Piano Duo Gastesi-Bezerra, comprised of longtime Wellington residents Estibaliz Gastesi and Márcio Bezerra, hosted the 13th edition of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Hispanic Heritage Festival over the weekend of Sept. 23.
The festival was dedicated to longtime collaborator poet and journalist Alma Gallego, who passed away earlier this year. “It was really touching to have some of Alma’s closest friends reciting her poems in the presence of an audience. More than one person was moved to tears,” Gastesi said.
Like last year, this latest edition attracted presenters from major national universities and colleges.
“The level has been consistently high since we transformed the festival into a conference,” Bezerra said. “We expect major growth in the next five years. As our guest artist Dr. Martin Camacho has remarked, this is a unique opportunity of artists and scholars of classical Iberian-American music to display their research. It has brought national attention to PBAU’s School of the Arts.”
Envisioned and organized by Gastesi and Bezerra as a way to commemorate their 10th year living and performing in Palm Beach County in 2009, the Palm Beach Atlantic University Hispanic Heritage Festival is a celebration of the Iberian-American cultural heritage through a display of art music from various countries.
“We hope the festival will become a national reference,” the piano duo explained. “We are actively looking for more community support and would love to receive a local grant to expand it further.”
Gastesi and Bezerra can be reached through their web page, www.duogastesibezerra.com.
