Philip Hii Concert and Master Class

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Concert: February 3, 2006
Master Class: February 4, 2006

GSP recording Artist Philip Hii has performed extensively in the United States, Mexico, Germany, and New Zealand. His Bach CD has received rave reviews from critics in Germany, England, Japan and the US. It was chosen as one of Guitar Player Magazine’s picks of the month which says, “His passionate rubato and penetrating tone contribute to a thrilling performance.” The Washington Post calls the CD “exciting” and “dazzling.” and Acoustic Guitar Magazine calls him “the Heifetz of the classical guitar.”

A native of Malaysia, Philip Hii started playing the guitar at age ten. After winning a national competition in Malaysia, he left for New Zealand to study law. Hii won the New Zealand National Cup and appeared on national television. He furthered his studies in England and Germany before coming to the United States in 1983. Philip holds a B. Mus degree from Victoria University of Wellington as well as a jazz arranging diploma from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas. Additional studies include a year of composition studies with Guenther Becker at the Robert Schumann Institut in Duesseldorf, Germany in the early eighties.

Philip Hii has published numerous articles in Soundboard, Guitar International, Gitarre und Laute, and American String Teacher and is a former Guitar Forum Editor for the AST. Six of his Bach transcriptions have been published by Guitar Solo Publications. His most recent CD, Stream of Consciousness, is a compilation of originals arranged for solo guitar and synthesizers.

“Nobody plays the guitar like Philip Hii; he’s a Heifetz of the classical guitar. Hii’s Allegro is the best I’ve ever heard and the Toccata and Fugue is downright scary. This is must listening for classical guitar buffs who want to blow a few fuses.”

-Diane Gordon Acoustic Guitar Review

“With impeccable technique and outstanding interpretative gifts, Hii succeeds in making these pieces – originally for violin or organ – sound joyfully at home on nylon-string guitar. His passionate rubato and penetrating tone contribute to a thrilling performance that adds a new dimension to the Bach repertoire.”

-James Rotondi Guitar Player Review

“Philip Hii’s approach is not only spirited and gutsy, but is scholarly…one that I recommend to all who want guitar music to rise above the salon and to express a little more than intimate charm…Philip Hii joins the daring band of prospectors who have mined new gold.”

-Colin Cooper Classical Guitar Magazine

James Edwards Concert and Masterclass

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November 18, 2005
Master Class: November 19, 2005

Classical guitarist James Edwards has been a performer, teacher, and recording artist for over 25 years. James’ performance credits include: the 1999 and 2005 La Guitarra California Festival, soloist with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra, the Santa Barbara Arts Festival, Richard Schneiders’ Lost Mountain Guitar Festival and many collaborations with theatre and dance companies. Mr. Edwards’ many compact disc recordings feature his arrangements of American, Spanish, and European classics. Mel Bay Publications has published many of these in several books currently available. In addition to the traditional classical guitar repertoire, James performs his own vibrant arrangements of Handel, Mozart, Puccini, Debussy, Brahms, and many other works by the great composers. He also has created a unique American repertoire with treatments of well known works by Gershwin, Rodgers, Joplin, etc., along with his original compositions; blending his classical background with his earlier influences of folk and jazz.

“A wide-ranging choice of repertoire performed with taste and flair. All together a fine program.”

-Frederick Noad

“Very entertaining selections, imaginatively arranged, and charmingly played…
sparkling new arrangements of cherished masterpieces.”

-Ronald Fernandez

“How well you played and how well you made my guitar sound.”

-Richard Schneider, luthier

Jason Vieaux in Concert and Masterclass

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Concert: Friday, March 11, 2005
Masterclass: Saturday, March 12, 2005

Click here to visit Mr. Vieaux’s Website

Jason Vieaux is one of the most highly acclaimed and sought after guitarists of his generation. His virtuosity, expressive music-making and exciting concert programs continue to earn him an active schedule of solo, chamber and concerto appearances around the US and abroad. Recent highlights include a tour of Taiwan and Japan, a return engagement with the Auckland Philharmonia, and performances at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Spivey Hall in Atlanta and New York’s Merkin Hall. Traveling across North America, Jason Vieaux’s 2004-05 season includes return engagements with the Philadelphia Chamber Music Series and Santa Fe Symphony, as well as a series of solo recitals in Toronto, Miami, Kansas City, Cleveland, Columbus, Richmond, Norfolk, Buffalo and the Grand Teton Music Festival.

Jason Vieaux has seven recordings to his credit and many more to come with his multi-record deal with Azica Records. Vieaux’s CDs have attracted worldwide critical acclaim in newspapers and magazines around the world. His latest Azica release, “Sevilla: The Music of Isaac Albeniz,” reached #2 on the Amazon.com Classical Bestseller List last summer, and was rated one of the Top Ten Classical CDs of 2003 by The Philadelphia Inquirer and Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. Vieaux’s Azica Records disc of Manuel Ponce sonatas was described by American Record Guide as “…a stunning reading…beautifully restrained…a marvelous release.” Vieaux recorded his first CD when he was just 19; two years later this was followed by Laureate Series Guitar Recital on Naxos, which went on to sell over 30,000 copies internationally. An active chamber player, Mr. Vieaux also has two duo CDs with flutist Gary Schocker, including the October 2004 release “Arioso,” featuring music of Bach, Vivaldi and LeClair.

Mr. Vieaux’s recordings and live performances are broadcast nationally on the radio and worldwide via the Internet. Since NPR’s “Performance Today” program selected him as a 2002 Young Artist-in-Residence, Vieaux has been regularly aired on the top-rated show. He has also appeared on other NPR programs across the country, including “All Things Considered” and “Morning Edition”.

Jason Vieaux began guitar studies at age eight in Buffalo, New York. He first gained international recognition in 1992 when he became the youngest First Prize winner in the history of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Competition. This culminated with a 53-city solo tour throughout the U.S. with numerous return invitations. He is a Naumburg International Guitar Competition prizewinner and a recipient of The Cleveland Institute of Music’s Alumni Achievement Award. In 1995, Mr. Vieaux was honored as an Artistic Ambassador of the United States to Southeast Asia, concertizing in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Burma). He has also toured Spain, France, Mexico, Canada and New Zealand.

Mr. Vieaux is a regularly featured guest artist with orchestras across the United States. He has performed concertos with the Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Pops, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Auckland Philharmonia, the Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra and Orchestra 2001. He has worked with conductors Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Luis Biava, Jahja Ling, Rossen Milanov, Gareth Morrell, Steven Smith and Carl Topilow. As a passionate advocate of new music, Vieaux has premièred works by José Luis Merlin, Eric Sessler, Arthur Hernandez and Fazil Say, and has performed concertos by Allen Krantz, Augusta Read-Thomas and John Corigliano.

Aside from his duties as a performer, Mr. Vieaux is highly dedicated to the art of teaching. He currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio, where he is Head of the Cleveland Institute of Music Guitar Department, making him the youngest Department Head to serve at the prestigious conservatory. He has also been affiliated with Philadelphia-based Astral Artistic Services since 1996.