Rafael Vivanco presents The Guitar in Peru: 1786 to Present

Rafael Vivanco

Rafael Vivanco started playing the guitar at the age of 11 in Peru. He went on to complete his Bachelor of Music degree in classical guitar performance at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and his Master’s at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Rafael was sponsored to perform and teach in the US for over 10 years by Sherry Brener, the Spanish guitar importer and Guitarra Magazine editor who collaborated with icons such as Andres Segovia and Christopher Parkening.

He has performed in festivals like the Chicago Latino Music Festival. the Chicago Flamenco Festival, the Latin American Guitar Festival of Chicago, the Milwaukee International Guitar Festival, among others, and his performances have been broadcast on public radio. In 2017 he was given an artistic residence at the Cervantes Institute of Chicago.

Gisella Milla Adams

Peruvian soprano started her voice training in 2008 while finishing her Major in Communications in Peru and since then she has been completely devoted to following her passion for opera performance. She gained on-stage experience performing with the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Perú and with the Peruvian National choir in several Peruvian opera seasons. She moved to Chicago and graduated from Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, receiving different awards and performing as a soloist. She later obtained a master Degree in Performance and Pedagogy from Northeastern Illinois University in 2018. Gisella has attended to international programs as AIMS summer program in Granz, Austria in 2016 and to Orvieto Musica summer program in Italy in 2017 where she performed as a soloist in different venues. She has also participated with local opera companies as the Third eye theatre ensemble in Chicago with the main role of Juana Ines de la Cruz in the opera “With Blood and with Ink” by Daniel Crozier and as Suor Angelica in the opera Suor Angelica with NEIU. This current year Gisella has been working as the Opera Director’s assistant at NEIU and has stage managed “The Beggar’s Opera” production at De Paul University as well as preparing herself for auditions for the upcoming season.