RIVERSIDE SYMPHONY TO OFFER “HOME SWEET HOME” ON SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 1 AT ALICE TULLY HALL

March 3rd, 2017 by bob No comments »

 A program exploring the subtler expressions of national origin, headlined by the

New York Premiere of Donald Crockett’s unmistakably American guitar concerto

NEW YORK, NY –  Prizewinning classical guitarist Robert Belinić will join Maestro George Rothman and the Riverside Symphony at Alice Tully Hall on Saturday evening, April 1, in a diverse program of four works from the past 125 years whose geographical provenances surface in subtle ways, quite unlike the heated fervor characteristic of the latter 19th-century Romantics Nationalists. The most current example, West Coast composer Donald Crockett’s winsome, decidedly Americana En la Tierra (featuring Mr. Belinić) in its New York premiere, incorporates the composer’s love for Stravinskian economy and transparent textures into a twangy harmonic idiom working through an open-plains sonic canvas. This newish work is distantly mirrored by Gustav Holst’s quietly epic paean to English folk music (St. Paul’s Suite), while more cosmopolitan Prokofiev and Ravel masterpieces, the Classical Symphony and le Tombeau de Couperin respectively, nonetheless disclose the composers’ national origins, though in sublimated fashion.

PROGRAM

Home Sweet Home

SATURDAY, April 1, 2017, 8pm

Featuring Robert Belinić, guitar

RAVEL   le Tombeau de Couperin (1919)

PROKOFIEV   Classical Symphony (1948)

CROCKETT   En La Tierra New York Premiere (2011)*

HOLST   St. Paul’s Suite (1912)

TICKETS

Tickets range in price from $32 to $64. Subscriptions, group rates, family plan, and student tickets are available. To purchase, please call (212) 864-4197 or visit www.riversidesymphony.org.

March Meeting

February 20th, 2017 by bob No comments »

 

These pieces were played at the March 19 meeting in Hopewell Borough:

Gad Berger

  • Star Wars (Main Theme) – Arr. Pete Billman & Jeff Jacobson
  •  Han Solo and the Princess – “”

Robert Ey

  • Vaghe belleze et bionde treccie d’oro vedi che per ti moro – Chilesotti
  • Bianco Fiore – “
  • The Boys of Blue Hill/Reedsdale Hornpipe – Arr. Gordon Bok
  • Give Me Your Hand – Rory Dhall O’Caithan

Gary Lee

  •  Prelude from Sonata No. 29 – S.L. Weiss
  • Lesley’s Song – Frederic Hand
  • The Water is Wide – Trad., arr. Hand

Kevin Lutke

  • Prelude No. 3
  • Prelude in C
  • E Minor Suite: Introduction and Waltz

Ray Butler

  • Si Ela Perguntar – Dilermando Reis
  •  Natalia – Antonio Lauro
  • Miller’s Dance– Manuel DeFalla

Jeff Griesemer

  • Port Skeain (on mandolin) –Trad. Irish
  • Soldier Boy – Luther Dixon and Florence Greenberg, arr. Griesemer
  • Theme from a Summer Place – Mack Discant and MaxSteiner

————————————–

The remaining meetings this season are scheduled for these locations:

April 23 – Wayne

May – Warren

June – Picnic in Hopewell Borough

Three Guitars with a Twist

February 10th, 2017 by bob No comments »

Salon Series Concert Rescheduled Three Guitars with a Twist

 

Due to inclement weather, the Salon Series: Three Guitars with a Twist has been cancelled and rescheduled for next Thursday, February 16 at 7:30 PM at 60 Locust Avenue in Berkeley Heights.

 

Martha Masters at Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society

February 6th, 2017 by bob No comments »

Sunday, February 12, 2017

3:00 PM

Settlement Music School, 416 Queen St, Philadelphia, PA

Registration: Tickets will be available at the door.

GENERAL – $25.00 (USD)

PCGS MEMBER – $10.00 (USD)

STUDENT/SENIOR – $15.00 (USD)

The Illinois Times wrote that guitarist Martha Masters “is on a swift and certain trajectory to star territory.” Masters’ playing has been described as “seductive” (Ft. Worth Star Telegram), “intelligent and natural” (Guitar Review), and “refined and elegant” (American Record Guide). She is active as a solo recitalist, as a chamber musician, and as a soloist with orchestras.

https://pcgs.wildapricot.org/event-2255758

Guitar events at Berrie Center, Ramapo College

February 1st, 2017 by bob No comments »

February 25, 8pm

Les Paul Festival featuring Frank Vignola Trio with Vinny Raniola and Gary Mazzaroppi

Frank Vignola’s stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Boston Pops, New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List.”

Tickets: $30/27/24

April 1, 8pm (Adler Theater)

Mark Sganga “Celebrating the Beatles and Beyond” Solo Acoustic Guitar Concert
2009 International Fingerstyle Champion Mark Sganga’s finger-style guitar weaves a rich tapestry of beautiful melody, dynamic rhythm, and imaginative improvisation. Fusing influences from South America and around the world, Mark creates an entrancing travelogue, as an instrumentalist, bandleader, singer/songwriter and educator.

“A bright new light in the Jazz/Brazilian music scene” – John Heidt, Vintage Guitar Magazine
“One of the top guitarists in the New York area” – Brian Wilson, WOR-AM Radio

Tickets: $25; Ramapo Students: $8

Ramapo College of New Jersey, 505 Ramapo Valley Road, Mahwah, NJ 07430

For tickets and more information on these events call the Berrie Center Box Office at 201-684-7844, or visit http://www.ramapo.edu/berriecenter/

February Meeting

January 27th, 2017 by bob No comments »

These pieces were played at the February 19 meeting in Wayne:

Ming Chao

  • Ariel Ramirez – Alfonsina y el Mar (arr. Jorge Cardoso)
  • Scottish Air – Skye Boat Song (arr. David Russell)

Anthony Campanella

  • Be Thou My Vision
  • Flickering Firelight – Arthur Penn arr: Walter Jacobs
  • Ragtime Study – AJ Weidt

Robert Ey

  • Saltarello – Chilesotti
  • The Boys of Blue Hill/Reedsdale Hornpipe – Arr. Gordon Bok
  • Give Me Your Hand – Rory Dhall O’Caithan

Dave Starbuck

  • F. Carulli – Variations on Las Folias Op. 75

Jim Tosone

  • Sor – Op. 35, Nos. 1 & 2
  • Scarlatti – Sonata in A (K. 322)

Gary Lee

  • S.L. Weiss – Prelude from Sonata No. 5
  • J.S. Bach – from Violin Sonata No. 3, III: Largo
  • Domenico Scarlatt – Sonata K. 209

Ray Butler

  • Fantasia X – Alonso Mudarra
  • Natalia – Antonio Lauro

Kevin Lutke

  • PRELUDE & VARIATIONS – Kevin Lutke
    1. Prelude
    2. Variation l
    3. Variation ll
    4. Finale

Jeff Griesemer

  • Georgia On My Mind, Hoagy Carmichael – arranged Drueding/Griesemer;
  • Canción De Cuna – Leo Brouwer;
  • When I’m Sixty Four – Lennon/McCartney, arranged Griesemer.
  • Because – Dave Clark, arr. J. Griesemer

Dana Hamilton

  • Prelude #1 in E minor – H. Villa Lobos
  • Gentle Rain – Louis Bonfa

Peter Villalta

  • Study No. 1, Opus 60 – Fernando Sor

Stanley Alexandrowicz, “ROMANTIC VIRTUOSO GUITAR WORKS,” in Philadelphia

January 24th, 2017 by bob No comments »
Please join me for my upcoming recital on 1 February at the lovely Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia. Featured will be “ROMANTIC VIRTUOSO GUITAR WORKS” by the 19th Century’s greatest composer-virtuosi: Ivan Padovec, Napoleon Coste, J.K. Mertz, Johann Dubez & the Philadelphia Premiere of famed American composer and conductor Maestro Robert W. Butts’ “Early Morning Suite!”
Church of the Holy Trinity
1904 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 567-1267

Guitar Marathon at 92Y

January 20th, 2017 by bob No comments »

Date: Sat, Feb 25, 2017, 2 pm

Location: Lexington Avenue at 92nd St

Venue: Kaufmann Concert Hall

Benjamin Verdery, artistic director; John Schaefer, host; Brasil Guitar Duo; Jorge Caballero; Eden Stell Guitar Duo; Benjamin Verdery; Ana Vidovic

Program includes:

MOZART: Adagio in B minor, K. 540 (arr. B. Verdery)

TAKEMITSU: Selections from 12 Songs for Guitar (transcriptions of pop songs)

VILLA-LOBOS: Aria from Bachianas brasileiras No. 5 (arr. R. Dyens)

POULENC: Suite in C major (arr, C. Stell for guitar duo)

MOMPOU: Selections from Cançons i Danses (arr, C. Stell for guitar duo)

Selected songs (arr. B. Verdery):

JIMI HENDRIX: Purple Haze

PRINCE: Kiss (arr. B. Verdery)

MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition (trans. K. Yamashita for solo guitar)

This all-day event continues with Session 2 at 8 pm.

Separate tickets required for each session.

More Information

Bergen Performing Arts Center Presents Sharon Isbin

January 18th, 2017 by bob No comments »

Bergen Performing Arts Center located at 30 North Van Brunt Street in Englewood, New Jersey presents Sharon Isbin. Sponsored by The Frank & Lydia Bergen Foundation-Sunday, February 26, 2017 at 3PM. $49-39-29

Purchase tickets at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling bergenPAC’s Box Office at 201.227.1030.

Sharon Isbin

Acclaimed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time,” multiple Grammy Award winner Sharon Isbin has appeared as soloist with over 170 orchestras and given sold-out performances in the world’s finest halls. Winner of the Toronto, Madrid and Munich Competitions, Germany’s Echo Klassik and Guitar Player’s “Best Classical Guitarist” award, she has been artistic director/soloist of festivals she created for Carnegie Hall and NPR. A frequent guest on All Things Considered and A Prairie Home Companion, she has been on the cover of over 45 magazines, profiled on CBS Sunday, and featured soloist in Scorsese’s Oscar-winning The Departed. On September 11, 2002, Ms. Isbin performed at Ground Zero for the internationally televised memorial, at the White House by invitation of President Obama in 2009, and was the only classical artist to perform in the 2010 Grammy Awards. Her PBS television performances include the Billy Joel Gershwin Prize, Tavis Smiley, and the acclaimed one-hour documentary Sharon Isbin: Troubadour seen by millions on over 200 PBS stations across the US and winner of the 2015 ASCAP Television Broadcast Award.

Ms. Isbin’s catalogue of over 25 recordings—from Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th Century to crossover and jazz-fusion – reflects remarkable versatility. Her latest releases, Sharon Isbin: 5 Classic Albums and Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions with rock/jazz guests Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Stanley Jordan and Romero Lubambo, have been #1 bestsellers on Amazon.com.  Her 2010 Grammy-winning Journey to the New World with guests Joan Baez and Mark O’Connor spent 63 consecutive weeks on top Billboard charts. She received a Latin Grammy nomination for her Rodrigo Aranjuez disc of concertos with the New York Philharmonic, their only guitar recording.   Sharon Isbin has been acclaimed for expanding the guitar repertoire with some of the finest new works of the century. She has commissioned and premiered more concerti than any other guitarist, as well as numerous solo and chamber works. Her American Landscapes is the first-ever recording of American guitar concerti and features works written for her by John Corigliano, Joseph Schwantner and Lukas Foss.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Isbin has performed with the Emerson String Quartet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a Guitar Summit tour with jazz greats Herb Ellis, Stanley Jordan and Michael Hedges, trio recordings with Larry Coryell and Laurindo Almeida, and duo recordings with Carlos Barbosa-Lima. She collaborated with Antonio Carlos Jobim, and has shared the stage with luminaries from Sting to Aretha Franklin.

Recent highlights include premieres of a concerto written for her by Chris Brubeck and a co-commission by Carnegie Hall for their 125th anniversary and Chicago’s Harris Theater, a 21-city Guitar Passions tour, and tours with opera star Isabel Leonard. Sharon Isbin began guitar studies at nine in Italy, and later studied with Andrès Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia and Rosalyn Tureck with whom she collaborated in publishing and recording first performance editions of the Bach lute suites for guitar. She authored the Classical Guitar Answer Book, and directs guitar departments at the Aspen Music Festival and The Juilliard School, which she created in l989 becoming the first and only guitar instructor in the institution’s 100-year history.

 bergenPAC
30 North Van Brunt Street
Englewood, NJ 07631
(201) 227-1030
www.bergenpac.org
www.ticketmaster.com

 

25th Annual Long Island Guitar Festival, April 2- 9, 2017 at Tilles Center’s Hillwood Recital Hall, LIU Post

January 17th, 2017 by bob No comments »

April 2- 9, 2017 at Tilles Center’s Hillwood Recital Hall. LIU Post, Brookville.

Scheduled Performers include: David Leisner, Huy Thanh Nguyen, Raphaella Smits, Benjamin Verdery, Ana Vidovic, Gohar Vardanyan, the Saigon Guitar Quartet and VIDA Guitar Quartet. Scheduled Showcase performers include Arvo Duo (Joenne Dumitrascu, violin and Ming-Jui Liu, guitar).

National High School Classical Guitar Competition

The Festival will again present its National High School Classical Guitar Competition, open to high school students of all 50 states.

Long Island Guitar Festival Guitar Orchestra

The LIGF Guitar Orchestra for high school students and others returns to the Festival in 2017, conducted by Alan Hirsh.

Master Classes for Guitarists and Performers

In 2017 the Long Island Guitar Festival continues its tradition of presenting excellence in guitar performance and pedagogy with master classes scheduled to be given by the VIDA Guitar Quartet, Raphaella Smits, Benjamin Verdery and David Leisner.

Ensemble Showcases

Through its history the Long Island Guitar Festival has featured ensembles representing high schools from the tri-state area and other states including Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.

More information: http://postmusic.liu.edu/gfest/