Classical Guitar » Classical Guitar News

The Texas Guitar Quartet Needs Your Help

Christopher Davis — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:52:51 +0000

A while back classical guitarist Giacomo Fiore asked for help. He did it with a Kickstarter campaign that raised several thousand dollars and helped him cover the licensing costs for the music he recorded.

The Texas Guitar Quartet is doing the same. They’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising funds for their debut album.

The TGQ is made of Alejandro Montiel, Isaac Bustos, Joe Williams, and Jonathan Dotson. All of them are great players, and active contributors to the greater guitar community.

So click here help the TGQ out if you can!

A bit more about Kickstarter

So I’m just supposed to give my money to a group?

Well, not exactly. Kickstarter is a lot like doing pre-sales. For instance, if you give the TGQ 10 dollars, you’ll receive a copy of their album if it gets recorded. If you donate $3,000, the quartet will travel anywhere in the state of Texas and play a concert for you.

Moreover, you only “donate” the money if the campaign meets its goal. If the TGQ doesn’t raise $4,000, none of the pledged money will get sent to them and you won’t be charged.

Kickstarter is an intermediary that takes care of the technical details (secure payments though amazon, tracking gift givers, etc) allowing independing artists to connect with fans to “crowdfund” their endeavors. Of course, you still get something out of it! When I “donated” to Giacomo’s campaign, I got a copy of his excellent CD and a recipe for some great Italian food.

I suspect you’ll be seeing more kickstarter campaigns for guitarists in the future. At least I hope so: more great musicians can get exposure without the marketing budget of Milos Karadaglic.

The Texas Guitar Quartet Needs Your Help from Classical Guitar

2011 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition Winners

Christopher Davis — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 05:05:54 +0000

The Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition was held September 26 – October 1, 2011.

First Prize: Cecilio Perera (Mexico)
Second Prize: Kyu-hee Park (South Korea)
Third Prize: Jonathan Bolivar (Venezuela)

Cecilio Perera

Watch Winner Cecilio Perera Play

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2011 Michele Pittaluga Guitar Competition Winners from Classical Guitar

2011 Francisco Tarrega Classical Guitar Competition Winners

Christopher Davis — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 04:55:57 +0000

The 2011 edition of the Guitar Competition Francisco Tárrega was held August 29 – September 2, 2011.

First Prize: Srdjan Bulat (Croatia)
Second Prize: Andras Csáki (Hungary)
Other Finalists: Mircea Stefan Gogoncea (Romania) & Marko Topchii (Ukraine)

Watch Winner Srdjan Bulat Play

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2011 Francisco Tarrega Classical Guitar Competition Winners from Classical Guitar

Free Guitar Method from Classical Guitar Canada

Christopher Davis — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:00:47 +0000

A while by ClassicalGuitar.org featured a review of the Guitar Victoria Method, a book by fellow classical guitar blogger Bradford Werner of Classical Guitar Canada.

Bradford has decided to give the PDF version of this book away for free, and you can get it here. All that’s required is a name and email.

Free Guitar Method from Classical Guitar Canada from Classical Guitar

Austin Pictures: The Biggest Guitar Concert (Ever?)

Christopher Davis — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 23:57:58 +0000

Austin Pictures is a huge, multimedia concert which includes one string quartet, one guitar virtuoso, a new piece of music, 100+ young guitarists, and artwork by high-school artists (including a video about their work). It all happens October 1, 2011

The whole concert is put on by the Austin Classical Guitar Society, and opens with a new work by Joseph Williams II for string quartet and 100+ person guitar orchestra. The entire conglomeration will be under the baton of Peter Bay, the conductor of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. Here’s Joseph talking about his piece.

The concert closes with Jorge Caballero performing Pictures at an Exhibition. This is where the high school artists come in.: they were commissioned to create artwork representing each movement.

Sandwiched in the middle is Caballero performing several pieces with the Miro String Quartet.

If you’re interested, and in the Austin, TX area, tickets are still available.

Austin Pictures: The Biggest Guitar Concert (Ever?) from Classical Guitar

New CD from Sharon Isbin (and Steve Vai?)

Christopher Davis — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:52:10 +0000

Sharon Isbin released a new CD on August 30, 2011 titled Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions. As the title implies, it’s not just Sharon Isbin. She reached outside the classical guitar realm to pull in the likes of Steve Vai, Nancy Wilson (Heart), Stanley Jordan and others.

The video below includes a bit of Steven Vai and Isbin playing together. Based on that bit, I’d say that this definitely is not your typical classical guitar album.

New CD from Sharon Isbin (and Steve Vai?) from Classical Guitar

Guitar Luminary Ron Purcell Has Passed Away

Christopher Davis — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:16:00 +0000

Dr. Ron Purcell may not be a name young guitarists are familiar with, but everyone is familiar with his work. Most notably, Purcell was one of the folks responsible for the Guitar Foundation of America’s inception and he founded the guitar department at California State University Northridge. Purcell was also the director of the International Guitar Research Archive, wrote two books, regularly contributed to Soundboard and other guitar publications, and published numerous performance editions.

Steve Thachuk, one of Purcell’s personal friends, wrote a memorial piece about him on his blog.

Update: The GFA has a piece on Dr. Purcelle that includes dates/times for services.

Guitar Luminary Ron Purcell Has Passed Away from Classical Guitar

Tantalus Quartet Welcomes a New Member

Christopher Davis — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:02:54 +0000

The Tantalus Quartet just recently added a new member to their line up: guitarist Adam Foster. The full press release is below.

The Tantalus Quartet is thrilled to welcome Canadian guitarist Adam Foster as the newest member of Tantalus Quartet. Adam’s playing combines elegance and sensitivity as a result of study with guitar luminaries Alex Dunn, Ricardo Cobo, and Bruce Holzman. Adam specializes in chamber music, and is a passionate champion of music by living composers. He recently performed the American premiere of Stephen Dodgson’s Quintet for Guitar and Strings, and is an authority on the music of Hans Haug. Adam’s performing interests also extend to 8-course Renaissance Lute, French Theorbo, and Tenor Viol da Gamba.

Upcoming engagements for the Tantalus Quartet include the 2012 Iserlohn Guitar Symposium in Germany, 14th International Festival “Silesian Guitar Autumn” in Poland, a six-city tour of Panama, as well as performances throughout North America.

Tantalus Quartet is Kristian Anderson, Matthew Cochran, Adam Foster, and Stephen Mattingly.

Tantalus Quartet Welcomes a New Member from Classical Guitar

2011 Ligita Competition Winners

Christopher Davis — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:19:32 +0000

The The Liechtensteiner Gitarrentage was held July 2-9, 2011 in Liechtenstein. Each round was, for the most part, free choice. During the second, however, competitors had to include one piece by Bach; during the final round, a piece by Regondi was required. The first prize winner received a 5,000 Euro prize, a concert guitar, several concert invitations, and several other items. Third prize was 1,000 Euro prize, strings, and a sheet music voucher.

The Winners

First Prize: Marko Topchii (Ukraine)
Second Prize: Not awarded
Third Prize: Samuel Toro Pérez (Austria)

Watch Winner Marko Topchii Play

2011 Ligita Competition Winners from Classical Guitar

2011 Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition Winners

Christopher Davis — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 01:21:01 +0000

The Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition was held July 14-17, 2011 in Olympic Valley, California. Each of the three rounds of the competition was free choice with a slight variation: each subsequent round had to include a piece not played during the previous round(s). The grand prize was $1,000USD.

The Winners

First Prize: Edel Munoz
Second Prize: Paul Psarras
Third Prize: Matthew Fish
Fourth Prize: Ramon Fermin

Matanya Ophee & Winner Edel Munoz

Watch Winner Edel Munoz Play

2011 Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition Winners from Classical Guitar