Mariano Aguirre
Mariano Aguirre has performed in the United States and Mexico. Past engagements include performances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, The Noon Concert Series at Trinity Church, Music from Good Shepherd, and Music in Chelsea. He has appeared at many festivals, including the Young Artist Series at the Aspen Music Festival, Bach and the Baroque Festival, and the Warwick Music Festival in the United States. He has toured in Mexico performing at the National University, Centro Nacional de las Artes, and the Conservatorio de las Rosas. Mr. Aguirre performs with the Duo Cantabile for voice and guitar and is a co-founder of the Six Hands Guitar Trio. Recordings of his work appear on the Vienna Modern Masters label. Mr. Aguirre is on faculty at Mannes College and the Brooklyn Music School.
Carlos Barbosa-Lima
Legendary Brazilian
Guitarist
Acclaimed Internationally as one of the world’s leading guitar masters,
ZOHO recording artist Carlos Barbosa-Lima’s career spans over fifty years. Barbosa-Lima is now recognized throughout the world for his
extraordinary skills as a performer and arranger of a wide variety of music for
the guitar. His most recent recordings, “Frenesi”, “Siboney,” and
“O’Boto,” featuring the rich cultural heritage
of Latin American music and Barbosa-Lima’s stunning arrangements, have met critical acclaim.
Born in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, Barbosa-Lima began playing the guitar at age seven. He recorded his first
album, "Ten Magic Fingers,” when he was 12. He has studied with Isaias Savio and the legendary Andres Segovia. Many distinguished
composers including Mignone, Santórsola, Cordero, Scott, and Yasui have written
pieces for him including Alberto Ginastera who composed Sonata op.47, a war horse in the classic guitar canon,
specifically for Barbosa-Lima.
In 2010 Carlos
Barbosa-Lima celebrated his 50th recording Merengue on the world’s
premiere recital stage, Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Barbosa-Lima’s
imaginative concert programs have broken down the worn-out dichotomy between
popular and classical music thus single handedly redefining the role of the classical
guitar for the 21st century.
Video link: Barbosa-Lima and Del Casale Duo
The Castellani
Andriaccio Duo
Joanne
Castellani and Michael Andriaccio have enjoyed a celebrated career as one of
the foremost guitars duos in the world. The Duo has recorded two DVDs and eight
acclaimed CDs, two of which were named “Best of the Year” by Fanfare Magazine and American
Record Guide, including two world premier recordings of works by Roberto Sierra
with the Israel Chamber Orchestra. Critics around the globe from the New York
Times to Gramophone Magazine have unanimously praised their “elegance, style, poise, and exquisite taste
in interpretation, and...a singleness of mind that both illuminates and
delights”. The Duo has performed at such prestigious venues as the White
House (upon the invitation of President Bill Clinton), the JFK Center for the Performing
Arts, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Casals Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, and many others including appearances at over one hundred colleges,
universities, and conservatories around the world.
Currently,
Joanne and Michael are the Artistic Directors of the JoAnn Falletta
International Guitar Concerto Competition presented by WNED-FM and the Buffalo
Philharmonic Orchestra. Joanne has served as Executive Director of
Competitions for the Guitar Foundation of America and maintains a full, private
teaching studio of traditional and Suzuki students. Michael’s newly released world
premiere recording with the London Symphony Orchestra of “Goyescana”, Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra by three-time Grammy
and Ace award winning composer Michael Colina is garnering unanimous international
critical acclaim.
Joanne
and Michael are founders and directors of Fleur de Son Classics, a record label
devoted to the highest standards in recorded chamber and orchestral music with
over one hundred titles. The roster includes the Israel Chamber Orchestra, The
New Arts Trio, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony
Orchestra, and numerous Grammy Award winners and nominees. It is distributed
worldwide by Naxos of America, Inc.
For more information, please contact the Fleur de Son Classics at 716.681.8106 or visit www.fleurdeson.com, www.castellaniandriaccio.com.
Joanne Castellani and Michael Andriaccio use Savarez Strings
exclusively and are Savarez performing Artists.
Video link: The Castellani Andriaccio Duo
Lawrence Del Casale
"Mr. Del Casale is a solid, musicianly player who performs eloquently.” The New York Times
Mr. Del Casale has been performing as a soloist and chamber musician since 1983 as demonstrated on his CD, Zenobia. Mr.
Del Casale’s love for the ensemble format has afforded him the opportunity to
work with a variety of distinguished artists over the years. The New York Times and other industry periodicals have praised Mr. Del Casale’s artistry and
musicianship. Since 2003 he has assisted the
Brazilian guitar virtuoso Maestro Carlos Barbosa-Lima in
concert as the Maestro’s duo partner. It is this collaboration that Mr. Del
Casale is most recognized. In 2012 Barbosa-Lima and Del Casale recorded the
Micropiezas by Leo Brouwer for an upcoming ZOHO record label release. Both
guitarists also performed in New York, France, and Italy.
In 2011 Mr. Del Casale collaborated and
recorded with legendary Brazilian percussionist Duduka
da Fonseca and Carlos Barbosa-Lima in creating a video for
Savarez strings.
In 2010 Barbosa-Lima and Del Casale were guest
performers on WNYC Sound check, hosted by John Schaefer, and appeared for a third
time at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
In 2008 Mr. Del Casale was the featured soloist at the New York Guitar Seminar at the Mannes
College The New School for Music where he was an invited to perform a set of solo guitar
compositions by Ernesto Cordero. The New York Times praised Mr. Del Casale’s interpretations.
Mr. Del Casale is a graduate of Mannes College The New School for Music, where he studied under the
eminent Albert Valdes-Blain and guitar virtuoso Michael Newman.
Video link: Barbosa-Lima Del Casale Duo
SHARON ISBIN
Guitarist
www.sharonisbin.com
Acclaimed for her
extraordinary lyricism, technique and versatility, multiple GRAMMY Award winner
Sharon Isbin has been hailed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time”. She is
also the winner of Guitar Player magazine’s “Best Classical
Guitarist” award, the Madrid Queen Sofia and Toronto Competitions, and was the
first guitarist ever to win the Munich Competition. She has given sold-out
performances throughout the world in the greatest halls including New York’s Carnegie
and Avery Fisher Halls, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy
Center, London’s Barbican and Wigmore Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Paris’
Châtelet, Vienna’s Musikverein, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Madrid’s Teatro Real,
and many others. She has served as Artistic Director/Soloist of festivals she
created for Carnegie Hall and the Ordway Music Theatre (St. Paul), her own
series at New York’s 92nd Street Y, and the acclaimed
national radio series Guitarjam. She is a frequent guest
on national radio programs including All Things Considered and Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. She has been profiled on television throughout the world,
including CBS Sunday Morning and the A&E Network,
and was a featured guest on Showtime Television’s international hit series The L Word. On September 11, 2002,
Ms.Isbin performed at Ground Zero for the internationally televised memorial.
In November 2009, she performed a concert at the White House by invitation of
the President and First Lady. She performed as featured soloist in the
soundtrack for Martin Scorsese’s Academy Award winning film, The Departed. She has been profiled in
periodicals from People to Elle, The Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times, as well as on the cover
of 45 magazines. A documentary on Sharon Isbin, produced by
Susan Dangel, will be completed in 2012.
Ms. Isbin’s catalogue of
over 25 recordings—from Baroque, Spanish/Latin and 20th Century to crossover
and jazz-fusion—reflects remarkable versatility. Her latest recording, Sharon Isbin &
Friends: Guitar Passions (Sony) became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.com, and includes guest
rock guitarists Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Nancy Wilson (Heart), jazz guitarists Stanley
Jordan and Romero Lubambo, Brazilian artists Rosa Passos and Thiago de Mello,
and saxophonist Paul Winter. Her 2010 GRAMMY Award winning CD, Journey to the New
World includes guests Joan Baez,
and Mark O’Connor in the world premiere of his folk-inspired suite for violin
and guitar. Ranked as a #1 bestselling classical CD on Amazon.com and iTunes,
it spent 63 consecutive weeks on the top Billboard charts. Her Dreams of a World soared onto top classical Billboard charts, edging out The 3 Tenors, and earned her a 2001 GRAMMY Award for “Best Instrumental
Soloist Performance”, making her the first classical guitarist to receive a GRAMMY in 28 years. Her
world premiere recording of concerti written for her by Christopher Rouse and
Tan Dun debuted as #6 on the Billboard charts and received a 2002 GRAMMY Award, as well as Germany’s
prestigious Echo Klassik Award. She received a 2005 Latin GRAMMY nomination for
“Best Classical Album” and a 2006 GLAAD Media Award nomination for “Outstanding
Music Artist” (alongside Melissa Etheridge) for her Billboard Top 10 Classical disc with
the New York Philharmonic of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de
Aranjuez,and concerti by Mexican
composer Manuel Ponce and Brazilian Heitor Villa-Lobos. This marked the
Philharmonic’s first-ever recording with guitar, and followed their Avery
Fisher Hall performances with Ms. Isbin as their first guitar soloist in 26
years. Baroque Favorites
for Guitar with the Zurich Chamber
Orchestra remained on the Billboard Top 10 Classical Chart for over 16 weeks, and her Journey to the
Amazon with Brazilian
percussionist Thiago de Mello and saxophonist Paul Winter, a Billboard best-seller in the U.S. and
the U.K., received a 1999 GRAMMY nomination for “Best
Classical Crossover Album”. She is also featured on Howard Shore’s 2008 GRAMMY
nominated soundtrack CD for The Departed. Other CDs include Artist Profile,
Wayfaring Stranger with mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, Greatest Hits (EMI/Virgin Classics), and
Aaron Jay Kernis’ Double Concerto (Argo/Decca) with violinist
Cho-Liang Lin and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) which received a 2000 GRAMMY
nomination. Her eight best-selling titles for EMI/Virgin Classics include J.S. Bach Complete
Lute Suites and concerti by Joaquin
Rodrigo which the composer praised as “magnificent”.
She is also featured on the GRAMMY Foundation’s Smart Symphonies™ CD distributed to over
five million families. Her recordings have received many other awards, including “Critic’s
Choice Recording of the Year” in both Gramophone and CD Review, “Recording of the Month”
in Stereo Review, and “Album of the Year” in Guitar Player. Sharon Isbin has been
acclaimed for expanding the guitar repertoire with some of the finest new works of the
century. She has commissioned and premiered more concerti than any other guitarist, as well as
numerous solo and chamber works. Her American Landscapes (EMI/Virgin Classics) with the SPCO conducted by Hugh Wolff is the
first-ever recording of American guitar concerti
and features works written for her by John Corigliano, Joseph Schwantner, and Lukas Foss.
(In November 1995, it was launched in the space shuttle Atlantis and presented to Russian
cosmonauts during a rendezvous with Mir.) She has also recorded the Schwantner with Leonard
Slatkin and the St. Louis Symphony. In January 2000, she premiered the ninth concerto written
for her: Concert de Gaudí by Christopher Rouse with
Christoph Eschenbach and the NDR
Symphony, followed by performances with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony, and David
Zinman at the Aspen Music Festival. Among the many other composers who have written
for her are Joan Tower, David Diamond, Aaron Jay Kernis, Leo Brouwer, Howard Shore,
Steve Vai, and Ned Rorem in whose documentary she is featured. In 2003 she premiered John
Duarte’s Joan Baez Suite, and in 2005 she premiered
a duo by rock guitarist Steve Vai in
their joint concert in Paris’ Théâtre du Châtelet.
Ms. Isbin performs 60-100
concerts a season, and recent highlights have included tours with the Zurich Chamber
Orchestra, the Tonkünstler Orchestra throughout Austria including Vienna’s
Musikverein, recitals in New York’s 92nd St Y and Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center,
a week of concerto and recital performances presented by the Théâtre du
Châtelet in Paris, and as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, Filarmonica
Toscanini in Milan, and the MIDEM Classical Awards in Cannes. Ms. Isbin has
appeared as soloist with over 160 orchestras, including in the United States the
New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, Baltimore, Detroit, Houston, Dallas,Pittsburgh,
Minnesota, St. Louis, Nashville, New Jersey, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Phoenix,
Utah, Memphis, and Honolulu Symphonies, the Rochester, Brooklyn, and Buffalo
Philharmonics, as well as the St. Paul, New York, and Los Angeles Chamber
Orchestras. Ms. Isbin has toured Europe annually since she was seventeen, and
has also toured Canada, Japan and the Far East, New Zealand, South America,
Mexico and Israel appearing in recital and as soloist with such orchestras as
the Zurich, Scottish and Lausanne Chamber Orchestras, the London Symphony,
Orchestre National de France, BBC Scottish, Lisbon, Gulbenkian, Prague, Milan
Verdi, Mexico City, Jerusalem, and Tokyo Symphonies. Festival appearances
include Mostly Mozart, Aspen, Ravinia, Grant Park, Interlochen, Santa Fe,
Mexico City, Bermuda, Hong Kong, Montreux, Strasbourg, Paris, Athens, Istanbul,
Prague, Ravenna and Budapest International Festivals.
As a chamber musician, Ms.
Isbin has performed with Mark O’Connor, Steve Vai, Nigel Kennedy, Denyce
Graves, Susanne Mentzer, the Emerson String Quartet, and the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center, among others. She performed a “Guitar Summit” tour with jazz
greats Herb Ellis, Stanley Jordan, and Michael Hedges; she made trio recordings
with Larry Coryell and Laurindo Almeida, and duo recordings with Carlos
Barbosa-Lima. She collaborated with Antonio Carlos Jobim and has shared the
stage with luminaries from Aretha Franklin to Muhammad Ali.
Born in Minneapolis, Sharon
Isbin began her guitar studies at age nine in Italy, and later studied with
Andrès Segovia and Oscar Ghiglia. A former student of Rosalyn Tureck, Ms. Isbin
collaborated with the noted keyboardist in preparing the first performance editions
of the Bach lute suites for guitar (published by G. Schirmer). She received a
B.A. cum laude from Yale University and a
Master of Music from the Yale School of Music. She is the author of the Classical Guitar Answer Book, and is Director of guitar
departments at the Aspen Music Festival and The Juilliard School (which she
created in l989 becoming the first and only guitar instructor in the
institution’s 100-year history).
In her spare time, Ms.
Isbin enjoys trekking in the jungles of Latin America, motorcycling through
Greek islands, cross-country skiing, snorkeling and backpacking. Visit her on
the Internet at http://sharonisbin.com
Video link: Sharon Isbin
The Newman & Oltman Guitar DuoLaura Oltman and Michael Newman, guitars
Hailed as a “revelation to hear” by the Washington Post, the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo’s phenomenal musicianship places them solidly at the top of their field. Their innovative programming, matchless technique, and ensemble precision, combined with their commitment to expanding the repertoire for guitar duos, make them a standout chamber ensemble in every way.
Newman and Oltman’s concert tours have taken them to world cultural capitals and premier venues across five continents. Recent highlights include performances in the United States, Asia, major capitals of Europe, South America, South Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific, with performances at Carnegie Hall, aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, at Caramoor, and at the Grand Canyon, among other locales. The pair have demonstrated extraordinary stylistic breadth in their collaborations with diverse artists such as composer-conductor Marvin Hamlisch and the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops, violinist Arnold Steinhardt, fiddler Eileen Ivers, and numerous string quartets, including ETHEL, Calder, Daedalus, and Turtle Island.
Highlights of this season include the world premiere of “Concierto Buenos Aires” composed for the duo by Nuevo Tango master Daniel Binelli with l’Orchestre de l’Opéra de Reims in France and with the Virginia Symphony (JoAnn Falletta, music director). Also this season, Newman & Oltman will join forces with the dynamic violinist Tim Fain—featured performer in the hit film Black Swan—for a program of works by classical and contemporary composers. The multitalented Grammy Award-nominated Clarice Assad joined Newman & Oltman at the Raritan River Music Festival, in May 2011.
Through their groundbreaking New Music Commissioning Program, Newman & Oltman have built a unique repertoire of works for two guitars created by leading and emerging composers such as Paul Moravec, Augusta Reed Thomas, Lowell Liebermann, Dušan Bogdanović, and Roberto Sierra. The duo’s latest CD, Music from Raritan River (MSR Classics 1298), which was hailed by Fanfareas “top notch” and “a winner all around,” features a collection of world premieres commissioned by the duo over the past decade.
Their artistry has also been captured on nearly a dozen other acclaimed recordings, including Songs of Spain (BMG) Laments and Dances: Music from the Folk Traditions (Music Masters); ones made with the Turtle Island Quartet, Sally Rogers, and Jay Unger; Tango Suite! Romance for Two Guitars (Music Masters); and Christmas Pastorale: 600 Years of Carols, Chorales, Preludes and Pastorales on Two Guitars (Musical Heritage Society). Their recordings uniformly garner critical praise: “A reference standard” (Billboard); “ T heir duet recordings reveal a finely blended sound and true unity of timbre and style” (New York Times); “…beautifully realized performances” (Guitar Player magazine).
Newman & Oltman’s contributions to the world of music have been recognized by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and other national and international organizations, including the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming.
The duo has served as ensemble-in-residence at New York’s Mannes College The New School for Music since 1987, and has recently been featured artists-in-residence at Cornell University, University of Puerto Rico, and Lafayette College, in Pennsylvania. Newman and Oltman are founders and artistic directors of the New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes, which takes place every summer in New York City (www.mannes.edu/guitar). They also are founders and music directors of New Jersey’s Raritan River Concerts and the Raritan River Music Festival (www.RaritanRiverMusic.org).
Michael Newman serves on the faculty of Mannes College. Laura Oltman serves on the faculties of Princeton University and Lafayette College. For m ore information, including the latest on the duo’s schedule of appearances, visit their website, www.guitarduo.com ./p>
Laura Oltman graduated with honors from Florida State University. She studied with Bruce Holzman, Oscar Ghiglia, Luisa Sanchez de Fuentes, and Andrés Segovia. Michael Newman is a graduate of The Mannes College of Music. His teachers were Thomas Anthony, Alberto Valdes Blain, and Oscar Ghiglia. In between concert tours, Michael and Laura are restoring their 19th-century house on the Delaware River in New Jersey, where they live with their numerous cats.
Newman Oltman play Thomas Humphrey Pre-Millennium guitars (1978,1981) with D’Addario EXP46C Composite Coated and Titanium Treble High Tension strings.
RICHARD PATTERSON
RICHARD PATTERSON enjoys an active musical career as a
collaborative artist and has performed with his groups in North and South America, Europe,
and Asia. As a student, Mr. Patterson lived in Spain, studying the guitar with
maestro Jose Tomas. Returning to the United States, he was signed by the world’s
largest classical music management, Columbia Artists, for six seasons of national tours as
a member of the Ware-Patterson Duo. Under the auspices of David Lieberman Artists
he toured internationally with the Russian virtuoso Emmanuel Sheynkman. He
is a founding member of the Festival of Four. He is also an active recording
artist and has been a featured performer on more than twenty-five recordings. Mr.
Patterson studied composition with Pulitzer Prize winners John Adams and Wayne
Peterson and currently is Professor of Guitar at Notre Dame de Namur University. He
directed the Guitar Foundation of America Conference in 2008 and is the founding
director of the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts in San Francisco. Recently he
appeared in the filming of “Five Year Engagement” starring Emily Blunt and Jason Segel,
released in April, 2012.
“Richard Patterson
projects a deep understanding of and admiration for the music he performs.
His attention to color and dynamics is remarkable and he displays a prodigious
technique. Patterson plays with style, taste and elegance.” The Times
, San Mateo, CA.
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Francisco Roldán
Colombian-born guitarist Francisco Roldán has performed in Russia, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay. He has played throughout the United States in venues such as Merkin Concert Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Weill Recital Hall, CAMI Hall, Gracie Mansion, the Museum of the City of New York, and the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City; Harmony Hall in Maryland; St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Milwaukee; and for the Philadelphia Guitar Society, the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, the Puffin Gallery, the Colombian Consulates in New York and Boston, the Smithsonian Library in Washington, D.C., the Round Top Music Festival, the Spanish Institute, the Americas Society, and various universities and libraries.
Roldán long career of performing and recording has garnered great acclaim. In 1999, he was invited to perform Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez in two performances with the Celebrate! orchestra under the direction of Laurine Fox, which received public and critical acclaim. In the 2000 season, Roldán played a solo recital at Weill Hall, Carnegie Hall, under the auspices of the Aranjuez Guitar Strings Series. His first CD of solo music, titled Latin Guitar (in which he interprets the music of Barrios, Lauro, and which contains the world premiere recording of the Dominican composer Rafael Landestoy's complete works for guitar), was released in 2003. In 2005, he released his second CD, titled Almost All Bach, in which he interprets the music of Bach and Scarlatti. (They can both be heard and purchased at cdbaby.com.)
During the summer of 2006, Mr. Roldán played a recital in Bogotá at the Fernando Sor School of Music and was immediately invited back to teach in their annual Guitar Festival in November, 2006, and to perform another recital. In the summer of 2007, he participated in a recital as an Invited artist at the Interpretation of Spanish Song Festival in Granada, Spain. In 2008, he was invited back to the festival as a guest artist to teach and play a concert and was invited to play a solo recital in the southern Spanish town of Berja. Roldán also played a concert at the Mannes 2008 Guitar Festival in New York City with his quartet, Zigzag. He has played various concerti and has participated in numerous chamber music recitals with choruses, singers, and instrumentalists. He accompanied acclaimed flamenco dancer Pilar Rioja at the Repertorio Español theater in New York City for eight seasons.
Roldán has been entertaining audiences since his early years at the Mannes College of Music. He received annual scholarships and received a master's degree in Performance from the Mannes College of Music. Mr. Roldán subsequently supplemented his studies by playing in master classes for Manuel Barrueco, Sharon Isbin, David Russell, and Paul Odette. In the spring of 1993, he gave a solo New York debut recital at the Weill Recital Hall, Carnegie Hall, that launched his career as a soloist.
Roldán is currently on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music Extension and Preparatory Divisions and at Lehman College, City University of New York.
Carlo Valte
Carlo serves on the faculties of Queensborough Community College (CUNY), Mannes College The New School for Music, and the New York Collegium. His own education in classical guitar began with Michael Dadap. He later went on to receive his Bachelor of Science and Master of Music degrees at the Mannes College of Music, where he was a scholarship student of Frederic Hand. Carlo's interest in research and interpretation of early and Middle Eastern music led him to study with Simon Shaheen.
Arabic lute ('oud) and guitar
Carlo Valte is active as a soloist, ensemble player, and educator in New York and abroad. His acclaimed performances include ones at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the United Nations, and the Providence Civic Center. He is also a founder of the Six Hands Guitar Trio, which has performed extensively around Mexico and northeastern United States. Carlo has conducted workshops and educational programs with Sendebar (www.Sendebar.org), as ’oudist, at Queens College (CUNY), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many public and private schools in New York City and Connecticut. Carlo records with the Vienna Concert Masters and Onesoul Records labels.