Florida Gulf Coast University student and piano prodigy Priscila Navarro will soon get to do what many performers only dream of. Navarro performs a solo recital March 7 at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall.
She’ll be the first FGCU student to earn that honor.
Navarro is an 18-year-old junior studying music performance at FGCU. She caught the attention of FGCU Music Professor Michael Baron at the National Conservatory of Music in Lima, Peru at the age of 15.
“When I started studying music in Peru, we always heard of Carnegie Hall and all the famous people playing there,” said Navarro. “I never thought I could be performing there, but it’s very exciting. I really want to do my best for that recital.”
Navarro talked about her unlikely beginning in music on WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live! in 2012. “I was born in a very small city where music was not very popular at all,” Navarro said. “We had folk music, but we didn’t really study for that. At nine years old, my family and I moved to the capital and that’s when I started studying at the conservatory and met my first piano teacher.”
Navarro’s solo recital at Carnegie Hall comes as part of her prize for winning the 20th Annual International Chopin Competition of Texas in 2012. Her performance will include works by Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Chopin and Peruvian composer Jimmy Lopez.
