Piano Duo Gastesi-Bezerra, comprised of longtime Wellington residents Estibaliz Gastesi and Márcio Bezerra, hosted the 14th edition of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Hispanic Heritage Festival on the weekend of Oct. 14.
Like in the previous two years, the festival had a conference format, attracting submissions from all around the country.
“We continue to receive proposals from scholars from several prestigious American universities, and this year we even had the well-known pianist Manuel Matarrita flying from Costa Rica to talk about his recent piano compositions,” Bezerra said.
Besides lectures and presentations, the festival featured two concerts open to the general public. This year, the guest artist was the PBA Chorus, under the direction of Sonia Santiago. In addition, the Duo Gastesi-Bezerra presented an all-women’s program, including the works of many living composers.
“We have always championed women’s music and had done similar programs at the Norton Museum, but this was special, thanks to the personal relationship that we have with four of the composers presented — Marisa Rezende, Beatriz Arzamendi, Carme Fernández Vidal and Silvia San Miguel,” Bezerra said.
Envisioned and organized by Estibaliz Gastesi and Márcio Bezerra as a way to commemorate their 10th year living and performing in Palm Beach County, 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.
According to the piano duo, “next year’s festival will be even bigger, as we will be celebrating 15 editions.” They can be reached through their web site at www.duogastesibezerra.com.
