Index of University Press Releases

Mar. 17, 2009

DWU to host multimedia piano concert

Eugenio Zapata

MITCHELL –Eugenio Zapata, assistant professor of music at Mount Marty College, will present a multimedia performance on piano with projected images and dancer Emily Vortherms at 7 p.m. on March 28 in the Sherman Center at DWU.

The concert, sponsored by the DWU Department of Music, is free and open to the public.

“What Dr. Zapata is doing by incorporating visual and dance elements into his performances is a very exciting development, and one that promises to engage all of the audience’s senses,” said Daniel Barnard, associate professor of music at DWU. “This is classical music presented in a way that appeals to more than just the aficionado. I think it is the wave of the future.”

The performance, “Visions Through Time,” has music from the baroque to the romantic period. Bach deals with the subject of war through photography and war letters. Haydn plays on a humorous vision of various stereotypes of society (religious, dumb blond, red neck and the scholar). Beethoven treats life and death through his love letters and eulogy. Chopin deals with female struggle and transformation through dance (Mazurka) and the heroic of ninth century versus Hollywood (Scherzo). Schumann will have historical perspectives.

Zapata is a native of Colombia, South America. He earned a bachelor of music in piano performance at the Andes University in Bogota. After performing and teaching for several years he traveled to the U.S. where he completed graduate studies at Penn State University and Texas Tech University. His doctoral studies were interdisciplinary, and since then he has explored interdisciplinarity of the arts in both teaching and performance. His shows include dance, video, photography, poetry and animation along with the music performed. He has published several articles and recorded several CDs. He has performed as a soloist, accompanist and with an orchestra. His performances have taken him throughout the United States, Europe and South America. To learn more about Zapata’s work, visit www.eugeniozapata.com.