An award-winning instrumental group is coming to Ohio University’s campus, and to get everyone excited for the performance, a documentary about one of the members will be shown at The Athena Cinema.
The Cristina Pato Quartet will visit campus Sept. 24 as part of the Performing Arts and Concert Series. Additionally, a documentary on the Silk Road Ensemble, the group through which Pato first attracted an American audience, will be shown at the Athena Cinema on Tuesday.
Pato got her musical start as a child in her native country, Spain, and has been recording professionally since the age of 12. Senior associate director for student activities Andrew Holzaepfel arranged for Pato to come after seeing her two years ago in New York City.
“We were shocked at how amazing the performance was,” Holzaepfel said. “We knew when we saw her that we had to try and find a way to bring her to campus.”
Pato plays the bagpipes in her quartet but plays numerous other instruments as well. She got her start in a group called Silk Road Ensemble.
The Silk Road Ensemble was created by cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma with a vision of people embracing others’ differences and the impact that would make on the world. The musicians are chosen from all over the world, ranging from Spain and Japan to Syria and the United States. The group often says that although they don’t all speak the same language, they all speak the language of music.
In 2015, a documentary was made about the Grammy award-winning group called The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. It was an independent film that was shown at the Athena in 2016. Holzaepfel saw the film when it was first shown in Athens and felt that it was only fitting to coordinate Pato’s arrival to campus. He coordinated with the director of the Athena Cinema, Alex Kamody, to arrange a one-night-only screening of the documentary.
“The film will get you excited and give you a chance to get a little preview of what you’re going to see in the live performance,” Kamody said.
Kamody and Holzaepfel have coordinated for movie and music events before, so they were both excited to make this event happen. They wanted audience members to be able to see the film as a way to connect with Pato’s background, so they could better understand the musician and the performance.
“Super energetic and dynamic performer,” Holzaepfel said. “Very charismatic. Everyone was completely focused in on her and her performance.”
Students are seeing advertisements for these performances and hearing through word of mouth. After talking to some students, it seems the excitement level is getting high for this special occasion.
Ally Perkins, a freshman studying mechanical engineering, was intrigued by the coordination of the documentary with the live performance.
“The coordination of the movie and performance is really interesting, and the talent level of these musicians make me really excited to go and see them in person,” Perkins said.
