Prez Sez

Announcing the TGS 2005–6 Concert Series

The TGS board meet this summer and approved the 2005–6 Concert Series. Lucky for Triangle-ites, the concerts will take place close to home, at the Century Center in cosmopolitan Carrboro and at Duke’s new Nasher art museum. But in our humble estimation, this year’s series is good enough for Carnegie Hall. Read all about it and dare to disagree . . .

November will see the sensational Michael Young come to the Triangle. Michael is a young fingerstyle guitarist who plays the six- and twelvestring guitar with driving rhythm and groove, and he carries that bouncy and energetic groove from powerful and compelling compositions to soulful ballads. Moving from daunting and alarming to lighthearted and idiosyncratic instrumentals, Michael takes advantage of the guitar’s possibilities by combining standard and alternate tunings with a mix of slide guitar in his playing. Michael is from the Twin Cities, and his playing style and music are influenced by fellow Twin Cities guitarist Leo Kottke. His debut CD, I Listen to My Feet, which contains all of seventeen original compositions, was released in 2004. Minneapolis St. Paul Magazine had this to say about Listen: “It’s hard to develop an original approach to a musical form as firmly enshrined as fingerstyle acoustic guitar [but] Young makes a good run at it. The seventeen tracks combine his six- and twelvestring explorations with sparse, tasteful instrumentation and make for a solid span of quiet, engaging listening.” For more on Michael, visit his Web site at www.michaelyoung.music.com.

The TGS has brought some big names to the Triangle in the past, but none perhaps bigger than the performer who will grace the Century Center stage in January 2006. Benjamin Verdery scarcely needs an introduction. Described by Guitar Review Magazine as “an American original; an American master,” Mr. Verdery, since his 1980 New York debut with his wife, flutist Rie Schmidt, has led an exciting and varied musical life. His numerous recordings include, among others, Bach: Transcriptions for Guitar (GRI); The Mask (New World Records), on which he performs Castelnuovo- Tedesco's Romancero Gitano (Op. 152) for chorus and guitar; and Reverie: French Music for Flute and Guitar (Schmidt/Verdery Duo, Sony Classical). Mr. Verdery has performed all over the world and has recorded and performed with such diverse artists as Frederic Hand, Leo Kottke, Anthony Newman, Jessye Norman, Paco Peña, Hermann Prey, and John Williams. Mr. Verdery has had several composers write music for him, including Daniel Asia, John Anthony Lennon, Ingram Marshall, Anthony Newman, Roberto Sierra, Van Stiefel, and Jack Vees. A prolific  composer himself, in recent years Benjamin Verdery has turned his attention to crafting unique extended works for large guitar ensembles. His Scenes from Ellis Island, for guitar orchestra, has been extensively broadcast and performed at festivals and universities in America, Canada, New Zealand and Europe, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet performs it on their CD Air and Ground (Sony Classical). Since 1985, Mr. Verdery has been the chair of the guitar department at the Yale University School of Music. The TGS thanks Dominic Frasca, a former student of Mr. Verdery’s and who gave a thrilling TGS concert in April (for a review, see the previous newsletter), for his assistance in making this performance possible.

Benjamin Verdery

Michael Young

In Februrary 2006, Luz Maria Bobadilla will perform at Duke’s new Nasher Museum of Art. Look for more on this exciting guitarist from Paraguay in a future newsletter. Isaac Bustos comes to the Triangle in April 2006 with a wealth of competition prizes to his credit, most recently, first prize at the 2005 Texas Solo International Guitar Competition, first prize at the 2004 Lachine International Guitar Competition (Lachine, QC, Canada) first prize at the 2004 St. Joseph International Solo Guitar  Competition (St. Joseph, MO), first prize at the—well, you get the idea. Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Mr. Bustos at age 12 was accepted into the Conservatorio Nacional De Musica in Managua, where he received top honors in guitar performance. Isaac immigrated with his family to the United States in 1988 and continued his studies with the late Cuban guitar virtuoso Juan Mercadal. An extensive performance career has taken Bustos to Canada, Central America, and all over the U.S. He has gained critical acclaim and is quickly becoming recognized as one of the top young guitarists of his generation.

The 2005–6 TGS Concert Series will end in fine fashion with the always popular TGS Benefit Concert. This year’s performers will be TGS board members Randy Reed, Dennis Aberle, and Michael Hardy. Last year’s benefit was a tremendous success. A big “thank you” to all of our friends and members who attended. Stay “tuned” to future newsletters for more details of each of these concerts. We hope you agree that this lineup is second to none. Please know that the TGS counts on you to make these concerts possible.

Don’t wait! Order your tickets today by sending a check to our treasurer, Donnie Stallings, 105 Cambrian Way, Cary, NC 27511.

[The newsletter editor thanks the performers on our concert schedule for permission to borrow text and photographs from their Web sites.]

Sincerely,

Randy Reed
 

Back to The Triangle Guitar Society main home page  |  Upcoming events  |  Maps