Dr. Jerico Vasquez, piano, and the Expedition Chamber Winds will present a Chamber Music Concert in Shorter University’s Brookes Chapel on Monday, Feb. 20, at 7:30 p.m. The event is open to the public at no charge.

The program will include Mozart’s “Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, K. 452” and Beethoven’s “Quintet for Piano and Winds in E-flat Major, Op. 16.”

“There are uncanny similarities between these two masterworks: both are in the key of E-flat Major, they both open with a slow introduction, they both have three movements, and are scored for pianoforte, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon,” said Vasquez, who serves as artist-in-residence and associate professor of piano at Shorter University. “Mozart, in a letter to his father, wrote (of this quintet), ‘I myself think it’s the best thing I’ve ever written.”

Hailed for his “formidable and effortless playing” and “intelligent ardor and exceptionally clear and bright technique,” pianist Jerico Vasquez has performed as concerto soloist, as a recitalist, and as a chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Philippines.

Vasquez received his Bachelor of Music degree under Dr. Charles Asche at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Piano Performance, with a Minor in Music History and Literature, from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston under Ruth Tomfohrde, Abbey Simon and Horacio Gutierréz. Dr. Vasquez has been a winner of the UCSB Concerto Competition and has received career grants from the Pillsbury Foundation, the Santa Barbara Performing Arts Foundation, and the Léni Fe Bland Foundation. He was also a recipient of Ojai Festival’s prestigious Charlotte and Alvin Bronstein Award, Capitol Record’s Nat King Cole Memorial Award, and the University of California Regents Scholarship. He is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honorary Society.

The Expedition Chamber Winds is a Rome-based woodwind quintet that includes Dr. John Reams, clarinet, who is dean of Shorter University’s School of Fine and Performing Arts; Allison Robinson, oboe; Ellie Jenkins, horn; and Evan Ledford, bassoon. Susan Davis, flute, is also a member of the Expedition Chamber Winds, but will not perform in the concert at Shorter University due to the instrumentation.

In addition to his service as dean, Dr. Reams is also an associate professor of woodwinds teaching clarinet and saxophone. Dr. Reams is principal clarinetist of the Rome Symphony Orchestra and stays active as a recitalist throughout the southeast. As a clarinetist, he has held positions with the Savannah Philharmonic and the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra. Other orchestral positions include the Midland-Odessa Symphony (TX), Abilene Philharmonic, Peoria Symphony (IL), Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Ohio Light Opera Orchestra, and the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of South Carolina (1998), a Master of Music in Woodwind Performance at Florida State University (2001), and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance and Literature at the University of Illinois (2010). Dr. Reams has been a featured soloist throughout the United States and Canada. He has recorded for labels including Centaur and Albany Records.

Founded in 1873, Shorter University is a Christ-centered, four-year liberal arts university committed to excellence in education. The Princeton Review annually includes Shorter University on its list of Best Southeastern Colleges. The university offers traditional bachelor’s degrees in 40 areas of study, online courses and degree programs, undergraduate programs for working adults, and four master’s programs. Learn more about Shorter at www.shorter.edu.

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