Recital | Christmas Music for Violin and Piano
In this Christmas recital, Elena Crocker on violin and John Touchton on piano take the audience on a musical journey through Christmas carols and timeless classics, blending sacred and secular traditions with contemporary arrangements.
Free admission, subject to venue capacity.
Information and Reservations: 214 815 904 (national landline rate) or mmp@cm-cascais.pt
Organized by: Cascais City Council
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Traditional / Arranged by The Piano Guys
Gesù Bambino – Pietro A. Yon
Carol of the Bells (Ukrainian Bell Carol) – Mykola Leontovych
Ave Maria – Astor Piazzolla
I Saw Three Ships – Traditional / Arranged by Lindsey Stirling
Mary, Did You Know? – Buddy Greene & Mark Lowry / Arranged by Taylor Davis
Good King Wenceslas – Traditional / Arranged by The Piano Guys
O Holy Night – Adolphe Adam
Christmas Time Is Here Nuages (A Charlie Brown Christmas) – Vince Guaraldi / Arranged by Reflet des Nuages
The Christmas Waltz – Lena Orsa
Somewhere in My Memory (Home Alone) – John Williams / Arranged by Reflet des Nuages
My Favorite Things – Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II (The Sound of Music)
Let It Go / Winter – K. Anderson-Lopez & R. Lopez / Antonio Vivaldi / Arranged by The Piano Guys
Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson / Arranged by Reflet des Nuages
A Venezuelan violinist and violist, she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College in New York (U.S.), under the guidance of Daniel Phillips. She also completed a Diploma in Musical Performance at the Simón Bolívar Conservatory in Venezuela. She also studied with Margaret Pardee, Daniel Panner (U.S.), Kasimier Burek, Eduardo Cedeño, and Sergio Celis (Venezuela).
Before beginning her studies in New York, she was a member of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, with which she toured Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He has performed in recitals and as a soloist in Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, England, and Portugal. In 2006, he made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall after winning the Special Presentations Award at the 33rd Annual Auditions of Artists International Presentations.
She currently resides in Portugal, where she teaches string orchestra and IB Music at the Carlucci American International School of Lisbon. In addition to her teaching activities, she is a member of several chamber music groups in Lisbon and the Portuguese Academic Orchestra. Elena Rojas plays instruments commissioned and built especially for her by luthier Edward Maday.
A native of Texas, pianist John Touchton began studying piano at the age of five and earned three degrees in Piano Performance from Baylor University, the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and the University of Michigan. He served as a collaborative piano assistant at all three institutions and was later appointed collaborative pianist at the University of Michigan, where he worked with the internationally renowned pianist Martin Katz. Among his teachers were the South African pianist Anton Nel and Lynne Bartholomew.
With a career spanning the United States and Europe, he has performed both as a soloist and in collaboration with other musicians. Highlights of his career include serving as an accompanist at the American Horn Competition and appearing as a guest artist at the American Liszt Society festivals in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.
With over 20 years of experience teaching piano, he has also held leadership roles as arts department coordinator at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., and at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, California. He is currently a choir and piano teacher and arts department coordinator at the Carlucci American International School of Lisbon in Sintra, Portugal.
