Pianist Jerico Vasquez will present a faculty recital in Shorter University’s Brookes Chapel on Monday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. The performance is open to the public free of charge. The recital commemorates the 250^th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven.

The program will include three pieces from the three different periods of Beethoven’s career. They are: 7 Bagatelles, Op. 33 from the Early Period; Piano Sonata in E Major, Op. 109 from the Late Period; and Piano Sonata in F Minor, Op. 57 “Appassionata” from the Middle Period.”

Hailed for his “formidable and effortless playing” and “intelligent ardor and exceptionally clear and bright technique,” Dr. Vasquezis Artist-in-Residence, Professor of Music and Coordinator of the Keyboard Program at Shorter University. He has performed as a concerto soloist, a recitalist, and a chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Philippines. Recent performances include numerous solo recitals in the southeast United States and the Philippines, a concerto performance with the Rome Symphony Orchestra, and collaborative performances with the Balkan String Quartet and the Expedition Winds. He has also presented workshops, lectures, and has frequently served as an adjudicator in many local and regional festivals and competitions.

Dr. Vasquez received his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Additionally, he received his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance, with a minor in Music History and Literature, from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston.

Dr. Vasquez has won numerous competitions including the UCSB Concerto Competition, the Pillsbury Foundation Competition, the Santa Barbara Performing Arts Foundation Competition, and the Léni Fe Bland Foundation Competition. He is also the recipient of the Ojai Festival’s prestigious Charlotte and Alvin Bronstein Award, Capitol Record’s Nat King Cole Memorial Scholarship, and the University of California Regents Scholarship. He is also a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honorary Society.

As a pedagogue, Dr. Vasquez has been an active member of the Music Teachers National Association, the Georgia Music Teachers Association, and the Rome Music Teachers Association. He has served as President of the Houston Music Teachers Association and the Bayou City Federated Music Club, and Vice-President of the Rome Music Teachers Association. He currently serves as Vice-President for Membership for the Georgia MTA.  His students have won prizes in many competitions, including the HMTA/HYAC Concerto Competition, the Blinn College Young Pianist Competition, the GMTA Competitions, the Rome Symphony Concerto Competition, and the Chopin International Youth Competition. Additionally, his students have won various scholarship competitions sponsored by the Atlanta Steinway Society, the Atlanta Music Club, the Rome Music Lovers Club, and the Dublin-Laurens Arts Council, the William and Mary Ann Knight Scholarship Competition, and the Georgia Federation and National Federation of Music Clubs. Many of his students have also gone on to prestigious graduate music programs including the Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music, Rutgers University, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christ-centered, four-year liberal arts university committed to excellence in education.  The Princeton Review annually includes Shorter on its lists of best Southeastern Colleges. The university offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 40 areas of study, online courses and degree programs, undergraduate programs for working adults, associate’s, and master’s programs.