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.

Martha Masters in Concert and Masterclass

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Concert: Friday, January 14, 2005
Masterclass: Saturday, January 15, 2005

Click here to visit Ms. Masters Website

The Jefferson Classical Guitar Society is proud to present the critically acclaimed international concert guitarist, Martha Masters. Ms. Masters will perform on Friday evening, January 14th, 2005, at the First Methodist Church, 165 N. Main Street, in Ashland. Concert time is 8:00pm. Tickets are $15 general admission, $5 for students and free for children 12 years old and under. Advanced tickets can be purchased at CD or Not CD in Ashland or at Central Art Supply in Medford. Tickets will also be available at the door on the evening of the performance. The Southern Oregon University music department will host the artist in a master class the next day, Saturday, January 15th from 10:00am-noon in the Recital Hall of the music building. The class will be open to the public. Auditing fees are $10.00 general and $5.00 students.

Martha Masters is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation, being described as “artful, virtuosic and sophisticated,” (Palos Verdes Peninsula News) with “poise, maturity and clean technique” (San Antonio Express-News). In October of 2000 Martha won first prize in the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Solo Competition, including a recording contract with Naxos, a concert video with Mel Bay, and an extensive North American concert tour. In November of 2000, she also won the Andrés Segovia International Guitar Competition in Linares, Spain and was a finalist in the Alexandre Tansman International Competition of Musical Personalities in Lodz, Poland. Prior to 2000, Martha was a prizewinner or finalist in numerous other international competitions, including the 1999 International Guitar Competition “Paco Santiago Marín” in Granada, Spain, the 1998 Tokyo International Guitar Competition and the 1997 GFA International Solo Competition.

Currently, Martha is on the guitar faculty at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She received both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied with Manuel Barrueco, and completed the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Southern California as a student of Scott Tennant.

Critical Acclaim

“[Masters] is the winner of last year’s Guitar Foundation of America Solo Guitar Competition. That honor, combined with movie-star looks and a natural showman’s charisma, puts Masters at the forefront of her generation of guitarists.”
– Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“Elements in her performance style, a relatively short few years off the launching pad as classical careers go, suggest Masters is on a swift and certain trajectory to star territory.”
– Illinois Times

“Poise, maturity and clean technique Masters put her ample dexterity to good use Her control of instrumental color was exemplary.”
– San Antonio Express-News

Michael Partington in Concert and Masterclass

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Concert: Friday, October 29, 2004
Masterclass: Saturday, October 30, 2004

The long awaited “JCGS Concert Series” began with a concert by British classical guitarist, Michael Partington. Mr. Partington performed for us on Friday, October 29th, at 8:00 pm. The concert took place at the First Methodist Church, 165 N. Main Street, in Ashland. The Southern Oregon University music department hosted a master class with Mr. Partington the next day, Saturday, October 30 from 10:00am-noon in the choir room (room 220 upstairs) of the music building.

(Click here for Mr. Partington’s Website. http://www.michaelpartington.com/concerts.html)

Michael Partington is one of the most engaging of the new generation of concert players. Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine for his “lyricism, intensity and clear technical command,” this award-winning British guitarist has performed internationally as a soloist and with ensemble to unanimous critical praise. Audiences are put at ease by his charming stage manner and captivated by his musical interpretations. His innate rhythmic understanding and sense for tonal colour combine to form some of the most memorable phrasing to be heard on the guitar.

He began playing guitar at age 6 while growing up in Wales, gave his first public performance at age 7 and won his first competition at age 9. He has trained with many of the world’s greatest guitarists, including Oscar Ghiglia, Eliot Fisk, Eduardo Fernandez, Manuel Barrueco and David Russell, who commented on his “exquisite good taste and fluid perfection.” Partington received a performance degree from the University of Washington, where he was a Brechemin scholar and graduated magna cum laude, studying under Steven Novacek.

Since moving to the USA he has received awards in several guitar, instrumental and concerto competitions. He has appeared throughout the USA, UK and Scandanavia in solo recital, with orchestra and in chamber ensembles. He has performed along the West Coast from Los Angeles to Vancouver, and in Idaho, Arizona, Texas and Virginia, including the first solo guitar recital in Seattle’s Benaroya Hall. Other US performances include the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, the Cascadia Festival, the Chelan Bach Fest, the Northwest Guitar Festival and the Portland Guitar Festival, Town Hall and Meany Theater in Seattle, Portland’s Lincoln Hall, Murphy Hall in Los Angeles, Katzin Hall in Phoenix. Concerts in England and Wales have included Blackheath Halls, St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. James’, Piccadilly in London; St. Mary in the Castle, Hastings; Bristol Music Club; Norwegian Church, Cardiff; Russell-Cotes Museum, Bournemouth; Brewery Arts Centre, Kendall; Trinity Arts Centre, Tunbridge Wells; Nottingham; Carlisle; Derby; and others. He has performed live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, BBC Radio Bristol, BBC Wales and Great Western Radio in the UK, as well as on KUOW, KING FM, KZAZ, and KAOS in Washington, KUT in Texas, and cable television in California and Washington. He has also performed with Orchestra Seattle, Seattle Choral Company, Seattle Chamber Players, Seattle Creative Orchestra, Wenatchee Valley Symphony, Seattle New Music Ensemble, Seattle Symphony Chorale, English organist Margaret Phillips, Grammy-winning soprano Carmen Pelton, and the Seattle Guitar Quartet. He has released four solo CDs for Rosewood Recordings.

“Consummate guitar artistry command, tonal variety and.”
Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times

” exquisite good taste and fluid perfection. He truly makes the guitar sound beautiful.”
David Russell

“His playing was beautifully poised with all the technique and imagination to convey the textures of the work, and produce a very full, rich tone on the guitar… fine musicianship.”
Thérèse Wassily Saba, Classical Guitar Magazine

“Gorgeous playing… He does what I think is most interesting, he owns every note he plays. No muffled half played passages or over the top slurred messes of ambiguity. Every note was there and every note contributed to the shapes and forms and drama of the music unfolding. The breathing was perfect and the long crescendos with such a big sound on top took my breath away … wonderful clarity and sense of texture.” Larry Deack, Orange County Guitar Circle