THS auditorium to host piano recital

Next week, Tucumcari residents will have the rare opportunity to experience a performance here by two classical pianists - including one who will be a future resident.

Siri Saracino, a professor of piano at Luca Marenzio Conservatory of Music of Brescia, Italy, and his student, Giulia Varga, will perform a free concert and recital at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at the Tucumcari High School auditorium.

Answering emailed questions from the Quay County Sun, Saracino said the program will be about one hour. It will include classical works by Bartok, Chopin, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich and a piece titled "Radiance" he composed specifically for the event.

"I wanted to hold a concert in Tucumcari to donate my music and my piano performance to the people, just for the sake of making music," he wrote.

Saracino said in addition to the solo performances, the event will include pieces that require four hands, where he and Varga will play simultaneously.

Saracino and Varga were performing in Arizona and Nevada before heading to Tucumcari. He said it was the first time Varga had traveled in the American Southwest.

"Giulia had never been to Tucumcari or the United States before this trip, and she's very excited for her first trip and debut in the United States," Saracino wrote last week.

Saracino also noted his first performance in the United States was 25 years ago in Phoenix - the same city where Varga made her U.S. debut.

Saracino has a number of piano performances on YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify.

Varga was born in Italy but both parents hail from Romania. She began her musical studies with Saracino in 2017 and continues to study music with him privately. She has won several scholarships and music awards.

Saracino won't retire for a few more years, but he purchased a home in Tucumcari two years ago and comes to the area twice a year to spend his holidays.

"What brought me to Tucumcari was the history of the city, inextricably linked to Route 66," he wrote. "For me, Tucumcari is a symbol of freedom, of hospitality, where I can live my last part of life with happiness, after having taught for 35 years in Italy.

"I discovered New Mexico and the Southwest in the early 2000s when I was invited to hold master classes at UNM and other important music faculties, and I immediately liked the American system and organization. And then, lastly, I love the sun and climate of New Mexico."

The event next week is sponsored by Mesalands Community College.

Josh McVey, vice president of student affairs, said Saracino had contacted the college, asking to do a concert there.

"He was going to have it in our Great Room on the small piano, but at graduation I saw the piano the high school (auditorium) had and decided to try to have it there," McVey wrote in an email. "We paid for the tuner to come and make sure the piano is tuned."