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Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: David Russell (Apr. 22)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

For the grand finale to this season’s International Series, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society welcomed David Russell in a much-anticipated appearance at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. With easygoing charm and astonishing skill, Russell delighted and flabbergasted the capacity crowd on Saturday night, April 22 in a program of familiar and unfamiliar works.

In his opening remarks, Guitar Society executive director Erik Mann announced that this would be the last CCGS concert to take place at Plymouth Church, with the series moving to the Maltz Performing Arts Center next season. The intimacy of Plymouth will be missed, but the recently refurbished Maltz will give the series an upgrade in prestige.

[Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Brasil Guitar Duo (Mar. 11)

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by Kevin McLaughlin

On Saturday evening, March 11 at Plymouth Church, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society welcomed João Luiz and Douglas Lora, the Brasil Guitar Duo, after a four-year absence from the series.

As is customary for CCGS concerts, the evening began with a student performer. Daziel Pérez Pagán, 17, performed two short pieces. The first, written by Pagán himself when he was sixteen, was a lovely reflection called Rewoken. The second, River Flows in You, a work originally for piano by the Korean composer Yiruma and transcribed by Pagán, was beautifully played.

The Brasil Guitar Duo opened their recital with Piazzolla’s lively and sweet tango, Zita, named for the wife of Aníbal Troilo, the composer’s mentor and friend. Immediately the guitarists demonstrated warmth and technical control, qualities that remained throughout the evening.

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Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: René Izquierdo at Plymouth (Jan. 28)

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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.

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Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: René Izquierdo reconnects with his roots

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by Mike Telin

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 online.

Speaking by phone from his home in Milwaukee, he began by telling me about his inspiration for his program.

René Izquierdo: I am of Cuban origin but also second generation Spanish. I’ve been living in the United States for 27 years and I’m feeling like I am losing some of my roots. So this program is my attempt to go back and revisit them. The first part is all Cuban music and the second part is all Spanish.

On the Cuban side I have some more modern composers who are guitarists. Then some piano transcriptions from the 19th century — the Nationalistic period. But I did try to pick some lesser known Cuban repertoire. [Read more…]

Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: Boyd & Metcalf in Boyd Meets Girl 

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by Emmy Hensley

“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.

Many of the pieces featured on the album, ranging from Bach to Beyoncé, will be performed on Saturday, November 12 at 7:30 pm at Cuyahoga Community College’s Metro Campus. The concert is part of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society’s International Series. [Read more…]

Bokyung Byun: striking a balance (Oct. 8)

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by Stephanie Manning

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.

As the guitarist told the audience at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, her move to New York at age 16 — to study at Juilliard — inspired her love of music from the Americas, with its flexibility and diversity of style.

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DIARY: Thursday, June 9, 2022

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by Jarrett Hoffman

IN THIS EDITION:

•Chamber music at the Aronson Festival, and three opening nights in opera and contemporary music

•Berta Rojas’ guitar is recovered, and the Guitar Society schedules a Community Celebration

•Almanac: Carl Nielsen and the personalities of the Copenhagen Wind Quintet

[Read more…]

Berta Rojas admirably resilient in recital with Cleveland Classical Guitar Society (Apr. 2)

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by Stephanie Manning

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.

But despite her grief, the Paraguayan guitarist determinedly continued with her recital as scheduled. Playing on an instrument she borrowed from Colin Davin, Rojas captivated audience members at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights with a program that honored two women pioneers of classical guitar: Ida Presti and María Luisa Anido.

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Berta Rojas to make long-awaited Cleveland debut for Guitar Society

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by Mike Telin

Although Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas was set to make her Cleveland debut on March 14, 2020, the coronavirus had other plans.

In August of that year, Rojas gave a free, pre-recorded online concert for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society: a program entirely devoted to the music of fellow Paraguayan Agustín Barrios Mangoré.

Now, after a two-year wait, Berta Rojas will make her in-person Cleveland debut on Saturday, April 2 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights. The program celebrates Argentine guitarist-composer Maria Luisa Anido and French guitarist-composer Ida Presti, both of whom were pioneering virtuosos during a time when concert stages were dominated by men. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

Duo Noire to make Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Debut

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by Mike Telin

Although they wouldn’t meet for some time, Thomas Flippin and Christopher Mallett long shared a musical trajectory.

They both grew up in Southern California and were steeped in their local punk rock scenes, playing in bands during high school. They both found their way to the classical guitar in their late teens. They both did their undergraduate studies in the Midwest — Flippin at the University of Chicago and Mallett at Oberlin Conservatory — and they both went on to study at Yale University, becoming the first two African American guitarists to be admitted into the program. Yale was also where they formed Duo Noire, taking the name of the French term for both “black” and “quarter note.”

On Saturday, March 5 at 7:30 pm at Plymouth Church, the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society will present Duo Noire in a program that explores the many ways music expresses the essence of place. Tickets are available online. [Read more…]

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