Vassar College Orchestra concert, December 2

The Vassar College Orchestra, directed by Eduardo Navega, will perform selections by Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Brahms on Saturday, December 2, at 8 p.m. in the Skinner Recital Hall, Vassar College. The concert is free of charge and open to the public.

Mozart's overture to "Marriage of Figaro," Tchaikovsky's overture to "Romeo and Juliet," and Brahms' Piano Concerto, No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15, performed by pianist Todd Crow, are included in the program.

Navega is a visiting assistant professor and director of orchestral activities at Vassar. From 1978 to 1989, he was conductor of the University of São Paulo Choir. During this period he wrote a significant number of arrangements of Brazilian popular songs for choir, most of which are still in the repertoire of choirs throughout Brazil.

In 1987, Navega joined the Campinas Symphony Orchestra as a viola player and in 1989 became its assistant conductor, a post that he still holds. He is currently on a leave of absence from his duties as assistant professor of choral and orchestral conducting at the State University of Campinas, Brazil. Navega was conductor of the University of Sheffield Chamber Orchestra (England) from 1992 to 1993, where he received his master's in Music. He has guest conducted a number of choirs and orchestras in the Brazilian States of São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paranà, and Rio de Janeiro. He has also conducted the Varna Symphony Orchestra in Bulgaria.

In 1995 Mr. Navega was awarded the prize of "Up and Coming Conductor of the Year" by the APCA, a prestigious critics association of the State of São Paulo, Brazil. He is currently completing his doctor of musical arts degree in orchestral conducting at the Hart School of Music, Hartford, Connecticut.

Crow, a professor of music at Vassar College since 1969, has been widely acclaimed for his solo performances in both America and Europe. The New York Times has described his playing as "heroic," with "endless flair, color and stamina," and the Times of London called his playing "spine chilling."

Fanfare Magazine voted Crow's CD of Schubert sonatas (Bridge Records) as a Critic's Choice for 1990, and Classical Pulse! Chose his disk of various works by Chopin, Liszt, Schubert, Schumann, and others (Golden String) as a Critic's Choice for 1997. Other recent compact disk recordings are a two-CD set of Schubert sonatas, works of Sergei Taneyev (both on Musicians Showcase), and the complete music for cello and piano by Mendelssohn (with Mark Shuman on ASV). He is also the author of articles on Bartok and of the volume "Bartok Studies" (Detroit, 1976).

For more information call the Vassar College Department of Music at (845) 437-7294. Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact the Office of Campus Activities, (845) 437-5370, as far in advance as possible to request reasonable and appropriate accommodations for the event.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations or information on accessibility should contact Campus Activities Office at (845) 437-5370. Without sufficient notice, appropriate space and/or assistance may not be available.

Vassar College is a highly selective, coeducational, independent, residential liberal arts college founded in 1861.

This article was posted on Saturday, December 2nd, 2000.