Portland Classic Guitar (PCG) has announced its 2015-16 concert series, once again bringing world-class guitarists to the greater Portland area.
This year the focus is on education. In addition to PCGs ongoing commitment to excellence in private guitar instruction, master classes will be given by each of the series artists, providing an opportunity for local guitarists to learn from modern masters.
Appearing for the first time in the PCG series are multi-Grammy-winners Sharon Isbin and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, who will perform at the First Congregational Church in downtown Portland.
Paul Galbraith, Berta Rojas and Duo Deloro will appear in St. Annes Chapel on the Marylhurst University campus and all other concerts will take place in Wiegand Recital Hall, also at Marylhurst. Performances begin at 8 p.m. and master classes take place the following day at 11 a.m. at Marylhurst.
Season tickets are $260 and individual concerts range in price from $32-$52 per person.
The series begins Oct. 16 with Paul Galbraith, considered one of the most innovative guitarists in the world. Galbraith is recognizable by his unique playing posture and the custom instruments he uses. His recordings cover everything from Brahms to Bach to Debussy to Couperin to folk music.
Cuban born guitarist Edel Munoz performs Nov. 1. He has won more than 20 international guitar competitions, including the Boston Guitar Fest, the Miguel Llobet International Competition in Barcelona, the Montreal International Competition and the Havana International Guitar Competition.
Hailed as the pre-eminent guitarist of our time, Sharon Isbin performs Jan. 15. She has appeared as soloist with more than 170 orchestras and given sold-out performances in New Yorks Carnegie and Avery Fisher halls, Bostons Symphony Hall and Washington D.C.s Kennedy Center. She is also a professor of guitar at Juilliard.
Ekachai Jearakul performs Jan. 29. He is the first Asian to win the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition.
Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas performs Feb. 12. She has been nominated twice for a Latin Grammy, and is renowned for her flawless technique and innate musicality.
Duo Deloro, made up of Adam Del Monte and Mak Grgic, performs March 18. Del Monte is one of the leading flamenco and classical guitarists/composers of his generation and Grgic is an innovative player whose adventurousness has led him from the avant garde to film music to more traditional works, including transcriptions of Brahms and Kreisler.
Hilary Field plays April 1. Her recordings and live performances have garnered numerous awards and critical acclaim and have inspired several composers to write and dedicate music to her.
The Grammy-awarding winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will play April 29. The group is composed of John Dearman, Matthew Greif, William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant. Formidable and compelling on their own, together they bring a truly incomparable energy to the stage.
Grammy-nominated lutenist and composer Ronn McFarlane plays May 13. He is credited with bringing the lute into the musical mainstream. McFarlane has been a member of the Baltimore Consort since 1979, and has toured the U.S., Canada and Europe both with that group and as a soloist.
For the series finale, PCG Artistic Director William Jenks will perform June 24 outdoors at the Marylhurst Universitys Lajos Balogh Performance Shell with other internationally renowned artists. Jenks has recorded four CDs, and has recently toured internationally in countries such as Italy, Chile, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Order tickets online at portlandclassicguitar.com or call 503-654-0082.