to see how much accuracy a human can have and how much they can achieve [as well as] their talent level.”
Bautista encourages the campus community, especially non-music majors, to attend.
“Music in general is an interesting subject. It works the mind, it molds the mind and, psychologically, it helps you understand complex problems,” he said. “There are studies that show that music students have a correlation with higher grades. You can actually learn interesting stuff [by attending], going to recitals and enjoying them. And why not take a risk to have fun, you know?”
The community is encouraged to attend.
“The [local] older community has a place to meet up and socialize. [Attending these concerts] build that kind of sense of community like that,” Bautista said. “It also opens the community up to culture of stuff they may not see on a day-to-day basis. For instance, you may not be walking down the street and see a Russian pianist playing crazy licks on it.”
General admission to the concert is $10, and $5 for children, students with a valid ID and seniors 65 and older.
Bautista appreciates the university holding the Distinguished Artist Series since it brings outside musicians he may not have had a chance of meeting otherwise.
“It brings guests artists to UTRGV and shows our music majors an example of what a good musician is, what you should strive for,” he said. “It also allows us to network with them and gives music majors the opportunity to get a gig or a job because of them.”
Other upcoming artists in the Distinguished Artist Series include the Russian String Orchestra on Nov. 2; guitarist Andrew Zohn, Nov. 5; and cellist Gabriel Royal, Nov. 7.
For a complete schedule, visit patron.utrgv.edu/2017-2018-distinguished-performers-series.
