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BY THERESA M. ROCHA<br />
MT STAFF WRITER<br />
6 <strong>School</strong> <strong>School</strong><br />
News News<br />
Piano lovers and performing arts<br />
enthusiasts gathered for a weekend <strong>of</strong><br />
piano.<br />
Piano Days, presented by the Laredo<br />
Community College Performing Arts<br />
Department, was a three-day event created<br />
to promote awareness <strong>of</strong> piano<br />
playing in Laredo.<br />
It included VMT’s Director <strong>of</strong> Piano<br />
Studies Dr. Mary Grace Carroll.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event began with a concert featuring<br />
Poland native Dr. Anna Gorecka<br />
on Friday, Jan. 19. Gorecka played<br />
selections by F. Chopin such as Ballade<br />
g-minor, Sonata b flat-minor, and<br />
Scherzo b flat-minor. She was also<br />
scheduled to play M. Ravel’s Gaspard<br />
de la Nuit and W.A Mozart’s Variations<br />
Student <strong>of</strong> the Month, Head <strong>of</strong> the Class recipients<br />
in D-major.<br />
Gorecka has played in Vienna,<br />
Moscow, and Berlin.<br />
Encoring her performance, the next<br />
morning, Gorecka gave a master class<br />
that was open to everyone .<br />
Following Gorecka, Carroll presented<br />
a class.<br />
Carroll’s program consisted <strong>of</strong> two<br />
pieces by Debussy, La Puerta del Vino<br />
and Lis’le Joyeuse. In addition she<br />
played several pieces by M. Ponce<br />
including Scherzino Mexicano,<br />
Romanza de Amor, Intermezzo #1 and<br />
C. Although noted on the program, she<br />
did not play M. Ponce’s Gavote.<br />
Carroll disclosed that the piece was<br />
scheduled for a later performance.<br />
Carroll has played piano for more than<br />
30 years.<br />
<strong>The</strong> pieces she played she said were<br />
basic repertoire, the essential pieces<br />
pianists have learned.<br />
<strong>The</strong> event ended with a duet performance<br />
by Elizabeth Gutierrez and<br />
Kevin Richmond <strong>of</strong> San Antonio. <strong>The</strong><br />
two put on a Latin American performance.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir program consisted <strong>of</strong> Agustin<br />
Lara’s Granada, Ernesto Lecuona’s<br />
Malagueña, Manuel Ponce’s Idilio<br />
Mexicano, Oscar Lorenzo Fernandez’s<br />
Cavaleiro Fantastico and Carlos<br />
Guastavino’s Romance del Plata.<br />
<strong>The</strong> two presented separate classes<br />
prior to their performance.<br />
Gutierrez is an associate pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong><br />
piano at the University <strong>of</strong> Texas at San<br />
Antonio.<br />
According to http://music.utsa.edu/<br />
Faculty/richmond/index.html,<br />
Richmond “…has performed numerous<br />
<strong>The</strong> Magnet Tribune<br />
May 11, 2007<br />
MT photos by Krystal Battistata/Selina Hernandez, Natalie Castillo, <strong>The</strong>resa Rocha<br />
Six students were named Student <strong>of</strong> the Month or Head <strong>of</strong> the Class during the school year by the U.S. Border Patrol and other groups. Left photo, from left, Selina<br />
Garcia, Jose Chavana and Leonela Gutierrez. Middle photo, from left, Veronica Cruz and Irma Hernandez. Right photo, Jaime Rodriguez.<br />
Radio, television students get $2,500 Best Buy grant<br />
BY LUCIA VILLAGOMEZ<br />
MT STAFF WRITER<br />
Carrie Robaina, Radio/TV instructor,<br />
was the only teacher who received the<br />
Best Buy Teach Award, a grant <strong>of</strong><br />
$2,500.<br />
To apply for <strong>this</strong> $2,500 grant<br />
Robaina <strong>download</strong>ed the application<br />
from the Internet.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n she wrote essays on some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
elements that the application required,<br />
along with background information on<br />
her program, and school population<br />
statistics.<br />
When she got the news that she had<br />
been chosen to receive <strong>this</strong> grant,<br />
Robaina was shocked.<br />
“I couldn’t believe I received the grant<br />
because it was a grant open to teachers<br />
in the U.S.”<br />
She added that she was “excited and<br />
happy that students were getting some<br />
new equipment.”<br />
Leslie Widales, a junior, and<br />
Radio/TV student, was pleased with<br />
the news.<br />
“I was very excited when I found out<br />
we had gotten the grant,” she said.<br />
Both Robaina and her students discussed<br />
what equipment they should<br />
buy.<br />
Robaina took some <strong>of</strong> her students to<br />
Best Buy.<br />
Students had freedom <strong>of</strong> choice on<br />
what equipment they wanted to get.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y looked, tested, and chose the<br />
equipment they thought would work<br />
best for them.<br />
In the end they left the store with<br />
three digital camcorders, three tripods,<br />
a digital camera, CDs for their radio station,<br />
a projector, and some headphones.<br />
Oh, and Robaina decided to treated<br />
her students with lunch at Applebee’s<br />
restaurant.<br />
<strong>The</strong> students who weren’t able to<br />
make the trip to Best Buy with Robaina<br />
thought all the new equipment bought<br />
was cool.<br />
Students could not believe they were<br />
able to get all that equipment with<br />
$2,500.<br />
This equipment has really helped<br />
Robaina with her program, she said.<br />
Now students are able to take the<br />
camcorders home for projects, whereas<br />
before they couldn’t.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y’re allowed to branch out with<br />
their stories,” added Robaina.<br />
Widales explained how the items<br />
have helped with their assignments.<br />
“Our work has really improved with<br />
our new equipment. <strong>The</strong> new cameras,<br />
headphones, projectors, etc. have<br />
helped us make our projects even better,”<br />
she said.<br />
“It’s great that companies like Best<br />
Buy <strong>of</strong>fer those types <strong>of</strong> awards to public<br />
education because we’re under<br />
funded. Students deserve the best,”<br />
said Robaina.<br />
Magnet piano instructor performs at LCC’s Piano Days<br />
solo recitals in Germany, France,<br />
Austria, Japan, and the USA.” He is also<br />
a member <strong>of</strong> the faculty at UTSA.<br />
<strong>The</strong> conglomeration <strong>of</strong> performances<br />
was a memorable experience.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> goal <strong>of</strong> <strong>this</strong> event was to make<br />
people aware <strong>of</strong> piano playing in<br />
Laredo,” Carroll said.<br />
“I wish that more people had gone<br />
because it gave them a chance to gain<br />
exposure to a different kind <strong>of</strong> playing,”<br />
she added.<br />
All performances were free and open<br />
to the public.<br />
Carroll also played piano alongside<br />
John Reimund, director <strong>of</strong> Low Brass<br />
studies at VMT in “Tuba on the Edge”<br />
on Apr. 28 in the Texas A&M<br />
International University Center for<br />
the Fine and Performing Arts Recital<br />
Hall.