Living rooms as concert venues

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. “Live from the Living Room,” part of the series, is not only viewed at home, but also performed at home. 

“Live from the Living Room” 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. 

“We’re starting to collect our fall series, and I think we’ll premiere it in September,” she said. 

“Live from the Living Room” 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. 

“We’re hoping that the community enjoys concerts, just feel a little bit of relief from a very difficult time,” she said. 

The series was uploaded weekly or biweekly, depending on demand and how many people submit performances, Guerra said. 

“We’re hoping that we can at least present something weekly,” she said about the fall series. 

Kurt Martinez, School of Music director, came up with the idea of “Live from the Living Room” to provide intimate performances as performers play from their homes. 

 “It’s almost like if you were in the living room, listening to these performers, you know, right in front of you,” he said. “They’re very sincere, personal performances.”  

Additionally, “Live from the Living Room” helps maintain engagement with the community, Guerra said. 

“We do want to … remain vibrant in the community,” she said. “We didn’t want to break in our offerings, whether we’re virtual or face-to-face.”

One performer, Hector Rodriguez, lecturer II in the School of Music, said staying connected with the audience is necessary. 

“We need to engage the audience and, you know, deliver more music to them,” he said. “It’s important to maintain the culture that we already have.” 

Together as “Duo Alderman,” Rodriguez and Krista Jobson, an associate professor at the School of Music, performed “Three Balkan Dances” by Clarice Assad, a Brazilian composer, music by Roland Dyens, a French composer, “Nubes de Buenos Aires” 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 “Live from the Living Room,” Rodriguez said. 

“It has been a great experience for us,” he said. 

 While most people cannot hear live music right now, Jobson hopes they can still appreciate music from home through “Live from the Living Room.” 

“[I] hope that they can … still enjoy music at home, even if they can’t go out to a concert,” she said. “We can bring it directly to them.”

For more information about “Live from the Living Room,” email Vallerie Hernandez, School of Music program coordinator, at vallerie.hernandez@utrgv.edu. 

People can view “Live from the Living Room,” 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 Arts’ website at http://patron.utrgv.edu.