new york guitar seminar at the new school's mannes school of music

WHAT:

The 16th New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes School of Music will feature world-renowned faculty and performers including Sergio Assad, Clarice Assad, Duo Montes-Kircher (Alfonso Montes and Irina Kircher), Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo, Duo Cintemani (Nicholas Ciraldo with flutist Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo), Arthur Kampela, Mariano Aguirre, Mario da Silva with dancer Rocio Infante, Jennifer Trowbridge, and Richard Boukas.

Join for a week of intensive, hands-on classical guitar training, open to players of all ages and levels. Activities will include master classes, performance classes, ensemble coachings, interactive forums, faculty concerts, and public performance opportunities for all full participants.

Find more info on the performances and tickets at http://mannesguitar.com/

WHO:

Sergio Assad is a Brazilian-born guitarist who has set the benchmark for all other guitarists by creating a new standard of guitar innovation, ingenuity and expression. His exceptional artistry and uncanny ensemble playing come from both a family rich in Brazilian musical tradition and from studies with the guitar/lutenist Monina Távora (1921-2011), a disciple of Andrés Segovia. In addition to setting new performance standards, Assad has played a major role in creating and introducing new music for two guitars. Assad's virtuosity has inspired a wide range of composers to write for him, including Astor Piazzolla, Terry Riley, Radamés Gnattali, Marlos Nobre, Nikita Koshkin, Roland Dyens, and Jorge Morel. He is adding to his repertoire by composing music for himself and for various musical partners both with Symphony Orchestra and in recitals. Assad has worked extensively with such renowned artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Fernando Suarez Paz, and Paquito D’Rivera.

Michael Newman and Laura Oltman have been hailed as a “revelation to hear” by The Washington Post. Their innovative programming, matchless technique and ensemble precision, combined with their commitment to expanding the repertoire for guitar duo, make them a chamber ensemble of world renown. Through their groundbreaking new music-commissioning program, Newman & Oltman have built a unique repertoire of works for two guitars. Their artistry has also been captured on nearly a dozen other acclaimed recordings and has been recognized by grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America and ASCAP, among others. Newman and Oltman’s concert tours have taken them to world cultural capitals and premiere venues across five continents, the Caribbean, and South Pacific. They have performed at Carnegie Hall, aboard the Queen Elizabeth II, at Caramoor and at the Grand Canyon.

Clarice Assad is a Brazilian-American, Grammy-nominated composer, pianist, and vocalist of musical depth and ability. Carefully crafted textures permeate her musical world, which embraces a wide variety of styles, including her own original concepts.  Assad has received acclaim for her performances of both original compositions and her own arrangements of popular Brazilian songs, world music and jazz standards. She has performed at venues including Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, Doha, Qatar, Caramoor International Jazz Festival, Carnegie hall, Concertgebow in Amsterdam, San Francisco Jazz, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Chicago, Le Casino de Paris in Paris and the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, Belgium. Assad’s music is represented on Cedille Records and SONY Masterworks labels. Her works are published in France, Germany, Criadores do Brasil and independently by Virtual Artists Collective Publishing, (VACP) a publishing company co-founded with poet and philosopher Steve Schroeder. 

Mariano Aguirre is an international concert artist, music professor, arts promoter and arts administrator. He is currently on faculty of Mannes School of Music, Hunter College and The Brooklyn Music School in New York City. He is also the Festival Director and Coordinator of the annual New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes. Aguirre is a winner of the Artist International Award and the Greorgy Award for Excellence in Performance.  He has performed extensively in the United States and Latin America, including Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Noon Concert Series at Trinity Church, The National University in Mexico City, Centro Nacional de las Artes, Conservatorio de las Rosas, among many other venues. In addition, Aguirre performs regularly with Duo Cantabile for voice and guitar and is a cofounder of the Six Hands Guitar Trio. Recordings on the Vienna Modern Masters label.

WHEN

July 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue: Featuring music by Alberto Ginastera performed by Argentine mezzo-soprano Solange Merdinian and American guitarist Nicholas Ciraldo, and Three Generations of Venezuelan Music, composed by Vincente Sojo, Alexis Rago, and Alfonso Montes, performed by Duo Montes – Kircher.

July 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Ernst Stiefel Concert Hall, Mannes School of Music, 55 W. 13th St.: Mario da Silva and Rocio Infante will present the New York Premiere of their multimedia production “RE SI DUE: couples in the garbage and luxury.”

July 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Tishman Auditorium at the University Center at the New School, 63 5th Avenue: Duo Montes – Kircher (Venezuelan guitarist Alfonso Montes and German guitarist Irina Kircher) will perform traditional Venezuelan music, new compositions, and classical master pieces.

July 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Tishman Auditorium at the University Center at the New School, 63 5th Avenue: Duo Cintemani - guitarist Nicholas Ciraldo and flutist Rachel Taratoot Ciraldo will perform music by Robert Beaser, Libby Larson, and others.

July 10 at 7:30 p.m. in Tishman Auditorium at the University Center at the New School, 63 5th Avenue: Concert will feature Brazilian composer and guitar virtuoso Sergio Assad (of the famed Assad Brothers Duo), Sergio’s daughter Clarice Assad (classical and jazz composer, arranger, pianist, and vocalist), and the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo for a scintillating evening of Brazilian compositions. Newman & Oltman and the Assad family in various combinations will perform music by Sergio Assad, Clarice Assad, Milton Nascimento, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Celso Machado, Alfonso Montes & Irina Kircher, Carlos Lyra, and Gilberto Gil.

WHERE

Americas Society: 680 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10065

Ernst Stiefel Concert Hall at Mannes School of Music: 55 W. 13th St, New York, NY, 10011

Tishman Auditorium at The New School: 63 5th Avenue, New York, NY, 10003