Contact: Sammy McDavid
STARKVILLE, Miss.--An internationally recognized pianist and educator will perform March 20 at Mississippi State's Sixth Annual Brazilian Festival.
The public program featuring Sergio Gallo, an assistant professor at Georgia State University in Atlanta, will begin at 7:30 p.m. His selections for the evening will include works by 19th century composers Robert Schumann, Barroso Neto and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
On the 21st, the University of California doctoral graduate will lead a 2 p.m. discussion on Brazilian music, also open to the public.
Both of Gallo's campus appearances will take place in the Bettersworth Auditorium of Giles Hall, home of the College of Architecture, Art and Design. The music department is sponsoring his campus visit.
A regular performer at venues from North America to Europe to the Far East, Gallo recently was named an official artist of Bosendorfer New York, the world-famous manufacturer of concert pianos and related equipment. Others in the esteemed group have included Leonard Bernstein, Oscar Peterson and Andre Previn.
Before coming the Georgia State, Gallo directed piano studies at the University of North Dakota. He also is a graduate of the Conservatoire Europeen de Musique in Paris, Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest and University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music.
Gallo's interest in 19th century piano music has been particularly focused on French Painism and related performance practice and instructional issues.
The Brazilian festival was founded by Rosangela Sebba, an assistant professor in the MSU department. The yearly event seeks to share the music and culture of her native country--largest in South America and fourth-largest in the world.
For additional information on the Brazilian Festival, contact Sebba at 662-325-3070 or rys3@colled.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.