St. John's News
St. John's Spanish Honor Society Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month with Poetry and Music
October 02, 2008
Queens, N.Y. -
Epsilon Kappa, the St. John’s University Chapter of Sigma Delta
Pi, the National Spanish Honor Society, and the Department of
Languages and Literatures are presenting an afternoon of poetry and
music on Sunday, October 19, at 5:00 pm in Council Hall on
the University’s Queens Campus. Poets and artists are invited to
take part in an open reading, as well as sing or play an
instrument.
The program, open to the public, will center around the premier
performance of Himno a Sigma Delta Pi, a song specially composed
for Epsilon Kappa by Luis Antonio Muñoz, a classical
composer, orchestra conductor and singer from the National Choir of
Spain. Ángel Rodríguez, also a baritone from the National
Choir of Spain, will join Muñoz in the performance. The two will
also perform with the Coro Nacional de España at Lincoln Center on
October 17 and 18.
Dr. Marie-Lise Gazarian, the Coordinator of the Graduate Program in
Spanish and Moderator of Epsilon Kappa as well as Vice President
for the Northeast of Sigma Delta Pi, will talk about the importance
of belonging to an honor society. Vanessa Montfort, the
renowned Spanish novelist and co-author with Dr. Gazarian of the
lyrics of Himno a Sigma Delta Pi, will explain how this song
unites, through the common bond of language, all people from
Spanish-speaking countries. This artistic achievement is the
contribution of St. John’s Chapter to Hispanic Heritage Month.
For more than four decades Epsilon Kappa has brought to St.
John’s University some of the most outstanding figures from the
Hispanic world, including Nobel-Prize winners who have promoted the
Spanish and Latin American culture. It is also responsible for
literary gatherings and its literary journal, Entre Rascacielos,
which serves as a forum for supporting the gift of poetry and
scholarly works on a national and international basis.
Media inquiries can be directed to Elizabeth Reilly, Assistant
Director of Media Relations, at (718) 990-5789 or reillye@stjohns.edu.
For general inquiries you may contact Dr. Marie-Lise Gazarian at
(718) 990-5209 or Vivian Vescovacci at (718) 990-6314. For
more news about St. John’s University, please visit www.stjohns.edu/news.