The Santa Paula Concert Series has been revived and will have its fourth concert of the new series, Music for a Romantic Night: Classical Piano Music with Geno Palilla, on Saturday, February 13th at 7:00 PM at the historic Universalist Unitarian Church, a Ventura Historical County landmark, located at 740 East Main Street, Santa Paula. Parking is on the street or behind the church. This concert for Valentine’s Day will feature a champagne and chocolate reception with the artist. The program will feature shorter works by Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms, Schumann, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, and Debussy.

After informal piano lessons with his father and self-teaching, Geno Palilla studied several years under the late Peter Yazbeck, until going off to study piano performance at Cal State University Northridge, under the Piano Chair, Francoise Regnat. His first inspirations were the music of Beethoven, whom he wanted to emulate in every way, including in temperament and hair. Then gradually he came to love everything else, but especially the music of Bach, Mozart and Chopin, who are to him more like gods than men. In recent years he has been dedicated to teaching piano, in the classical tradition, but with an openness and appreciation of jazz and blues, which he sees as not wholly estranged certain modes of classical composition, in its freest, imaginative sense. He may surprise us with an improvisation or two.

The Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula has been home to a number of musical events throughout its 127-year history. Admission is $20 donation at the door. Proceeds benefit the Universalist Unitarian Church of Santa Paula Building and Historical Fund. UUCSP is a registered Ventura County Historical Landmark. For more information, call 805-525-4647 or email uuscpoffice@gmail.com.