A Magical Concert

Jesuit's spectacular Antinori Center for the Arts hosted a special musical showcase – the President's Circle Performance – on October 18, headlined by renowned Italian Maestro Sandro Ivo Bartoli and featuring sensational Jesuit student musicians and other outstanding performers. (Click to view photos, video, and the event program.)

The extraordinary special event was spearheaded by Ron Antinori '60, the namesake of the arts center (which opened in 2023) and benefactor of Jesuit's first Steinway & Sons piano, a Model B 7' Grand Piano. It was hosted in the Antinori Center's Shembekar Auditorium by Nina Wegmann, who for 25 years has been the heart of Jesuit's music program.

In attendance for the magnificent performance were about 300 members of Jesuit's President's Circle and other special guests, including family of the performers and representatives of Steinway Piano Gallery of Tampa Bay, who helped facilitate Maestro Bartoli's visit to the area, and to Jesuit, along with Antinori.

In addition to Maestro Bartoli, who performed the work of 19th century Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, other featured performers included oboist A.J. Brazel '27; violinists Santi Ramirez-Betancur '24 and Nicolas Quesada '29; Quesada's father, Jesuit music teacher/pianist Adrian Quesada; pianists and Zipoli Scholars Ethan Buck '28 and Joseph Cusimano '27; vocalists Juan Amador '27 and Austin Blewitt '26; string bassist Ronan Krummrich '26; and percussionist Eli Guemmer '28. They performed pieces from Jules Massenet, Ennio Morricone, Frederic Chopin, Ernesto Lecuona, and Leonard Cohen, among others. 

Click to view a full gallery of photos, the full concert video, and the event program. For additional photos of the red carpet, click here.