This month, Palm Beach Atlantic University (PBA) celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month—honoring the many contributions and histories that have shaped the United States, Florida, and the PBA community.
As part of this celebration, the university’s annual Hispanic Heritage Festival will return to campus, showcasing the rich and vibrant music and cultures from the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, and Hispanic diaspora.
This year marks the 16th iteration of the festival, taking place Sept. 27 and 28 in PBA’s Vera Lea Rinker Hall. It will include two feature performances by Palm Beach County-based Duo Gastezi-Bezerra, who originally founded the festival to promote Hispanic concert music, and PBA alum and soprano Sydney Carbo.
The festival has since evolved into a broader celebration—including various musical genres and an academic conference with lecture-recitals, papers, and performances.
Dr. Michael O’Connor, professor of music and interim chair of PBA’s Department of Music, says the conference enables performers, music educators, composers, and historians to share their research, often spotlighting lesser-known composers.
“We want to celebrate Hispanic heritage,” says Dr. O’Connor, whose own research explores musical composition and Catholic theology in medieval and Renaissance Spain. “It’s important to acknowledge we are in a place with a lot of Hispanic people. It’s only right to acknowledge their contributions. Many of our students are Hispanic, and we value their culture.”
Over the years, the festival has encompassed other creative expressions of Hispanic artistic culture, including an art exhibition and a film screening of “In the Heights”—written by stateside Puerto Rican songwriter and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda—with a talkback session in 2024. There are plans to include other disciplines in the future, from dance to filmmaking and more.
“We offer the chance for people to hear music they may have never heard before,” says Dr. O’Connor, who teaches various courses at PBA, including music history and world music. “I encourage people to come out. Every musician wants to play for an audience.”
Attendance at the conference is free. General admission to the feature performances are $15 each (PBA students and those 18 and under are free). The cost to share research or perform in the conference is $175.
To learn more about the Hispanic Heritage Festival or to purchase tickets, click here.
Event Details:
- Saturday, Sept. 27 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Academic conference; free)
- Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7:30 p.m. (The Muse Duo with soprano Sydney Carbo – Featuring works by poet Federico García Lorca and other Spanish compositions, bringing together art song and original piano-guitar compositions)
- Sunday, Sept. 28 at 3 p.m. (Duo Gastezi-Bezerra – Featuring Hispanic music for two pianos)
