David Russell In Concert

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Presented by Jefferson Public Radio and Jefferson Classical Guitar Society

WHERE:
Ashland High School
Mountain Avenue Theatre
201 S. Mountain Ave.
Ashland, Oregon

WHEN:
Saturday, April 26, 2008, 8:00 PM

CONTACT:
541-552-9515

ADMISSION:
$25.00 General,
$5.00 SOU Students,
Children under 12 free

ADVANCE TICKET SALES:
CD or Not CD
343 East Main St.
Ashland, OR
Central Art Supply
101 N. Central Ave.
Medford, OR

For tickets on-line, go to
Jefferson Public Radio
and click on the link to
David Russell Concert

MASTERCLASS:
Sunday, April 27 10:00 am

For a full color printable, frameable flyer, click here. [I cannot recover this]

DAVID RUSSELL
CLASSICAL GUITARIST

GRAMMY award winner in 2005 for his CD AIRE LATINO, in the category of best instrumental soloist in classical music.

Classical guitarist David Russell is world renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry, having earned the highest praise from audiences and critics alike. In recognition of his great talent and his international career, he was named a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997.

In May 2003 he was bestowed the great honor of being made “adopted son” of Es Migjorn, the town in Minorca where he grew up. Recently the town named a street after him, “Avinguda David Russell”, in recognition for his musical career.

In November 2003 he was given the Medal of Honor of the Conservatory of the Balearics.

After winning the grammy award, the town of Nigrán in Spain where he resides, gave him the silver medal of the town in an emotional ceremony.

During his studies at the Royal Academy, Mr. Russell won twice the Julian Bream Guitar Prize. Later he won numerous international competitions, including the Andrés Segovia Competition , the José Ramírez Competition and Spain’s prestigious Francisco Tárrega Competition .

David Russell spends his time touring the world, appearing regularly at prestigious halls in main cities, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto or Rome. Concert-goers everywhere are in awe of Mr. Russell’s musical genius and inspired by his captivating stage presence. His love of his craft resonates through his flawless and seemingly effortless performance. The attention to detail and provocative lyrical phrasing suggest an innate understanding of what each individual composer was working to achieve, bringing to each piece a sense of adventure.

This year he received a homage from the music conservatory of Vigo, culminating with the opening of the new Auditorium, to which they gave the name “Auditorio David Russell”.

Since 1995 David Russell has an exclusive recording contract with Telarc International, with whom he has recorded eleven CDs up to now, among them Aire Latino, which received a grammy this year.

The New York Times wrote about his performance: “… Mr. Russell made his mastery evident without ever deviating from an approach that places musical values above mere display. It was apparent to the audience throughout the recital that Mr. Russell possesses a talent of extraordinary dimension”.

Upon hearing play in London, Andrés Segovia wrote: “My congratulations on your musicality and guitaristic technique”.

Visit Mr. Russell’s website at: www.DavidRussellGuitar.com
Visit Jefferson Public Radio’s website at: www.ijpr.org/

Rave Reviews from Around the World:

“Mr. Russell made his mastery evident without ever deviating from an approach that placed musical values above mere display. It was apparent to the audience throughout the recital that Mr. Russell possesses a talent of extraordinary dimension.”
····· The New York Times

“He played each work with complete assurance as he gradually divulged a musical imagination that stretched far beyond the limitations of the six strings.”
····· The Washington Post

SUPREME GUITARIST
I have heard in concert Andrés Segovia, Yepes… and all the best guitarists of the 20th century. None of those concerts were like the one David Russell offered in the Teatro Jovellanos for the Philharmonic Society. Russell, like good wines, gets better with the time, becomes stronger and more perfect. Before an enthusiastic audience, he offered a sublime recital.
Russell is the indisputable maestro of the classical guitar, the synthesis of Segovia’s school with the best English school of Julian Bream, enriched with an exceptional sense of colour and musicality. He is friendly both in his manner and in his touch. With naturalness, almost simplicity, but with an absolute knowledge of the guitar, he displayed a wonderful programme.
A marvelous recital on the guitar of a charming performer, David Russell.
Ramón Avelló.
El Comercio (Gijón)

“Russell commands practically all means of expression possible on the guitar but he handles it with an extraordinary discipline only at the service of the tone and interpretation. He belongs to the greatest in the art of guitar.”
····· Bonner Rundsschau (Germany)

“David Russell’s extremely flexible and clear playing sounded so smooth and distinguished that he won over the audience instantly. He showed his ability and the audience held its breath.. .there existed no doubt whatsoever; here excelled a real master on the guitar.”
····· Eindhovens Dagblad (Holland)

“His Bach Chaconne was about the most moving and impressive performance I have ever heard on any instrument. By the end I felt I would rather hear Mr. Russell play this piece than very nearly any violinist. This was a recital to remember. I hope we hear Mr. Russell again and soon.”
····· The Irish Times

“Russell is perhaps the most gifted guitarist on the international scene. He is an artist of formidable technical accomplishment and wonderfully sophisticated musicianship. He drew forth spellbindingly evocative playing and a luscious singing tone.. He captured the seductive, infectious rhythms with a breathtaking amalgam of delicacy and sweep.”
····· The Atlanta Constitution

“Russell makes no compromises. His musical taste is impeccable; his rhythmic security allows him to create tension by purely musical means, always at the service of the composer’s imagination… He also has a keen ear that prompts him to layer the sounds he draws from his instrument in a highly individual fashion. He successfully keeps at least three distinct sound qualities moving at the same time, convincing a casual listener that there must be several performers on the stage at the same time.. He astonished his listeners with the sheer virtuosity of his playing, the incredible fluency that has him moving his fingers about with an ease that is almost insulting.”
····· The Ottawa Citizen

“If an algebraic equation were to establish the difference between a good interpreter and a magnificent performer, what happened last Friday at Russell’s concert could be solved with a formula. The audience, suspended between astonishment and ovations for more than two hours in front of an infinite sonorous universe, composed of souls vibrating like multiple halos of light. And he, the Lord of the guitar, weaving from the stage, for the other four hundred gathered, a tribute to harmony and perfection.
····· Il Gazzettino di Treviso (Italy)

Adam del Monte In Concert

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Presented by JCGS

WHERE:
SOU Music Building
Recital Hall
Mountain Avenue
Ashland, Oregon

WHEN:
Friday, January 11, 2008, 8:00 PM

CONTACT:
541-552-9515

ADMISSION:
$20.00 General,
$15.00 Seniors,
$5.00 Students,
Children under 12 free

“Adam del Monte defies physics with his expressive, romantic playing…”
–Guitar Player Magazine —

ADAM del MONTE:
First Prize Winner at the 1997 Stotsenberg International Classical Guitar Competition, Adam del Monte studied flamenco and classical guitar in Spain, Israel and England. Beginning with his father, flamenco artist Dino del Monte, he continued his training with such famed Gypsy performers as Pepe “Habichuela”, Paco Cortez,Nino Miguel and Gerardo Nunez.

His classical guitar teachers were Menashe Baquiche in Israel and Gordon Crosskey at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. He has also appeared as both a solo artist and group performer (with his wife, acclaimed flamenco dancer, Laila del Monte) in major venues such as LA’s Mark Taper Forum, the Wilshire theater, the Teatro Real and the Conde Duque in Madrid, Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada, Saint Francis Auditorium in Santa Fe, New Mexico, The International Guitar Festival in Israel, 1996 Guitar Foundation of America Competition in St Louis in 1996, La Jolla in 1997 and Charleston in 1999, the 500th anniversary of Columbus celebrations in Paris and in Madrid. Del Monte has also performed with flamenco singer Enrique Morente and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra as well as with Lole’ y Manuel.

Mr. del Monte was both influenced by and inspired the younger generation of flamenco performers who were beginning to depart from the previous virtual space of Spanish flamenco. He also set out in new directions, integrating years of traditional and leading­edge flamenco training as well as expanding his musicianship on the classical guitar. An eclectic awareness of jazz, world music and other contemporary forms led to new, creative renditions of flamenco repertoire.

He has been commissioned by the LA Guitar Quartet to compose a ‘progressive flamenco piece’ entitled ‘Cambio de Aire’. He has collaborated with Yusef Lateef and the Atlanta Symphony at the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, GA. His flamenco debut CD on the Spanish label Sonifolk (1998), entitled: “Viaje a Un Nuevo Mundo” (Journey to a New World) was most favorably reviewed by Spain’s most acclaimed flamenco critic Angel Alvarez Caballero as well as Miguel Mora of El Pais and Alfredo Grimaldos of El Mundo. Other discographies include: A Mel Bay Artist Video Series ­ A classical and flamenco recital and a GSP classical CD entitled “EZORDIO”.

In 1998, Adam performed in Spain on the TV program “Algo mas que Flamenco” with Lole Montoya and dancer Laila del Monte. He has recently composed a flamenco guitar concerto, “Ensueno Flamenco” for guitar, flamenco dance, voice and orchestra which he premiered in Boston with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in Jordan Hall, conducted by Gil Rose. He has also performed it with the Westshore Symphony Orchestra.

In 1999 he returned to Granada to perform in the oldest “Penia Flamenca” “La Plateria”, as well as a tour in Switzerland with singer, Curro Fernandez.

In February of 2000 he performed the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Los Angles Philharmonic Orchestra. He has performed at the Hollywood Bowl both as a soloist and as a Special Guest with the L.A. Philharmonic and he has performed at the prestigious Disney Hall in Los Angeles.
Adam is on the faculty of the University of Southern California’s Studio Jazz Guitar Department where he also teaches flamenco and coaches the World Guitar Ensemble.

In the Fall of 2002 del Monte founded the Flamenco Guitar Program at the University of Southern California’s prestigious Thorton School of Music. He has been passionately involved in bridging the gap between the classical and flamenco guitar repertoires.
As a composer, he’s also added film scoring to his vast resume. His most recent credit includes the dramatic short One Clean Move, directed by D.W. Brown and starring Gary Busey and Harry Hamlin and the film Soledad which won the First Prize at the Hollywood Film Festival Awards in 2000. Soledad has been aired on the Lifetime Cable Channel over 50 times.

Adam del Monte plays on flamenco and classical guitars by Francisco Manuel Diaz of Granada, Spain, and a guitar by Boaz Elkayam of Israel.
http://www.adamdelmonte.net/

Jose Luis Merlin In Concert

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Jose Luis Merlin

Jose Luis Merlin

Presented by JCGS

WHERE:
SOU Music Building
Recital Hall
Mountain Avenue
Ashland, Oregon

WHEN:
Saturday, November 3rd, 2007, 8:00 PM

CONTACT:
541-552-9515

ADMISSION:
$20.00 General,
$15.00 Seniors,
$5.00 Students,
Children under 12 free

“Classical guitar at its finest. When you sit quietly and listenyou feel and see the poetry of the Argentina landscape. Throughout his prolific career, Jose Luis Merlin has composed and interpreted songs related to his home and his people, reflecting the subtle mixture between the classical and the popular. Merlin gives us a classical music with strong folkloric roots, in which malambos, zambas, chacareras, carnavalitos, tangos, and joropos are found.”
–Victory Music review of Merlin CD, “Dreams of Argentina” —

Argentine guitarist/composer Jose Luis Merlin will perform a concert on Saturday, November 3rd, at 8pm, in the SOU Music Building Recital Hall, in Ashland. The Jefferson Classical Guitar Society sponsors the event, which is the first concert of the “2007-2008 JCGS Concert Series”. Mr. Merlin will present a master class on Sunday, November 4th at 2:00 pm in the SOU Music Building Choir Room.

Tickets are $20.00 general, $15.00 seniors, and $5.00 students. Children under 12 years of age are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased in advance at “CD or Not CD”, 343 E. Main St. in Ashland or at Central Arts Supply, 101 N. Central, in Medford. Tickets can also be purchased at the door. For more information, go to the JCGS website at www.JeffersonGuitar.org, or call 552-9515.

Jose Luis Merlin was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1952. He began playing the guitar at the age of five under the tutelage of Maestro Vincente Degese, continued with Maestro Abel Carlevaro, and was performing in Argentina by the time he was nine years old. He has been a concert artist, composer and guitar teacher since 1967, as well as a researcher and teacher of instrumental technique. Merlin has made more than twenty international tours, which include: Spain, Austria, USA (over 100 concerts), Canada, Cuba, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil and Uruguay.

Merlin has played as a soloist with the Symphonies of Rosario and San Juan (Argentina), and has performed chamber music with the following quartets: Buenos Aires, Sudamérica, Sudamericano, Musicámera, del Plata, and the Grupo Merlin. He is co-founder and first president of the Association Integración Guitarrística Argentina. He has published over ten recordings in the USA, Japan, Austria and Argentina.

As a composer he has given workshops on instrumental techniques, rhythmic folklore of Argentina, insights and analyses of South American composers, as well as lectures at universities in Texas, Southern California, Oregon and Michigan. He composed the music for Travesia (The Guitar, Witness to Five Centuries), an oratorio for recitative, singing voice, mezzosoprano and chamber orchestra (texts by José Tcherkasky). Merlin has composed works for solo guitar, guitar and violin, guitar and string quartet, piano and voice, etc.