Awilda Villarini facts for kids
Awilda M. Villarini-Garcia (born on February 6, 1940) is a talented musician from Puerto Rico. She is known as a composer, who writes music, and a pianist, who plays the piano. She uses the name "Awilda Villarini" for her performances and published works.
Awilda Villarini was born in a town called Patillas, Puerto Rico. Her very first piano teacher was her own mother, who played the organ at church. Awilda loved music so much that she went on to study it at famous schools. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1961 from the Peabody Conservatory. Later, in 1973, she received a Master of Music degree from the Juilliard School.
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Studying Music Around the World
Awilda Villarini received special grants from the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. These grants allowed her to travel and study piano in exciting cities like Paris, France, and Vienna, Austria. She also earned a scholarship from the Ford Foundation to get her Ph.D. from New York University in 1979. Her special research project for her Ph.D. was about Puerto Rican danzas (a type of dance music) written for the piano.
During her studies, Awilda learned from many amazing teachers. Some of them were Claus Adam, Jean Marie Darre, Carmelina Figureoa, Alexander Gorodnitzky, William Kroll, Eugene List, Walter Panhofer, and Dieter Weber.
Awards and Recognition
Awilda Villarini's talent was recognized with several important awards. In 1981, she received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, which supports artists in the United States. She also won the Artist International Piano Award in 1985.
A famous music critic from The New York Times, Harold C. Schonberg, once wrote something very special about her. He said that he had heard a difficult piano piece called "Liszt's Transcendental Etude in f minor" played by many young pianists. But he felt that Ms. Villarini's playing was "superior to all of them." He called her an "exciting romantic pianist," meaning she played with a lot of feeling and passion.
Her Musical Works
Awilda Villarini has written many different kinds of music. Here are some of her compositions:
Chamber Music
- Three Fantastic Pieces (for clarinet and piano)
- Variaciones sobre el Canto del Coquí (for a flute played alone)
- Visiones (for a group of five woodwind instruments)
Orchestra Music
- Cinquillo Dramatico
- Concerto (for orchestra and piano)
- Legend of the Indian
- Suite Portoricinses (also has a version for just piano)
Piano Music
- Sonata No. 1
- Suite Portoricinses (also has a version for orchestra)
- Ten Preludes
- Three Preludes for Piano
Vocal Music
- "Dialogue" (with words by Pat Parker)
- Four Songs
- Two Love Songs (with words by Julia de Burgos and Pablo Neruda)
