by Kevin McLaughlin
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series made an auspicious start to 2023 with a recital by Cuban-born guitarist René Izquierdo on January 28. In a program of Cuban and Spanish composers, Izquierdo — who ranks among his country’s great exponents of classical guitar — did not disappoint the near-capacity audience at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights.
The guitarist displayed technical mastery, warmth of spirit, and a prodigious memory throughout the evening. Though a 90-minute performance featuring music by 13 different composers may be old hat to guitar recitalists, the assuredness with which Izquierdo accomplished this was a cause for wonder. In a moment of candor toward the end, he acknowledged the challenge of “having to keep five different programs in his head” on his current tour.
From the time that Cuban-born guitarist René Izquierdo heard his first live concert as a child, he knew that he wanted to make “connecting with people through music” his life’s work. On Saturday, January 28 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Hts., the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society International Series will present René Izquierdo in a program that highlights his Cuban and Spanish heritage. Tickets are available
“Songs of Love & Despair is maybe a bit of a misnomer in that it’s much more about love than despair,” said Rupert Boyd regarding his musical duo’s latest album. The release from Boyd Meets Girl answered the all-encompassing.question of “What made us feel better?” — which cellist Laura Metcalf and guitarist Rupert Boyd were frequently mindful of throughout the creation of their pandemic project.
By the time she was a teenager, Bokyung Byun had lived in South Korea, China, and the United States — giving her an international perspective, but also complicating her sense of belonging. And as many musicians do, she grappled with her feelings through music. For her visit to the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society on October 8, Byun brought a program designed around her identity, both as a performer and as a person.
IN THIS EDITION:
Guitarist Berta Rojas’ in-person appearance at the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, a two-year journey which finally came to fruition on April 2, has not been without some major setbacks. First before her travels, when the pandemic forced Rojas to cancel her trip in March 2020, and second — and most heartbreaking — after her arrival, when her beloved guitar was stolen on April 1st.
Although Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas was set to make her Cleveland debut on March 14, 2020, the coronavirus had other plans.
Although they wouldn’t meet for some time, Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett long shared a musical trajectory.
Spanish-born Andrea González Caballero, who in 2016 became the youngest guitarist to receive first prize in the Alhambra International Guitar Competition in Valencia, has chosen an all-Spanish program for her Cleveland debut this weekend.
Like many of us, guitarist Celil Refik Kaya had a lot of time on his hands over the past eighteen months, and he used the opportunity to lean into another of his musical passions — composing. In his second-ever visit to the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society, Kaya brought the product of this extra time with him — the newly-composed Sketches, based on four works of visual art created by his father.