Guitar in the Americas

July 7, 2009

The “Guitar in the Americas” concert presented a group of outstanding musicians, part of the 9th New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes, including Duo Cantabile (Lauri Aguirre, soprano and Mariano Aguirre, guitar),Tibaguí Trio (Nilko Andreas, Alejandro Flórez, Sebastián Cruz, guitars), Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo (Laura Oltman and Michael Newman, guitars) and the duo of Rene Izquierdo, guitar and Ana Ruth Bermúdez, cello.



Program

Duo Cantabile (Mexico/USA): Lauri Aguirre, soprano & Mariano Aguirre, guitar
Canciones Arcaicas	Manuel María Ponce (1882-1948)
Montebello	Julio César Oliva (b.1947)
Tibaguí Trio (Colombia): Alejandro Florez, bandola; Sebastián Cruz, tiple; Nilko Andreas, guitar
Contemplar Matanza     Flores Secas     Añoranza	Alejandro Florez (b. 1979)
"Porro" from Suite Colombiana No. 2	Gentil Montaña (b.1962)
Newman & Oltman Duo (USA): Laura Oltman & Michael Newman, guitars
Nocturne-Fantasy, Opus 69	Lowell Liebermann (b. 1961)
Rene Izquierdo, guitar (Cuba) and Ana Ruth Bermúdez, cello (Cuba)
From History of the Tango     II. Café, 1930     III. Nightclub, 1960	Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)

About the Performers

Duo Cantabile                                       www.duocantabileny.com

The voice and guitar ensemble Duo Cantabile has been charming audiences since its inception in 2002. They have received great accolades for their spirited and heart-felt performances spanning repertoire from Renaissance to Folk. Lauri and Mariano Aguirre have performed in the United States and Mexico in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Trinity Church, Templo del Carmen, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, CAMI Hall and Queen’s Town Hall. In 2007 Duo Cantabile presented at the New York Guitar Seminar the world-premiere of American composer Robert Cuckson’s song cycle Worlds of Wanwood. The duo has participated twice in the Discover concert series at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Music in Chelsea series at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

In addition to forming this artistic venture, both musicians have active solo careers both in the United States and abroad. Lauri has performed with opera, oratorio and musical theater companies ranging from the Finnish National Opera Company in Helsinki to the Village Light Opera Group in New York City. Mariano has performed recitals in the United States and Mexico and has appeared at many festivals and venues, including the Young Artist Series at the Aspen Music Festival, the Warwick Music Festival, and Mexico’s Centro Nacional de las Artes and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

Along with their performing endeavors, Lauri and Mariano have busy private music studios and serve on the faculty of the Brooklyn Music School. Mariano is also on the faculty at the Mannes College of Music Preparatory Division. They are graduates of the Mannes College of Music.

Tibaguí Trio                                       www.myspace.com/tibaguitrio

Tibaguí Trio comprises three unique acoustic guitars, often accompanied with drums, bass, clarinet and flute. Their music is rich in danceable rhythms, elaborate melodies and sophisticated harmonies, based on Colombian tradition and injected with improvisation and interaction.

Developed in New York by guitarist and composer Alejandro Flórez, Tibaguí Trio started out as a project to perform the subtle, expressive music written for the Colombian guitar trio. The ensemble of bandola (relative of the mandolin), tiple (resembling the Cuban tres) and guitar has been for many generations the standard of the music in the Andes of Colombia. Bambuco, guabina, pasillo, danza and marcha are some of the danceable grooves played in the country’s mountainous regions. The music of Tibaguí is directly related to this rich legacy made up of Indigenous, African and European elements.

Tibaguí is now redefining its musical heritage. In its expanded version, the group features the three guitars alongside the sounds of clarinet, flute, double bass and percussion. The group performs an all-original repertoire made up of refined compositions, most of which include improvisation as a fundamental element. The band members, well versed in jazz and different Latin American genres, bring together their experiences to tell an exciting story of tradition and innovation.

The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo                                       www.guitarduo.com

Hailed by The New York Times as “Fresh, Hot and Headed for Fame,” The Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo continues to fulfill that promise with thirty years of international touring, twelve critically-acclaimed recordings, and development of a new repertory for the ensemble.

Ensemble-in-Residence at New York’s Mannes College of Music and featured in the international media—People Magazine, New York Times, Larry King Show, BBC 3 Radio—the duo’s concert tours and collaborations with such artists as mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, violinist Arnold Steinhardt, fiddler Eileen Ivers (Riverdance), and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes), have taken them to forty-nine states in the United States, to Asia, Europe, South America, Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific, featuring performances at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Tahiti’s Musée Gauguin, Princeton and Yale Universities, Pittsburgh Symphony Pops with Marvin Hamlisch, and at the world’s cultural capitals.

Laura and Michael are Founding Directors of the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes: www.mannes.edu/guitar.

Ana Ruth Bermúdez                                       www.caribbeancello.com

A sought-after soloist, recitalist and pedagogue, this Cuban cellist holds a B.M. in Cello Performance from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, and has studied in the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. She resides in the United States since 2000.

Her solo and chamber music appearances have led her to play in Cuba, Russia, Spain, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, England, and the United States, where she recently premiered a solo cello piece written for her at the Miami International Composers Festival. She has recorded for television, theater, radio and film in Cuba, Spain, Venezuela, and the United States. She has also played with the International Chamber Orchestra of Moscow and the Orquesta de Cámara de la Habana, becoming their artistic director in 1991.

A committed teacher, she taught at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, as well as the Conservatorio de Música Simón Bolívarin Caracas. Currently, she teaches at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music as well as in her private studio.

Rene Izquierdo                                      www.myspace.com/reneizquierdo

Rene Izquierdo is currently a professor of classical Guitar at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. he has performed throughout North America, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Europe as solo recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra. He has received wide critical acclaim for his performances, and is recognized as one of America’s classical guitar virtuosos. Rene has shared the stage with prestigious guitarists Eliot Fisk, Benjamin Verdery and Jorge Morel, renowned flutist Ransom Wilson, soprano Lucy Shelton, Carlo Aonzo, The Quintet of the Americas, David Jolley and recorded with Paquito d’ Rivera, among others. Composers such as Jorge Morel and Carlos R. Rivera have dedicated works to him.

A native of Cuba, he graduated from the Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán and from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. In the United States, he earned a Master of Music and Artist Diploma degrees from the Yale University School of Music.

As one of the world’s leading classical guitarists, he is recipient of numerous awards. He is a winner of the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition in 2004, Extremadura International Guitar Competition, and Stotsenberg International Guitar Competition among others.

The New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes is designed to broaden the musical horizons of participants of any level. For one week each summer, participants experience the excitement of a world-class event in the heart of New York City, with activities that include concerts and masterclasses by distinguished faculty, ensemble coaching, performance opportunities and workshops on a variety of subjects.

For more information and a schedule of events, visit

www.mannes.edu/guitar

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