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Preview: Cleveland Classical Guitar Society — a season of concerts and educational projects

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by Mike Telin

Lincoln-West-HOBNortheast Ohio is home to a vibrant classical guitar community and the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society (CCGS) plays a vital role in bringing that community together through its International Series, Local Artist and Rising Stars series, Open Recitals and master classes. The area is also home to many of the finest classical guitar teachers in North America and on Sunday, September 22 beginning at 3:00 pm in Plymouth Church, CCGS presents its annual Showcase Concert.

The afternoon will include performances by Duo Amaral: Baldwin Wallace professor Jorge Amaral and Mia Pomerantz-Amaral; Duo Allant: Kathryn Thomas Umble, flute and François Fowler, guitar, professors at Youngstown State University; AronBerkner Duo: Jane Berkner, flute, and Stephen Aron, guitar, professors at the University of Akron and Oberlin Conservatory; and Jason Vieaux, professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. (see our concert listings page for further details)

CCGS is also committed to education by providing free classical guitar instruction to students of Lincoln West High School in Cleveland and Buchtel CLC in Akron. But, as CCGS executive director Erik Mann points out, they have been faced with some challenges in creating a program that serves the needs of a diverse student body. [Read more…]

Review: Cleveland Classical Guitar Society — Marcin Dylla at First Unitarian, Shaker Heights (April 5)

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by James Flood

Dylla-IMG_5703The young Polish guitarist, Marcin Dylla, delivered the final concert of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Socety’s Master’s Series on Friday, April 5 at First Unitarian Church in Shaker Heights. Dylla has been sweeping competitions around the world, earning 19 first-place awards with his exceptionally refined playing.

Dylla opened the program with Manuel Ponce’s Sonata Romantica, an homage to Franz Schubert. The work showcases Ponce’s compositional talent in writing a substantive work imitating the style of Schubert, with undulating melodies and, at times, rich chromaticism. Marcin Dylla’s playing is eminently smooth. His touch is gentle. Even his physical gestures bespeak the approach he takes, his arms and hands very fluid and relaxed. [Read more…]

Preview: Cleveland Classical Guitar Society — a conversation with Polish guitarist Marcin Dylla

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by Mike Telin

Dylla-IMG_5703Polish classical guitarist Marcin Dylla has been hailed as “among the most gifted guitarists on the planet” by the Washington Post. Mr. Dylla has earned his place among the world’s classical guitar elite, having won 19 first prizes at international music competitions including the Gold Medal at the 2007 Guitar Foundation of America International Competition in Los Angeles. On Friday, April 5 beginning at 7:30 PM in First Unitarian Church of Cleveland, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society presents Marcin Dylla in a recital featuring works by Manuel Maria Ponce, Magnus Lindberg, Anton Diabelli, Franz Schubert and Enrique Granados

Marcin Dylla is currently on a twenty-concert tour of North America which in addition to his performance in Cleveland includes his debut at Carnegie Hall. We spoke to Mr. Dylla by telephone and talked about what first attracted him to the guitar and why he thinks the instrument is experiencing a renaissance with audiences around the world. We began by asking him about his program. [Read more…]

Review: Classical Guitarist Gideon Whitehead at Happy Days Lodge (March 17)

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by Daniel Hathaway

Gideon WhiteheadA classical guitar concert of mostly Russian music held on St. Patrick’s Day in a rustic lodge in a national park —with stuffed bison heads staring down at you! Disconnects sometimes make for really successful concerts, as they did last Sunday when guitarist Gideon Whitehead performed at Happy Days Lodge in Cuyahoga Valley National Park under the joint auspices of Music by Nature and the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society.

Whitehead, a Michigander who studied at CIM and is now pursuing an artist diploma at the Curtis Institute with Jason Vieux and David Starobin, appeared as part of CCGS’s Local Artists and Rising Stars Series.

Each half of his cleverly-constructed program began with a suite (Sylvius Leopold Weiss’s real baroque Partita in g and Paul Lansky’s witty modern knock-off, Semi-Suite), proceeded to an evocative set of variations, Sergei Rudnev’s on The Old Lime Tree, or a narrative work, Nikita Koshkin’s Usher Waltz, and ended with a tone poem, Grigori Korchmar’s White Nights Serenade and Agustin Barrios Mangoré’s La Catedral. [Read more…]

Preview: Music by Nature & Cleveland Classical Guitar Society join to present Gideon Whitehead at Happy Days Lodge

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by Mike Telin

WHITEHEAD-GideonOn Sunday, March 17 at 3:00 pm, classical guitarist Gideon Whitehead returns to Northeast Ohio for a performance at the Happy Days Lodge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Mr. Whitehead’s performance is part of The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s Local Artists and Rising Stars Series and is presented in conjunction with Music by Nature. The program features works by Weiss, Rudnev, Korchmar, Lansky, Koshkin and Barrios Mangoré.

Gideon Whitehead began playing the guitar at age 14 in his native Michigan. Mr. Whitehead has had much success at competitions including top prizes at the 2011 James Stroud Guitar Competition and at the 2010 and 2011 University of Louisville International Guitar Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in guitar performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and is currently pursuing and Artist Diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music.

We reached Gideon Whitehead by telephone in Philadelphia. [Read more…]

Preview: Music by Nature & Cleveland Classical Guitar Society join to present Gideon Whitehead at Happy Days Lodge

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by Mike Telin

 

On SundayWHITEHEAD-Gideon, March 17 at 3:00 pm, classical guitarist Gideon Whitehead returns to Northeast Ohio for a performance at the Happy Days Lodge in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Mr. Whitehead’s performance is part of The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s Local Artists and Rising Stars Series and is presented in conjunction with Music by Nature. The program features works by Weiss, Rudnev, Korchmar, Lansky, Koshkin and Barrios Mangoré.

 

Gideon Whitehead began playing the guitar at age 14 in his native Michigan. Mr. Whitehead has had much success at competitions including top prizes at the 2011 James Stroud Guitar Competition and at the 2010 and 2011 University of Louisville International Guitar Competition. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in guitar performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and is currently pursuing and Artist Diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music. [Read more…]

Denis Azabagić opens Classical Guitar Society’s Masters Series on October 1

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by Mike Telin

AZABAGIC-Denis2Bosnian-born guitarist Denis Azabagić has won first prize in virtually every classical guitar competition in the world. He opens the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s Masters Series with a ticketed concert on Saturday, October 1 at 7:30 at First Unitarian Church of Cleveland in Shaker Heights (see the Calendar Listings for details), and will give a free master class there on Sunday at 1 pm. We reached him by telephone in Chicago, where he is on the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at the Roosevelt University.

Mike Telin: How are things going in Chicago?

Denis Azabagić: Busy! I am head of the department now and there is a lot of teaching.

MT: A friend of mine referred to you as the King of Competitions because you have been awarded 24 prizes. How did winning these prizes help to establish your professional career?

DA: I was fortunate to be successful at the competitions, and it was also a way for me to make money. [Read more…]

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