by Mike Telin
In June of 2014, the dynamic duo of Jason Vieaux (guitar) and Julien Labro (bandoneón, accordion, and accordina) gave a spectacular closing concert of that year’s Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. For those of us who were lucky enough to be in attendance, we can now relive that evening via Vieaux’s and Labro’s latest studio recording, Infusion, released on Azica Records on October 28, 2016. If you were not there, buy this album ASAP. It’s a must-have. [Read more…]
by Jeremy Reynolds
Yolanda Kondonassis, harp, Gil Shaham, violin, Orli Shaham, piano, Jason Vieaux, guitar, and the Oberlin Orchestra (Oberlin Music).
In a newly released all-Ginastera album, a single element unifies four distinct compositions, four different instrumental groupings, and four different decades of Ginastera’s creative output: the gaucho chord. Gauchos are Argentine cultural figures, South American cowboys renowned for their skill with a guitar. Their namesake chord is a nontraditional harmonic construction: it comprises only perfect fourths instead of major and minor thirds, just like a strummed gaucho guitar. [Read more…]
Gabrieli: National Brass Ensemble (Oberlin Music/50 Oak Music).
“No composer is more iconic of Venice’s fabled Renaissance splendor than Giovanni Gabrieli,” writes Steven Plank, Andrew E. Meldrum Professor of Musicology at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, in his informative liner notes that accompany the National Brass Ensemble’s stunningly beautiful CD entitled Gabrieli. A sonic feast, the recording transports listeners back in time to the Venetian Basilica of St. Mark’s.
Performed by members of the orchestras of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, the CD pays homage to the famous 1968 Gabrieli recording featuring players from the orchestras of Chicago, Cleveland, and Philadelphia. The players for this recording were brought together by Michael Sachs, principal trumpet of The Cleveland Orchestra. The story of the project’s genesis is well-documented in the liner notes. [Read more…]
by Timothy Robson
BlueWater Chamber Orchestra occupies a unique place in the current musical scene in Cleveland: an orchestra committed to imaginative programming, including unusual works by famous composers as well as new works by emerging composers. Saturday evening’s program, featuring Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux and conducted by artistic director Carlton R. Woods, was no exception in its exploration of music of Hispanic heritage. [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
Since its founding in 2010, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra has quickly immersed itself into the cultural fabric of the community. The orchestra’s neighborhood-based programs bring classical music directly to listeners’ doors. One such program is BWCO’s residency at St. Ignatius High School — a partnership which unites students with professional musicians.
On Saturday, September 12 at 7:30 pm in the Breen Center for the Performing Arts, BlueWater Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Carlton Woods, will present a Spanish/Latin-inspired concert which will include the music of de Falla, Revueltas, and Márquez. The concert will also feature Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. The concert will last approximately 70 minutes and will be performed without intermission.
by ClevelandClassical Staff
The number of recitals during the fifteenth edition of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival at the Cleveland Institute of Music increased to six. ClevelandClassical correspondents attended the recitals by Jason Vieaux and Yolanda Kondonassis, Ricardo Gallén, Paul Galbraith, and Antonis Hatzinikolaou, all of which attracted large, enthusiastic audiences to Mixon Hall between May 28 and May 31. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
On their debut recording Together, celebrated harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and Grammy Award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux take listeners on a beautiful sonic journey that will mesmerizes from the first note to the last. On Thursday, May 28 at 8:00 pm in Mixon Hall at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Kondonassis and Vieaux will perform all of the music from the album in a recital presented as a part of the 2015 Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. The program will also include Antônio Carlos Jobim’s A Felicidade (arranged for solo guitar) and Carlos Salzedo’s Chanson dans la nuit, for solo harp. CIM student performances will take place in the Pogue Lobby from 7:00 to 7:45 pm. [Read more…]
by Mike Telin
Next week marks the fifteenth installment of the Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival. Beginning at 10:00 am on Thursday, May 28 and continuing through Sunday evening, May 31 at the Cleveland Institute of Music, CICGF will present recitals and master classes by Antonis Hatzinikolaou (Greece); Nigel North, lute (England); Jason Vieaux and harpist Yolanda Kondonassis (USA); Paul Galbraith (Scotland); Ricardo Gallen (Spain); Duo Melis (Susana Prieto, Spain, and Alexis Muzurakis, Greece); and Pavel Steidl (Czech Republic). See our concert listings page for days and times.
Mike Telin
This past Sunday, guitarist Jason Vieaux became a first-time Grammy Award winner in the “Best Classical Solo Performance” category for his Azica Records CD, Play. On Saturday, February 14, Vieaux will be the featured soloist in Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Akron Symphony under the direction of Christopher Wilkins.
The program also includes Mozart’s Overture to The Marriage of Figaro and Oboe Concerto with ASO principal oboist Terry Orcutt as soloist, as well as Elgar’s Serenade for Strings and de Falla’s El amor brujo. The concert begins at 8:00 pm in the University of Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall.
Composed in 1939, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez is without a doubt the composer’s best-known work. “It is a popular piece and deservedly so,” Vieaux said during a recent telephone conversation. “The second movement is a masterpiece. As a guitarist, I am a little biased, but I think it’s so cool how the solo line brings the entire concerto to a climax at the end of the second movement cadenza. Rodrigo understood the guitar well enough to make sure it was at its very loudest during those ten-note flourishes.” [Read more…]