The Cerritos College Keyboard Studies Program held its fall Piano Ensemble Concert on Sunday.
About 100 family and friends of the performers gathered for the event as each group of pianists took the spotlight to present its pieces.
About 100 family and friends of the performers gathered for the event as each group of pianists took the spotlight to present its pieces.
All pieces presented were composed specifically for more than one person to perform.
The duets were performed in tandem with the artists seated either next to each other by a piano or by themselves to play the variety of pieces.
Thirty students participated with accompaniment from instructor Christine Lopez who is the Director of the Applied Music Piano Studies Program.
To prepare the students for any nervousness they may experience, Lopez said, “We talked about it (anxiety) in class but many of them have their own way of focusing and getting themselves (ready).”
English major Mariana Covarrubias teamed up with Neysi Rodriguez to play Moonlight Evening, a piece written by Robert D. Vandall.
She said, “Everyone gets nervous, but once you get up on stage, you just have to hold on, calm down and just get over it.”
Lopez explained, “In order to take a class, a student must have completed at least a semester of piano.”
At one point in the concert, the audience was treated to a four person presentation of Champagne Toccata by William Gillock.
Performing in the eight hand piece were Aaron Conception, Alejandro Pina, Faten Bebawi with accompaniment by Lopez.
Sixty-four year-old Stephen Bernhardt, who has his Bachelor’s Degree from Fullerton State University has been playing the piano for 54 years.
Bernhardt and Bebawi closed out the afternoon’s piano concert with their rendition of a Halloween season performance of Danse Macacbre Op. 40, composed by Saint-Saense.
While they played, an overhead photo was projected above them depicting various Halloween characters.
“The next ensemble is scheduled for some time in December and will count as the class final,” Lopez said.
