On Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 12:10 p.m., the Free Admission Glendale Noon Concerts program will be streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Bassist Nathaniel De La Cruz and pianist Rosa LoGiudice De La Cruz will perform new Andean inspired works by Mauricio Annunziata.

The program features “Vidalita for Double Bass and Piano” by Mauricio Annunziata and Concerto No. 5, “Andino” by Mauricio Annunziata for double bass and orchestra (piano reduction).

Peruvian born double bass player Nathaniel De La Cruz started learning the piano at the age of 6 from his father and was introduced to the double bass at the age of 16. After a full year studying with Prof. Dante Bereche, he was admitted to the National Conservatory of Music of Peru. In 2012 he got a full scholarship to study his bachelor’s degree with renowned double bass pedagogue Marcos Machado at the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2017, he was offered a teaching assistantship and a special talent scholarship at Arizona State University to study with international double bass soloist Catalin Rotaru, where he got his master’s degree and completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 2022.

Nathaniel maintains an active performing and teaching schedule, offering solo recitals and currently serving as the principal double bass of the Arizona Philharmonic, and as the double bass instructor of Chandler-Gilbert Community College. He taught master classes in different schools of music internationally and the U.S. and appeared in concerts with renowned conductors and soloists like Gustavo Dudamel, Carl St. Clair, Midori, Juan Diego Florez, the Brooklyn Rider Quartet, among others. He is the developer of a global teaching project for the organization Music to Save Humanity in Los Angeles and the creator of a sequential teaching material for the program “Music in the Schools” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil funded by Harmony Project Phoenix.

Nathaniel took lessons and master classes with world-class double bassists such as Edicson Ruiz, David Moore, Thierry Barbe, Jeff Bradetich and Sorin Orcinschi among others. He is the winner of several awards and competitions including the Gladys O’Donnell Strings Fellowship Award, the First Prize of the National Young Artists Solo Competition of the Coeur d’Alene Symphony in Washington and earned first place in the 2020 talent show of the Charleston International Music Competition.

In 2019, he participated in the legendary Giovanni Bottesini International Double Bass Competition in Italy and in 2021 he was a semi-finalist in the Latin Orchestra of Europe International Double Bass Competition. He was recently the winner of the 2021 Concerto Competition of the ASU School of Music and offered a concert as a soloist with the ASU Symphony. He is currently a semi-finalist in the 2023 Sphinx Competition. 

Dr. Rosa LoGiudice De La Cruz, pianist, holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in collaborative piano at Arizona State University completed in May 2020 under the tutelage of Dr. Andrew Campbell. Rosa earned a Master of Music in collaborative piano at University of California, Santa Barbara in 2015, studying with the professional collaborative pianist and professor Robert Koenig. She collaborates frequently with solo instrumentalists, opera singers, composers and choirs, performing regularly at ASU, Scottsdale Community College and in the community at the Tempe Center for the Arts, the Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale and the new music series at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Chandler.

Rosa collaborates frequently with her husband Dr. Nathaniel De La Cruz in local recitals and recording projects. Rosa was the pianist for Nathaniel in several competitions where he was awarded the first prize winner, including the Coeur d’Alene Symphony Orchestra’s National Young Artist’s Competition in January 2020, the Charleston International Competition in April 2020, and Art Festival Bass Strings International Double Bass Competition in Romania in fall 2020. Rosa was pianist for the premier of William Clay’s opera “Mignon” at the Studio Theater in the Tempe Center for the Arts in July 2017, and also performed for the premiere of Clay’s opera “Lorelai” in August 2018 at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Chandler. As a resident of Southern California from 2003-16 Rosa performed solo piano and chamber music with the acclaimed Glendale Noon Concert series and with the Santa Barbara Music Club series. Rosa has been a dedicated teacher for more than 15 years and is currently a piano instructor at the East Valley School of Music in Chandler, Arizona.

Note that this will be the last streamed concert before the Glendale Noon Concerts series returns to live performances on Feb. 15 at the sanctuary of Glendale City Church, 610 E. California Ave. Pianist Brendan White will perform a Chopin recital.

The Feb. 1 video will be available ongoing at http://glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com.