The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Pianist to play with Hotchkiss student orchestra
LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss Concert Series welcomes pianist Leonel Morales in concert. Morales will appear with the Hotchkiss Orchestra, Saturday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. in Katherine M. Elfers Hall, Esther Eastman Music Center.
Morales is a regular guest of the Hotchkiss stage. He will perform works by Beethoven and Chopin, accompanied by the Hotchkiss Orchestra. The concert is free and open to the public; no ticket reservations are necessary.
Born in Cuba, Leonel Morales has lived in Spain since 1991, where he has been awarded many international prizes including First Prize in the Guerrero Foundation International Piano Competition in Madrid and the Second Prize at Jaen International Piano Competition. He graduated from the University of Havana where he studied under Frank Fernandez, a student of renowned Moscow Conservatory professor Victor Merzhanov, firmly establishing Morales in the Russian tradition of pianists.
A professor of piano at the Conservatorio Superior de Castellón, Spain, Morales also teaches at Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio in Madrid and Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He has performed all over the world, including the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall in New York City and toured with various orchestras, including the Spanish
National Orchestra, Spanish Radio and TV Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic of Galicia, Symphonic Orchestra of Bilbao, the Symphonic Orchestra of Hamburg, FrankfurtOder Orchestra, RAI National Orchestra of Turin, among many others.
Visit www.leonelmorales.com to learn more.
The Hotchkiss Orchestra is a 52-piece student ensemble conducted by Fabio Witkowski, chairman of the Visual and Performing Arts Department and director of the music program. The orchestra meets regularly as a class for rehearsals, and student musicians take one-on-one music lessons with members of the Hotchkiss music faculty who are professional musicians from across the region.
The Hotchkiss School is located at 11 Interlaken Road in Lakeville. Katherine M. Elfers Hall, Esther Eastman Music Center is situated in the lower level of the main building. For more information about this and other arts events at The Hotchkiss School visit www.hotchkiss.org/arts or call 860-435-4423.