NEW DATE ANNOUNCED: SEPTEMBER 14.
Join us via YouTube Live for the musical stylings of Veronica Parrales and Jason Mathena. This cellist and percussionist duo will reinterpret your old favorites, along with performing some recently composed music.
About the Performers
Dr. Jason Mathena is the director of the Jazz Ensemble. He is also currently instructor of music and assistant band director at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Mississippi. Before coming to Co-Lin and Millsaps, Mathena taught at Southwest Mississippi Community College for three years. In addition to teaching, Mathena maintains a rigorous performance schedule as a member of the Mississippi Symphony, Gulf Coast Symphony, and Meridian Symphony. From the vibraphone, he leads two jazz combos, the Vibe Doctors and the Plus 1 Jazz Trio, both of which perform regularly in the metro Jackson area. He has many years of experience on drum set in many different professional settings, such as rock bands, jazz bands, and musicals, and currently freelances in that capacity in central and south Mississippi. Besides ensemble playing, Dr. Mathena has presented numerous recitals both academic and public and has also performed a soloist with various ensembles. Jason Mathena holds a DMA in Percussion Performance and Pedagogy with secondary emphases in Music Theory and Music History from the University of Southern Mississippi; an MM in Percussion Performance from the University of Louisiana—Lafayette; and a bachelor of music education from Auburn University. His primary percussion teachers have included John Wooton, Jeff Prosperie, She-e Wu, Troy Breaux, Greg Byrne, Harrell Bosarge, Bud Berthold, Glenn Carter, Kent Morrow, and William Hochkeppel.
Veronica Parrales recently won the position of Principal Cello for the Mississippi Symphony and continues to serve as Assistant Principal for the Baton Rouge Symphony, as well as a substitute for the Louisiana Philharmonic. Originally from New York City, she received training at Manhattan School of Music and Purchase Conservatory before obtaining a Master’s degree at Hunter College, and completed the coursework for the Doctorate of Musical Arts at Rutgers University while studying with Jonathan Spitz. Veronica was a finalist in several notable national orchestral auditions, including South Dakota Symphony and Virginia Symphony. She has participated in numerous prestigious festivals such as Tanglewood, Napa Valley Institute, Brevard, and Ohio Light Opera and has taught for the Harlem Quartet at Music Mountain, Wooster College, and Third Street Music School Settlement (where she got started with ballet, cello, and piano as a young student). Upon her arrival in Jackson, Veronica has performed with the Mississippi Symphony String Quartet, Mississippi Opera, International Ballet Competition, and is a founding member of the Diamond Piano Trio in residency at Belhaven University. She gives regular recitals with her duet partner pianist Janette Sudderth at Millsaps College, and has a recurring engagement at Mississippi College’s Sclater Series concerts with a variety of mixed ensembles. Veronica enjoys playing a wide range of styles and genres from early music to jazz, classical to minimalist, romantic to contemporary. She especially welcomes the opportunity to compose and improvise and is often called upon for original arrangements and film scoring. Formerly a teaching artist with the New Jersey Symphony, faculty at Princeton String Academy, and a Suzuki instructor for the Rutgers University Extension Division, Veronica is now happy to offer cello lessons for all ages and levels from her home studio in Fondren and enjoys coaching, chamber music, and college students, with a particular focus on orchestral repertoire
