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Concerts:
THURSDAY, May 18, 2006 8:00 PM at the Missouri Western Leah Spratt MC Building.
Alieksey Vianna (Brazil) - solo classical guitar - 1st Prize Winner of the 2005 St. Joseph International Guitar Festival Competition and numerous other international competitions. Read more here. |
FRIDAY, May 19, 8:00 PM at the Missouri Western Leah Spratt MC Building.
Christopher Berg (USA) Classical Guitar. Read more here. |
SATURDAY, May 20, 8:00 PM at the Missouri Western Fine Arts Theater.
“Tango Lorca” One of the leading Tango ensembles featuring musicians and dancers from Eastern Europe, North and South America. Read more here. |
SUNDAY, May 21, 3:00 PM at “The Dome” (12th & Felix, St. Joseph)
“Final Competition Rounds” (open to the public). The three finalists in the competition will present a joint concert. Audience members (over 18) will have the opportunity to vote for competitor’s final ranking and the audience cumulative score will be tallied as one vote along with the judges. The Award Ceremony and a reception will follow the presentation of prizes. “The Dome” performance space provided through the courtesy of Owners and Directors, Ed and Linda Hood. |
| There will be a Jam Session / Party at various locations throughout St. Joseph following each concert (beginning Wednesday evening through Sunday evening), hosted by famed jazz / classical / rock guitarist, Jason Riley. Click here for times and locations. |
CONCERT TICKETS: General Public...$15. - Students/Seniors...$10.
(All general public tickets available at the door the evening of the concert - limited/open seating - all tickets on a first come basis.)
Information via: Missouri Western Department of Music:
(US) + (816) 271-4420Information via: Missouri Western Department of Music: (US) + (816) 271-4420
More ticket information is here.
Aliéksey Vianna
 Aliéksey’s appearance in St. Joseph is part of his prize as First Prize Winner in the 2005 St. Joseph International Guitar Festival and Competition. Only rarely do we find an artist with the range of musicianship of Aliéksey Vianna.
Aliéksey is equally at home performing classical guitar solos, concerti, chamber works, jazz and Brazilian music with unique artistry and a technical expertise that are compelling to critics and the general public.
Born in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Aliéksey has performed in prestigious music venues in over twenty countries throughout Europe, the Americas, Africa and the Middle East, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Washington DC’s BID, San Francisco Bay Area’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and Yoshi’s Jazz Club, Cairo’s Opera House, Mexico City’s Nezahualcoyotl and Sao Paulo’s Sala Ester Mesquita.
Aliéksey has performed as a soloist with orchestras and chamber groups in Brazil, USA, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and Poland. He has played with many world-renowned musicians, such as Peter Erskine, Paul McCandless, Toninho Horta, Dusan Bogdanovic, Tracy Silverman, Petri Sakari and Pierre Boulez. He was chosen to perform Boulez’s landmark work “Le Marteau sans Maitre”, conducted by the composer at Carnegie Hall. He has premiered pieces by Egberto Gismonti, Edino Krieger, David Burge and Sérgio Assad. Maestro Assad recognized Aliéksey’s talent and offered to produce a CD of his own solo guitar works, which has been released by the GSP label in 2005.
Aliéksey first took up the guitar spontaneously at the age of eight. At age twelve, he began formal musical studies, which included classical guitar, composition, arranging and orchestration. His main teachers were Rogerio Bianchi, Maria Rachel Marcondes, Jose Lucena Vaz, Fernando Araujo, Thomas Patterson and David Tanenbaum. He has also performed in master classes of Sergio and Odair Assad, Manuel Barrueco, Paul Galbraith, Roland Dyens, Abel Carlevaro, Oscar Ghiglia, Nigel North, Paul O’dette, Hopkinson Smith and Ralph Towner, among others.
Aliéksey is an exceptional guitarist who is highly accomplished in both the classical and jazz genres and is constantly crossing stylistic borders. He was awarded first prizes in more than fifteen worldwide music competitions. These awards have led to invitations to perform and teach in several music festivals, and to record with such important labels as Radio MEC in Brazil, URTEX in Mexico and GSP in the USA. In 2005 he also served as artistic director of International Music Festival of Belo Horizonte.
CRITICS
“Aliéksey Vianna is a very talented musician fully dedicated to his work and greatly committed to his art. He has put a lot of energy into this project and we can all feel the reward. I’m pleased to have my whole guitar solo production thus far represented here by him and hope to write more solo pieces in the future.”
Sérgio Assad- World renowned guitarist and composer
“such vibrant and incisive playing…”
Anthony Tommasini- New York Times
“…virtuosity of the most florid sort- indeed, his guitar seemed at perilous risk from the uninhibited vehemence with which he attacked percussive effects.” John Henken- Los Angeles Times
“His Aguado was elegant and spirited… and the Aquarelle sparkled.”
Richard Long- Soundboard Magazine
"…eminently likeable, beautifully crafted works…Vianna plays them with an infectious energy. Vianna has just the right rhythmic sensibility for this music: his playing is both tight and flexible."
Steven Rings- American Record Guide
“Sérgio Assad is best known as a member of the Assad Duo, perhaps the world’s premiere guitar duo. This disc, however, proves Assad’s capabilities I the realm of composition. Brazilian guitarist Aliéksey Vianna opens the recording with Aquarelle. The first movement, Divertimento, submerges in an eerie landscape reminiscent of Messiaen before slowly morphing into a heavily bossa nova- influenced dance. Such complex interweavings are characteristic of this CD, and provide Vianna a structure in which to showcase his sensitivity to tone and dynamics. In Abaeté, the second movement from Three Divertimentos, Assad’s ear for counterpoint, a natural reflection of his enormous duo experience is evident, and Fantasia Carioca finds the composer juxtaposing elements of Debussy with his own brand of dramatics, all expertly handled by Vianna. Overall, this recording is a testament to the performer’s close emotional engagement to the musical material.”
Ian Gallagher, Guitar Review
"Throughout, Vianna plays with rich tone, rhythmic intensity, and a technical facility that promise a bright future."
Mark Small- Acoustic Guitar Magazine
“While Mr. Vianna exhibits all the technical skills of a virtuoso, he is first and foremost a fine musician with a repertoire that encompasses jazz and music of his native Brazil. He has performed globally with orchestras, string quartets and other ensembles. On the review disc Vianna demonstrates strong understanding and empathy for the music and this is never compromised because his technical command is so robust. As one may anticipate he conveys a sense of enjoyment associated with music for which he holds such a high regard.”
Zane Turner- MusicWeb
“Of note in the second half were performances by Aliéksey Vianna of Arthur Kampela's Percussion Study No. 1 and the New York premiere of Sérgio Assad's Fantasia Carioca. The percussion study was suggestive of MacCombie's Nightshade Rounds in its gradually shifting patterns; it included a variety of unconventional percussive effects (one, for instance, sounded like a swarm of bees). The composer was in attendance. The performance of the Assad piece was flawless in both its musical expression and technical execution. The piece can be heard on Vianna's new CD, Aliéksey Vianna Plays Sérgio Assad.”
Jim Tosone, Guitar Review
“A marvelous concert… the clarity of ideas and musical nuances were present from beginning to end… Aliéksey brought life to each note, color and soul to each phrase, always with his characteristic clear tone.”
Tiaraju Aronovich- Violão Intercâmbio (Brazil)
“Vianna brings loads of personality to his playing… making every lick come alive with polish and fire.”
Ken Keuffel Jr.- The Arizona Daily Star
AWARDS
Aliéksey has been awarded the first prize in the following competitions:
III Saint Joseph International Guitar Competition, USA, 2005
I San Francisco International Guitar Competition, USA
I National Guitar Workshop Solo Competition, USA
XII Savona International Guitar Competition, Italy
John Duarte International Guitar Competition, Austria
IV Sernancelhe International Guitar Competition, Portugal
XI Kutna Hora International Guitar Competition, Czech Republic
VI Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Manuel M. Ponce, México
I Concurso Nacional de Violão- Homenagem a Fred Schneiter, Brazil
XIII Concorso Internazionale di Chitara- Cita di Mottola, Italy
2000 Fresno Guitar Competition, USA
I Concurso de Violão Jose Lucena Vaz, Brazil
1998 Portland Guitar Festival Solo Competition, USA
“Herb Ellis Award”- best Guitarist of the 1997 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, USA
1995 “Tucson Jazz Society Award”, USA
OTHER COMPETITION PRIZES
Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, Montreal- 2nd prize
III Stotsenberg International Guitar Competition, Malibu, CA- 2nd prize
I Toru Takemitsu International Competition, Turku, Finland- 4th prize
III Crete International Guitar competition, Arhanes, Greece- 3rd prize
I Certamen Internacional de Guitarra Classica Julian Arcas, Spain- 3rd prize
III Ville d’Antony International Guitar Competition, France- 2nd prize
X Premio Eldorado de Musica, Sao Paulo, Brazil- 3rd prize
II Concurso Internacional de Guitarra, Trofa, Portugal- 2nd prize
VI Printemps de la Guitare International Competition, Belgium- 4th prize
Weikrsheim International Guitar Competition, Germany- 4th prize
For more information, visit: http://www.aliekseyvianna.com/
See Aliéksey perform at the 2006 St. Joseph International Guitar Festival on
THURSDAY, May 18, 2006 8:00 PM at the Missouri Western Leah Spratt MC Building.
Christopher Berg
 Christopher Berg received his training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, in master classes with Andrés Segovia at the University of Southern California, and at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis in Switzerland. He has performed recitals in Carnegie Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York in addition to hundreds of recital and concerto appearances throughout the United States including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago. His New York debut concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1981 was praised by the New York Times for its "special sensitivity." Recent tours have included recitals at the New England Guitar Festival in Boston, the Radford University International Guitar Festival in Virginia, the Appalachian Guitar Festival in Boone, NC, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
He has been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts as a recipient of a Solo Recitalist Fellowship and by the South Carolina Arts Commission as a recipient of two Solo Artist Fellowships. The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) called his playing “a stellar display of guitar virtuosity,” and The State (Columbia, SC) found his performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez “electrifying...hugely enjoyable and freshly played.”
Christopher Berg also brings early music to life on Renaissance and Baroque lutes and early guitars. His solo performances on these rarely heard instruments are known for their virtuosity and lyricism. In the words of The State newspaper, “Berg, as always, dazzled.” He has performed numerous concerts of Renaissance music with soprano and lutenist Hazel Ketchum, his partner in the Rossignol Duo. He performs Classical and Romantic song literature with soprano Susan Parker-Shimp, his partner in Eurydice’s Dream.
The Pilgrim Forest, his recording of original compositions for solo guitar, has been released on Laughing Heart Records. Critics have praised it as “a journey through a new geography… nothing less than radiant and compelling,” (The State) and an “uncharted forest of music that is free-flowing, vibrant, expansive and modern - even postmodern” (The Free Times). The Pilgrim Forest was selected as one of the top ten classical releases for 2000 by William Starr of The State.
Christopher Berg is a professor of music at the University of South Carolina where he directs the classical guitar program. His students have won top prizes in regional and national competitions. During 1999-2000 he was honored by the University of South Carolina as a recipient of a Michael J. Mungo Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and in 2003 he was awarded the Cantey Outstanding Faculty Award by the School of Music for performance, research and teaching. In 2003 his former students created the Christopher Berg Endowment Fund at USC, which supports The Christopher Berg Guitar Award presented annually to an outstanding undergraduate guitar student at USC.
He is the author of Mastering Guitar Technique: Process and Essence and Giuliani Revisited. Neil Smith, in the October 2002 issue of Classical Guitar Magazine (Great Britain) wrote of Mastering Guitar Technique, “Mr. Berg's analysis is among the most thorough and professional to come my way. . . . If you are having real problems playing clearly, efficiently and in a relaxed manner, this could be the book for you to read and open up your technical know-how.” His article, The Virtuoso Teacher, appeared in the Winter/Spring 2000 issue of Soundboard, the Journal of the Guitar Foundation of America (Volume 36, Nos. 3/4) as The Re-Imagination of Guitar Pedagogy.
For more information, visit: http://www.christopherberg.com/
See Christopher perform at the 2006 St. Joseph International Guitar Festival on
FRIDAY, May 19, 8:00 PM at the Missouri Western Leah Spratt MC Building.
 Tango Lorca
If you merge Old World Argentinean Tango aesthetics with a sinuous texture of jazz, flamenco and classical music, you MIGHT begin to understand the violent, seductive and distinct sound of Tango Lorca.
Founded in 1999, this fiery ensemble has created a fresh and expansive body of original compositions and arrangements which they have presented world-wide both in the traditional Tango dance hall, on the concert stage and at select Tango competitions in Europe.
Members of Tango Lorca (who rotate concerts depending on who is in what country at what time.) includes musicians and dancers from Eastern Europe, North and South America as well as one member who currently resides in Hong Kong.
Their commitment to the art of Tango has included work throughout virtually every continent on earth and their concerts, recordings and presentations have been hailed by the press world-wide.
While paying homage to their undeniable Argentine roots with classics from the South American "Golden Age of Tango," Tango Lorca has expanded that traditional genre to a new, innovative sound with a timeless sense of beauty and sensuality for which Tango music and dance is so famous.
The music of Tango Lorca infuses a profound understanding of tradition with an obsessive passion to evolve their art to new horizons. For further information, see: http://www.tangolorca.com/
 Special Guest Artist: Héctor Del Curto
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, bandoneón player Héctor Del Curto has traveled the world both as soloist and chamber musician, sharing the stage with the world–renowned tango composers Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Pugliese, ballet dancer Julio Bocca, and the ensembles National Symphony Orchestra (at the Kennedy Center – Washington D.C.), Orquesta Sinfónica de Buenos Aires and the Teatro Colón Ballet.
After a Carnegie Hall concert in April 1999 with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and such outstanding artists as Gary Burton, Joe Lovano, Argentine pianist Pablo Ziegler and his Quintet for the New Tango, and famous tango singers Jose Angel Trelles and Maria Graña, the New York Times highlighted Del Curto´s artistry, making special mention of his "wistful, piercing solos on the bandoneón."
See Tango Lorca perform at the 2006 St. Joseph International Guitar Festival on
SATURDAY, May 20, 8:00 PM at the Missouri Western Fine Arts Theater.
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