by Yevhen Gulenko, guest writer
Have you ever heard a guitar tell a story? The thought may sound silly until you have heard the Croatian master Ana Vidović play. She is the rare musician who can make her instrument sound sublime, whether interpreting the Baroque works of Bach or performing arrangements of modern popular classics by Toru Takemitsu. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Growing up in a musical family will often cause children and younger siblings to reject music or embrace it fully. Luckily for audiences around the world, Croatian guitarist Ana Vidović did the latter. On Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 pm in Plymouth Church, Ana Vidović will present a recital featuring works by Sor, Moreno Torroa, Barrios Mangoré, Albéniz, Bach, Takemitsu, and Lauro. The performance is part of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series.
“The concert is coming up very quickly,” the engaging Vidović said during a telephone conversation. “I played in Cleveland nine or ten years ago. That concert was one of my first during a tour of the States. I’ll always remember it very nicely, so I’m happy to be back after all these years.” [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will open its International Series with a “Showcase” concert at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. On Saturday, September 19 at 7:30 pm, two duos will join Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux in a wide-ranging program of pieces for voice and guitar, two guitars, and solo guitar. The performers include Stephen Aron, guitar, and JoNell Aron, soprano, as well as Duo Amaral (Jorge Amaral and Mia Pomerantz-Amaral, guitars). Where else can you find Shine on, harvest moon and a Bach lute suite on the same program? There’s no admission charge, but donations are welcome.
In addition to the great music, CCGS will honor Jason Vieaux during the concert as the first recipient of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Award. “We created the award because we felt that we should recognize the classical guitarists who are spreading the word about our art form throughout the community, and Jason is the perfect fit to receive the first award,” CCGS executive director Erik Mann said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
If you had to listen to your upstairs neighbor practice the guitar for hours every day, someone you wouldn’t mind living above you is Vladimir Gorbach. On Saturday, April 11 in the Herr Chapel at Plymouth Church, Gorbach treated a large audience to technically brilliant and musically dazzling performances of works by Llobet, Scarlatti, Bach, Aguado, Piazzolla and Ginastera. The concert was presented as part of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will present the final concert of this season’s International Series with a performance by Vladimir Gorbach. “I’m really looking forward to the concert and getting to know Cleveland,” the Russian-born guitarist said during a telephone conversation from Los Angeles. “After winning the 2011 Guitar Foundation of America competition, I did perform in Ohio as part of the winner’s tour, but this will be my first time in Cleveland.” Gorbach’s debut performance will feature works by Miguel Llobet, Domenico Scarlatti, J.S. Bach, Dionisio Aguado, Ástor Piazzolla, and Alberto Ginastera. A special pre-concert performance by students from CCGS’s education program will begin at 6:50.
by Daniel Hathaway
During its more than three decades as an ensemble, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has generated a huge and loyal following. LAGQ’s local fans supplied the group with a large, enthusiastic audience on Saturday evening, March 21 at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights for a two-hour show that touched nearly every possible corner of the repertoire with the group’s forty magic fingers. [Read more…]
Mike Telin
Launched more than thirty years ago, the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) plays everything from Bach to Bluegrass. But for their visit to the International Series of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, John Darman, Matthew Greif, William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant will concentrate on early Spanish music before moving on to modern pieces and Kanengiser’s arrangement of Manuel de Falla’s “El Amor Brujo.” The concert takes place on Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.
Today, March 17, marks the official release date of LAGQ’s latest CD, New Renaissance, most of which will be presented on Saturdays concert. LAGQ’s program will begin with a section titled Music from the Time of Cervantes. “The idea for the album stemmed from a project we did a few years ago with John Cleese of Monty Python fame,” LAGQ founding member William Kanengiser explained during a telephone conversation. “We met John at a concert we did in Santa Barbara, and he wanted to go to dinner with us. We were start-struck. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
Performing on the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series, French guitarist Gäelle Solal thoroughly charmed a good-sized audience at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights on Saturday evening, February 28. She seems to have had a similar effect on guitar students in a series of CCGS-sponsored classes preceding her performance. No wonder. She has a winning personality, and her playing is ravishing. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On their website, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society describes Gaëlle Solal as having “a big personality and energy beyond compare.” I’d like to second that, because within the first five minutes of our Skype conversation I quickly realized that the dynamic French classical guitarist loves nothing more than life itself.
by Jarrett Hoffman
Chamber groups and marriages alike have their moments of unity and discord. The Cavatina Duo was the perfect case study Saturday night at Plymouth Church. Making their Cleveland debut with the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, the married couple duo of guitarist Denis Azabagić and flutist Eugenia Moliner together made sweet, sweet music — and also aired some of their dirty laundry in extensive onstage talking. [Read more…]