by Jarrett Hoffman
There are still so many ongoing effects from the pandemic: physical, mental, economic, and most devastating of all, linguistic, specifically when it comes to the word “debut.”
In early 2021, Stephanie Jones was featured in the local music scene for the first time through a video — and a very popular one at that — recorded at her home in Munich and presented by the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society. Now, an event that also feels deserving of that word, she’ll finally be visiting Cleveland in person.
Perhaps great minds can gather and hash all this out. In the meantime, the more Stephanie Jones, the better — and on Sunday, September 17 at 3:00 pm, she will bring works by J.S. Bach, Richard Charlton, Ross Edwards, Jakob Schmidt, Quique Sinesi, Rostislav Golubov, Astor Piazzolla, and Antônio Carlos Jobim to the Maltz Performing Arts Center in a presentation by CCGS. See the full program here, and get tickets here.
I sat down with the Australian-born guitarist on Zoom and began by catching up on some life updates: since we last spoke, she has finished her master’s degree and Konzertexamen at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, and is now teaching at the University of Augsburg — in addition to teaching through her Patreon, where her 25-member online studio is currently maxed out.
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.
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.
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.