Corazón - The Music of Latin America

While it’s winter in Sitka, it’s summer in Latin America! Warm up with vibrant music by composers from the region, performed by John-Henry Crawford on cello and Victor Asuncion on piano, featuring a special guest appearance by our Grammy-winning Artistic Director, Zuill Bailey.

Program

Brazil

Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)                                                                                                                              

O canto de cisne negro

Ondulando

Melodia

Marlos Nobre (b.1939)

Poema III

Argentina

Alberto Ginastera (1916-1983)

Danzas Argentinas

Carlos Guastavino (1912-2000)

Pampamapa

Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

Le Grand Tango

Mexico

Manuel Ponce (1882-1948)

Por ti mi Corazón

Estrellita

USA/Italy 

Giancarlo Menotti (1911-2007)

Suite for 2 Cellos and Piano

Born in the small Louisiana city of Shreveport, cellist John-Henry Crawford has been lauded for his “polished charisma” and “singing sound” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and in 2019 was First Prize Winner of the IX International Carlos Prieto Cello Competition and named Young Artist of the Year by the Classical Recording Foundation.

At age 15, Crawford was accepted into the legendary Curtis Institute of Music to study with Peter Wiley and Carter Brey and went on to complete an Artist Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music with Philippe Muller, a Master of Music at The Juilliard School with Joel Krosnick, and pursue further study in Chicago with Hans Jørgen Jensen. He has given concerts in 25 states as well as Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland at venues such as The International Concert Series of the Louvre in Paris, Volkswagen’s Die Gläsern Manufaktur in Dresden, and the inaugural season of the Tippet Rise Arts Center in Montana. Crawford gave his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as First Prize Winner of the orchestra’s Greenfield Competition and has performed Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Memphis Symphony, Dvorak and Gulda Cello Concertos with the Shreveport Symphony, and Haydn’s C Major Cello Concerto with the Highland Park Strings.

While in Chicago, Crawford appeared on WFMT’s Impromptu series and toured extensively with Steinway artist and pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion. He has appeared twice with Christopher O’Riley on National Public Radio’s From the Top. An advocate for the importance of social media, Crawford commands a strong Instagram presence, attracting tens of thousands of viewers to his project #The1000DayJourney, where he films artistic cinematic videos daily from his practice and performances for over 55,000 followers (@cellocrawford) to give a glimpse into the working process of a musician, recently passing the 1000-day mark.

Crawford’s numerous competition prizes also include Grand Prize and First Prize Cellist at the 2015 American String Teachers National Solo Competition, the Lynn Harrell Competition of the Dallas Symphony, the Hudson Valley Competition, and the Kingsville International Competition. He has competed in the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth competitions and was accepted at the prestigious Verbier Academy in Switzerland for study under the tutelage of Ralph Kirshbaum and Torleif Thedeen. 

Crawford has been a fellow at Music from Angel Fire in New Mexico, the National Arts Centre’s Zukerman Young Artist Program in Canada, The Fontainebleau School in France, and the Perlman Chamber Music Program. He was invited to perform at Boston’s French Cultural Museum in a chamber music concert with Boston Symphony concertmaster Malcolm Lowe, Curtis President Roberto Diaz, and members of the Borromeo Quartet, and was the only student performer on a tour series to Costa Rica, Mexico, and Brazil, collaborating with artists Soovin Kim, Roberto Diaz, and Jason Vieaux as part of Curtis on Tour. While a student at Curtis, Crawford’s recital performances were broadcast on WHYY public television in Philadelphia. He was interviewed for the recently released documentary Maestro about conductor Paavo Järvi, and is also interviewed and quoted in Dan Coyle’s The Talent Code by Dan Coyle, a best-selling book about the science and neurology behind skill development. 

Crawford is from a musical family and performs on a rare 200-year old European cello smuggled out of Austria by his grandfather, Dr. Robert Popper, who evaded Kristallnacht in 1938. He also performs on a fine French bow by the revolutionary bowmaker Tourte “L’Ainé” from 1790. Before attending Curtis, Crawford studied with concert cellist Andres Diaz of Southern Methodist University. In addition to music, he enjoys reading about astrophysics, running, performing magic tricks, and photography.

Hailed by The Washington Post for his “poised and imaginative playing,” Filipino-American pianist Victor Santiago Asuncion has appeared in concert halls in Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Turkey and the USA, as a recitalist and concerto soloist.  He played his orchestral debut at the age of 18 with the Manila Chamber Orchestra, and his New York recital debut in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in 1999. In addition, he has worked with conductors including Sergio Esmilla, Enrique Batiz, Mei Ann Chen, Zeev Dorman, Arthur Weisberg, Corrick Brown, David Loebel, Leon Fleisher, Michael Stern, Jordan Tang, and Bobby McFerrin.

A chamber music enthusiast, he has performed with artists such as Lynn Harrell, Zuill Bailey, Andres Diaz, James Dunham, Antonio Meneses, Joshua Roman, Cho-Liang Lin, Giora Schmidt, the Dover, Emerson, Serafin, Sao Paulo, and Vega String Quartets. He was on the chamber music faculty of the Aspen Music Festival, and the Garth Newel Summer Music Festival.  He was also the pianist for the Garth Newel Piano Quartet for three seasons. Festival appearances include the Amelia Island, Highland-Cashiers, Music in the Vineyards, and Santa Fe.

His recordings include the complete Sonatas of L. van Beethoven with cellist Tobias Werner, Sonatas by Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff with cellist Joseph Johnson, the Rachmaninoff Sonata with the cellist Evan Drachman, and the Chopin and Grieg Sonatas, also with cellist Evan Drachman. He is featured in the award winning recording “Songs My Father Taught Me” with Lynn Harrell, produced by Louise Frank and WFMT-Chicago.  Mr. Asuncion is the Founder, and Artistic and Board Director of FilAm Music Foundation, a non-profit foundation that is dedicated to promoting Filipino classical musicians through scholarship, and performance.

He received his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in 2007 from the University of Maryland at College Park under the tutelage of Rita Sloan. Victor Santiago Asuncion is a Steinway artist.

The Sitka Music Festival, a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit is Alaska's premier chamber music presenter with the mission of providing the finest classical music experience in Alaska through performance and education.