All the way from Rio Grande Valley, guest artists, Vientos del Sur come to visit Texas Tech showing their colors of the wind in Hemmle Recital Hall.

On Monday, January 30 at 8 PM, Vientos del Sur performed a recital of colorful music with piano, oboe, flute, and clarinet. Vientos del Sur was formed in the Fall of 2022 as an outreach program/ensemble; offering lessons and performing for high school students. In the recital, each member of the ensemble performed a solo piece.

• Dr. Juan Pablo Andrade on piano, performed Robert Schumann's Fantasiestücke Op. 111
• Dr. Mezraq Ramli on oboe, performed William Grant Still's Incantation and Dance
• Dr. Nicaulis Alliey on flute, performed Raymond Guiot's Fantaisie pour flute et piano
• Dr. Johnathan Guist on clarinet, performed Kenji Bunch's La ultima noche en la casa del Flamenco from Cookbook for Clarinet and Piano

As a finale, Vientos del Sur performed Caprice on Danish and Russian Airs Op. 79 by Camille Saint-Saens.

One of the members in this ensemble is a Texas Tech School of Music Alumnus, Dr. Ramli Mezraq. Mezraq was a DMA oboe student of TTU SoM's very own, Professor Amy Anderson, from 2013 – 2017! He is currently at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Double Reeds and Aural Skills. While teaching double reeds, aural skills, and chamber music, he is also active as a performer and artistic director in many different organizations.

In our interview with Dr. Mezraq, he shares how it feels to be back on TTU Campus; “feels like coming home! It is as I remembered when I was here as a student. Nostalgic.” To be performing in Hemmle Recital Hall again, “it was an emotional experience. I recalled my student days rehearsing with the wind ensemble, orchestra, and wind quintet. Performing concerts and recitals. Getting to perform for current students and faculty was a special feeling. This was where I developed in becoming a professional musician and college professor.”

It is always exciting to see TTU School of Music graduates thriving and making accomplishments.

Photo Credit: Dr. Ramli Mezraq's Facebook Page

BIOGRAPHIES 

Venezuelan flutist, pedagogue, and author Dr. Nicaulis Alliey is a versatile artist versed on the classical and traditional music from the Americas. Dr. Alliey is Assistant Professor of Flute at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, flutist and Director of the Music of the Americas Project, and has appeared as a soloist, chamber musician and artist-teacher in France, Venezuela, the US and the Caribbean. Dr. Alliey holds degrees as Profesora Ejecutante from Escuela Nacional de Música José Reyna (Caracas), Etudes

Supérieures de Flûte at Hector Berlioz Conservatory (Paris) under Raymond Guiot, Masters in Music from Sorbonne University (France) and DMA from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. First Prize at the Latin-American Flute Competition, and First Prize Unanimous at the Concours de la Ville de Paris. Dr. Alliey is an artist with Polyphony Artist Management and Cayambis Press.

Costa Rican pianist Dr. Juan Pablo Andrade leads an active career as a concert pianist, pedagogue, and clinician. As a soloist he has performed with over 15 orchestras including the Greensboro Symphony, South Bend Symphony, Bolivian National Symphony, and on many occasions with the National Symphony of Costa Rica. He has performed across the US, Latin America, and Europe. His CD with violinist Betul Soykan (Centaur Records 3666) titled War to Peace has received rave reviews in Fanfare magazine. He is the recipient of numerous awards including First Prize at the Artlivre International Piano Competition, and the Costa Rican National Prize of Music, one of the highest recognitions given to a musician by the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture. Dr. Andrade is a Professor of Piano and coordinator of the Piano Area at UTRGV, and a frequent guest faculty at several international music festivals.

Dr. Jonathan Guist is Professor of Clarinet at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he teaches applied clarinet, clarinet ensemble, clarinet methods, and chamber music. Dr. Guist appears frequently as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and internationally. Dr. Guist and his university ensembles have performed at recent ClarinetFests in Belgium, Texas, Kansas, and Louisiana. A strong advocate for chamber music and new music, Dr. Guist has been involved in the commission of several new works for chamber ensemble by composers such as Russel Reed, James Syler, Alexandra Baldwin, Ken Kreuzer, and Mathew Campbell. Dr. Guist holds a D.M.A. from the Eastman School of Music, a M.M. from Baylor University, and a B.M.E. from New Mexico State University. Principal teachers include Kenneth Grant, Richard Shanley, and Laroy Borchert. Dr. Guist is a Backun Performing Artist and plays MoBa clarinets.

Dr. Mezraq Ramli proudly serves as Assistant Professor of Double Reeds and Aural Skills at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he specializes in oboe and bassoon. He also teaches chamber music, sight-singing, and ear training. Dr. Ramli maintains an active and diverse career as a chamber and orchestral musician, recitalist, and arts administrator. He is Principal Oboe with the South Asian Symphony Orchestra (India), Valley Symphony Orchestra (TX), as well as Second Oboe and English horn with the Baroque on Beaver Music Festival (Michigan). Dr. Ramli has concertized throughout South East Asia, Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland. Dr. Ramli is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Leland Musical Arts Celebration (LMAC), an annual summer concert series in Leland, Michigan, which features world-class musicians from the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Ramli earned his degrees from Texas Tech University (DMA), Miami University (MM) and Grand Valley State University (BM).