Hunter Music Online Graduation takes place on Wednesday May 27 at 11 am. The graduates will be honored. Music selections will include the world premiere of Leo Brouwer’s new work for solo guitar performed by Professor João Luiz and the guest speaker will be Terrance McKnight.
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About Leo Brouwer
Leo Brouwer Mezquida (b. 1939 in Havana, Cuba) is recognized worldwide as a composer, guitarist, and conductor. He had his first music lessons from his father, Juan Brouwer, and his aunt, Caridad Mezquida, while his great-uncle, Ernesto Lecuona, was famous both as a composer and as a pianist. Brouwer had his first guitar lessons in 1953 with Isaac Nicola, who established the modern school of Cuban guitar-playing, and two years later began to study composition on his own
In 1959 Brouwer was awarded a scholarship for further study of the guitar in America at Hartford University and of composition at the Juilliard School in New York, where his studies were with Vincent Persichetti, Stefan Wolpe, Isadore Preed, J. Diemente and Joseph Iadone. In 1960 he was appointed director of the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos, a position that, over the years, brought the composition of a large number of film scores both in Cuba and abroad. From this time onwards Brouwer was associated with the Cuban musical avant-garde, serving as an adviser to Radio Habana Cuba and teaching at the Conservatorio Nacional, and, as occasion demanded, in universities abroad. He established the biennial Cuban Guitar Competition and Festival and since 1981 has been general director of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba. Conducting engagements have taken Brouwer to many countries.
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About Terrance McKnight
Terrance McKnight is the well-known voice of the evening hours for WQXR. He is a member of the board of directors the Bagby Foundation and the MacDowell Colony and is an artistic advisor for the Harlem Chamber Players. He is frequently sought out by major cultural organizations for his insight into the cultivation of diverse perspectives and voices in the cultural and social responsibility spheres. McKnight regularly curates concerts and talks at Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, the Billie Holiday Theatre, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at City College, and the Museum of Modern Art.
When Terrance McKnight moved to New York City, his 96-year-old grandmother offered him a few words of wisdom: “If you’ve got something to say, get out there in the middle of the road and say it; don’t go hiding behind no bush.” From a long line of passionate citizens — his maternal family founded a branch of the NAACP in Mississippi and his father was the pastor of a church in Cleveland — Terrance and his siblings were expected to contribute to their community while growing up. Early on, Terrance decided he would take the musician’s journey.
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