Childhood friends and pianists unite for world-class performance at SHSU
Aug. 26—Each semester, the Sam Houston State University School of Music opens its doors to the community for an evening of concert with world-renowned musicians in collaboration with a distinguished faculty member.
This semester's concert is special for College of Music adjunct professor of piano, Mihai Vatca, as he is set to perform with childhood friend and colleague, Andreea Mut. Together, their friendship has carried them across the globe as they pursued their passions and, after 20 years, the two will finally be performing together for the first time this Saturday.
Vatca and Mut developed their passion for music at a young age and met at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in Cluj Napoca, Romania, where they studied under the same professor. They later came to the United States on scholarships to pursue their Master of Music degrees at Sam Houston State University and went on to receive their doctorate degrees from the University of Houston, where Mut is currently employed as a staff pianist.
Both are highly accomplished musicians and, in addition to their work, they both periodically collaborate with the Houston Chamber Choir, as well as independently among various ensembles and groups in the greater Houston area.
However, despite their intertwined history in the same field, the duo's upcoming concert at SHSU will be their first to ever perform together, choosing to showcase four pieces from around the world.
"Half of the program will be orchestral pieces, which were specially arranged for two pianos, then for the second part of the program, we decided that we're going to do two piano specific arrangements," Vatca said.
The evening will begin in Europe with orchestral pieces arranged for two pianos by German composer Johannes Brahms and influential Romanian composer, George Enescu. The evening will then take a turn for America with Recuerdos: Three Traditional Latin-American Dances by composer William Bolcom and the rhythmic sounds of Le Carnaval à la Nouvelle-Orléans by composer Darius Milhaud.
The concert will be shown twice, first in Huntsville at SHSU and again in September at the University of Houston, with additional performances to be scheduled in the future.
"I'm really excited and a little nervous because I still know quite a few of the faculty and now it's my chance to be back as a more developed artist than when they saw me maybe 12 years ago when I was there," Mut said.
After a year of smaller recitals for Vatca and virtually streamed performances for Mut, both are looking forward to embracing the energy of an in-person audience in the concert hall, which is suited for up to 800 guests.
"It's very different ... this past year, even though we played some concerts, they were mostly live streamed, so I kind of miss that energy from the public because it's a little artificial when you perform and there's no one in the hall. Even though you know they are watching you online, it's very different when there's people there that get to experience that moment with you live in-person," Mut said, adding that the performance will be her first concert with an in-person audience since before the pandemic.
"We hope we'll see a lot of people there, maybe some people are still nervous to be in person, but we want to inspire people and to share this joy of playing music with a live audience with them," Mut said.
Vatca and Mut are set to perform at the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center concert hall, located at 815 17th Street in Huntsville, on Aug. 28 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public to attend.
