WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Award-winning pianist Rosario Andino will bring her talents to the West Plains Civic Center stage at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, for a special performance sponsored by Missouri State University-West Plains’ University/Community Programs (U/CP) Department and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.
Tickets are $8 each and available in person at the civic center box office, 110 St. Louis St., from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays or by credit or debit card at 417-256-8087. Children age 13 and under, and Missouri State-West Plains students with a current BearPass ID will be admitted free.
A pianist in the grand manner, Andino carries on the tradition of Anton and Nicholas Rubinstein, Leopold Godowsky and Alexander Michailowsky. Her concerto repertoire includes many of the standard works for piano and orchestra, as well as such rarities as works by Arensky. Her solo repertoire is formidable and includes all of the major, and some of the lesser-known, works from the baroque, classical, romantic and modern eras, as well as works by Cuban, South American and Spanish composers. In addition, some contemporary composers have written and dedicated works to her.
Andino was born in Santa Clara, Cuba, where she began her musical studies at age four. She graduated with highest honors from the Fischermann Conservatory in Havana and later the Chatham Square Music School in New York City. She is an alumna summa cum laude of the St. George’s School in Havana and of Hunter College in New York City.
Andino has been awarded the coveted Music Critics Circle Prize in Cuba and the Pittsburgh Society of Musical Arts Prize in the United States. She tours Europe, Mexico and the United States annually and has recorded for many television and radio stations around the world.
In 1991, the Missouri Arts Council selected Andino for its Touring Program roster. Her concerts through the Missouri Arts Council were so successful that, in 1994, council members nominated her to the Mid-America Arts Alliance Foundation, which selected her to be on its roster. She is the only pianist who was selected among all nominees from several states.
Considering music one of the highest forms of art, Andino believes that, when a person is born an artist, when this artist manages through unceasing hard work and good schooling to master his or her instrument, and when this master-artist firmly believes that doing justice to a work he or she performs is a matter of life or death, then he or she can touch, uplift, mesmerize and exhilarate any audience anywhere.
“Ms. Andino is certain to entertain and delight our audiences with works from Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt, as well as a series of Cuban dances,” said U/CP Theater and Events Coordinator Emily Gibson. “Being able to bring an artist of this caliber to West Plains is a treat for this region and one we know everyone will enjoy.”
Andino currently resides in Springfield and will come to West Plains fresh off her summer European tour.
For more information about Andino’s performance or other U/CP-sponsored activities and events, call the U/CP Department office at 417-255-7966 or visit www.wp.missouristate.edu/ucp/.