Christmas Recital
featuring Manuela Romero
with Zyra Maria Gonzalez Monterrey
INFORMATION
Join the Oxford Arts Alliance and welcome our performers Manuela Romero and Zyra Maria Gonzalez Monterrey for an evening of music by Beethoven, Kreisler, and some Christmas favorites!
DATE AND TIME
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Manuela Isabel Romero Gonzalez
A native Cuban-Venezuelan, violinist Manuela Isabel Romero began her violin performance and education career at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory of Music and the Latin-American Academy of Violin in Caracas, Venezuela. Manuela came to the U.S. to study with Dr. Stephen Redfield at the University of Southern Mississippi where she received her master’s degree in Violin Performance in May 2018. She served as the concertmaster at the University of Southern Mississippi Orchestra from 2017-2018. She has been a prize winner in numerous competitions and performed as a member of the Young Symphony Orchestra of Caracas, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, and the Venezuela Symphonic Orchestra. She was concertmaster for a European tour with the chamber music ensemble ARAMAC, and a participant in the Northern Lights Music Festival in Minnesota. In 2018 and 2019 Manuela participated at the Dali International Music Festival and in the Audience Engagement Intensive at the Carnegie Hall as member of the Kahlo String Quartet. Passionate about teaching students of all ages, Manuela taught violin in Venezuela for over ten years with the renowned El Sistema program. Since 2016, she taught in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at William Carey University and University of Southern of Mississippi’s Suzuki violin program, and at the Hattiesburg Public School District for K-8 graders. In 2019 Manuela completed a service year as an ArtistYear AmeriCorps Fellow and worked as a string teacher for “El Sistema” Play on Philly. Currently, Manuela is a full-time music teacher at the School District of Philadelphia, and she is working on her music education certification at West Chester University. She is also violin faculty at
ArConet the Arts & Community Network and at the Oxford Arts Alliance.
Zyra Gonzalez
Zyra Maria Gonzalez Monterrey, originally from Habana Cuba, is a professional concert pianist graduated from the prestigious Habana University of Arts. She holds a Music Bachelor Degree in Piano Performance and in Music History. In 1975 she taught piano in the Cuban Conservatory and worked as a pianist accompanist in the Cuban opera company for 7 years. In 1994 Zyra moved to Venezuela where she worked as a pianist for the ballet of the Teresa Carreño Theater in Caracas. A few years later, she started to work for the prestigious nonprofit Venezuela Orchestra System for the Children and the Youth “El Sistema Venezuela” Zyra was the artistic music director and orchestra conductor of the Raimundo Pereira Children and Youth Orchestra in Guarico State for more than 20 years . She also funded a cultural association that included the School of Music, Children-Youth Choirs alone with a Research Center and a Specialized Library.
The Coral Polifonica Choir Polyphonic Raimundo Pereira won several prizes in International Choir competitions while she was the artistic director and conductor in countries such as Spain, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Colombia, and Italy for more than a decade.