Roland Dyens, Sergio Assad, José Feghali and Christopher McGuire
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Dallas 2:30pm, Sunday September 23, 2012 City Performance Hall - Arts District |
Fort Worth 7:30pm, Sunday September 23, 2012 The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth |
Roland Dyens shares the joy of his musical talent through his performing, composing and teaching accross the world. This three-dimensional profile provides the basis for his phenomenal success and his ongoing evolution.
Always transformative events, Roland Dyens’ concerts unfold as personal experiences of emotional awakening for the audience. Inspired by the musical unity demonstrated in his concerts, audience members will often later use the impact of the artist’s virtuosity and creativity to guide their own perception of music and, more broadly, their lives as well. For those who are unfamiliar with the contours and nuances of classical guitar performance, one often witnesses an inspirational discovery of the instrument and its musical potential, not to mention the pleasure it gives the audience.
Roland Dyens has a sensitive and colorful approach to the guitar - an unfailing open-mindedness which brings together all forms of music to each and every one of his programs. His stage presence, his improvised openings and unique relationship with the listeners undeniably position him at the forefront of guitar performance today. For a long time now, his music has been an integral part of the instrument’s repertoire, placing him at the heart of a select group of contemporary guitarist/composers who enjoy such a privileged position.
His compositions and arrangements are widely performed and highly acclaimed throughout the world. They provide a new breath of life for the guitar as this player and composer never ceases to challenge the limitations of his instrument. The growing number of participants and auditors in Roland Dyens’ master classes is surely due to the depth of his approach which is rich in innovative themes. With a keen sense of quality and emotional strength, his natural ability to communicate with younger generations of guitarists transforms the formality of a master class into a joyful encounter.
Roland Dyens teaches at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris.
Born into a musical family in Mococa, São Paulo, Brazil, Sergio Assad began creating music for the guitar not long after he began playing the instrument. He learned Brazilian folk melodies from his father. By age 14, he was arranging and writing original compositions for the guitar duo he had formed with his brother, Odair. At the age of 17, he and Odair began their studies under the best known classical guitar teacher in Brazil at the time, Monina Tavora, a former disciple of Andres Segovia. Sergio later went on to study conducting and composition at the Escola Nacional de Música in Rio de Janeiro, and worked privately with Brazilian composition teacher, Esther Scliar.
Gold Medalist and winner of the Chamber Music prize at the Seventh Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, José Feghali has been Artist-in-Residence at TCU’s School of Music since 1990. He has appeared in over 1000 performances worldwide, including appearances with such orchestras as the Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw of Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Gewandhaus of Leipzig, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, London Symphony, Birmingham Symphony, National Symphony of Spain, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the Shanghai andBeijing symphonies. In the USA, he has appeared in all the major cities and in virtually every state of the nation, including performances with the orchestras of Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, Atlanta, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and the National Symphony, and has worked with many eminent conductors including Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, Yuri Temirkanov and Leonard Slatkin. Recital appearances include performances at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Orchestra Hall, Kennedy Center , Ambassador Auditorium, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, Bass Hall and the MeyersonSymphony Center . Solo and concerto performances have taken him to Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey, China, Singapore, Hong-Kong and several countries in Latin America .
Equally active as a recitalist, José has appeared on such prestigious stages as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Ambassador Auditorium and Chicago’s Orchestra Hall. He has also performed in the major concert halls of the United Kingdom, Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Eastern Europe, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and Latin America. An avid chamber musician, he has participated in many chamber festivals in the US and abroad, as well as in collaboration with James Galway, Truls Mørk, Antonio Meneses, Alisa Weilerstein , Edgar Meyer, David Shifrin, Olivier Charlier, Régis Pasquier, Tokyo String quartet and John Vickers. He has been a judge at several international piano competitions, gives regular masterclasses and is a member of the faculty at both the PianoTexas and Mimir Chamber Music Festivals.
His recordings are available on the Naxos , Koss and VAI labels. José has worked as producer, recording and mastering engineer in over 50 commercial and non-commercial recording projects, and was the remastering engineer for the Van Cliburn Competition’s Retrospective series of CDs on the VAI label. New CDs, including solo and chamber recitals, will be released next season.
José is Coordinator of Internet Technologies for TCU’s School of Music , where he was awarded the Mike Ferrari Award for his work with Internet2 and video conferencing and streaming technology. He was invited to give presentations at the annual Performing Arts conferences of both Internet2 and the Trans-European Research and Education Networking Association (TERENA) on the application of Microsoft Research’s ConferenceXP software in music and arts education. While investigating the program’s capabilities for possible use in long-distance music events, he discovered and corrected a flaw in the software’s code that had until then made it incapable of utilizing high fidelity sound in real-time conferencing applications.
American guitarist Christopher McGuire commands the many expressive qualities of the guitar with what one critic called "unselfconscious intensity." His engaging performance style invites people of all ages to feel they are taking part, not just taking a seat. Audiences and critics on five continents fulfill the prediction byAndrés Segovia that "…he will be appreciated and applauded everywhere." In his 1981 letter of recommendation, Segovia also said he is “…an artist, sensitive, with perfect technique.” His direct influences are as varied as they come, ranging from private lessons with Maestro Segovia to jam sessions with Stevie Ray Vaughn.* Has preformed with some of the great musicians of our time, including Charlie Byrd, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Roland Dyens, Carlos Bonell, Karin Schaupp, Robert Guthrie, Van Cliburn Gold Medalist José Feghali and violinist Swang Lin. In October of 2005 Chris shared the stage with the legendary Van Cliburn in a tribute concert for Fort Worth philanthropist Roz Rosenthal. He is currently Artistic Director of the Fort Worth Classic Guitar Society (FWCGS) and the Allegro Guitar Society of Dallas (AGSD).
McGuire has performed hundreds of solo concerts in the United States, Mexico, Japan, Venezuela, Germany, Spain and the Canary Islands. He has played his guitar for presidents of the United States of America and Mexico, three former governors of Texas and members of the Spanish Royal Family. A great lover of chamber music, he has been a guest artist with orchestras and chamber ensembles and also composes for his eclectic music group, D'Accord. In 2007 he was featured on stage at the Bass Performance Hall performing his own music as well as solo works by Weiss, Villa-Lobos and Tarrega in the world premiere of “Fables of Loneliness” with the Bruce Wood Dance Company. He has performed more than 1500 informal performances in schools and other community venues in cities throughout North America, Spain, Venezuela and Japan. In addition to numerous television and radio appearances he was the subject of a half-hour program on Radio Shanghai of China with an audience in thirteen Asian countries of more than one billion listeners. NBC’s “Today Show” featured Chris in a story about his work with civil rights groups in his hometown, Farmers Branch, Texas.
In 1985 he won First Prize in the Dallas Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition and has judged theGuitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Competitions in Quebec City, Canada, St. Louis, Missouri, San Antonio, Texas and Montréal, Canada. In 2006 he served on the jury of the 14th International Guitar Competition at Fundacíon Alirio Díaz in Carora, Venezuela, where he also performed a lecture/concert on classical & jazz crossover at the home of Maestro Díaz. Four years earlier he presented a similar class at Encuentro Antonio Lauro in Santa Ana, Venezuela. He has been invited to present numerous masterclasses and lecture demonstrations at prestigious universities such as Arizona State University, theJuilliard School in New York, Alaska Pacific University and at the GFA.
He has studied with or performed in master classes for several of the world’s foremost guitarists includingAndrés Segovia, Oscar Ghiglia, Pepe Romero, Robert Guthrie and José Tomás. He received full scholarships to Southern Methodist University on the recommendation of Robert Guthrie and to the Aspen Music Festivalon the recommendation of Oscar Ghiglia. In the summers of 1980-82 he had both classes and private lessons with the great Spanish composer Federico Moreno-Torroba. Blues master Stevie Ray Vaughn, a regular in the McGuire family music room in the early 1970s, taught Chris to play the blues in weekly jam sessions.
Chris taught for 25 years at several colleges and universities including the University of Dallas and North Lake College. He now devotes most of his time performing, conducting the artistic activities of the FWCGS and the AGSD and spending time with his family.
Notable quotes:
“I have several times heard the young guitarist Christopher McGuire and consider him an artist; sensitive, with perfect technique… I am sure he will be appreciated and applauded everywhere." -Andrés Segovia, Madríd, Spain 1981
“With my music, I completely trust his artistic sensibilities.”
Federico Moreno-Torroba, Madrid, Spain, 1980
Selected Reviews:
"¡Magnifico!" Radio Nacional de España
"His beautiful playing was full of life and colour."
Gendai Guitar Magazine, Tokyo, Japan
Fascinating guitar sounds – “A guitar is not only a guitar. In the hands of Chris McGuire it is what otherwise only a group of cooperating musicians can achieve: a body of sound. A guitar performance that fascinated all the listeners.”
(About the duo of Wiedemann and McGuire)
Then the big surprise: the Deggendorf-born guitarist Augustin Wiedemann enters the stage, enthusiastically welcomed by the fans, and it begins – a music making of two masters. Two magicians on the strings unite for one performance!" (Helmut Gärtner, Passauer Neue Presse, March 26, 2007)
"He does indeed succeed in doing it all alone, he and his guitar… where one stops the other takes over in a continuous flow of melodious sounds." Fort Worth Star Telegram
"The music was at once delicate, yet forceful and sophisticated… the rich tone and sparkling interpretation he gave to the music showed his empathy with the spirit of the music. McGuire seemed at one with his instrument and the music he chose to play." Anchorage Daily News
"McGuire is a pro when it comes to turning young people
into appreciative listeners of classical guitar."
Dallas Times Herald
At the Bass Hall with the Bruce Wood Dance Company:
“Choreographer Bruce Wood added another piece to his impressive canon Monday night with the premiere of Fables of Loneliness, a ballet inspired by and including readings of the poetry of Chilean Pablo Neruda. Although the poems were the most obvious feature of Fables of Loneliness, the piece rested on a foundation of hypnotically gentle guitar music drawn from Villa-Lobos, Vivaldi and others, exquisitely performed by virtuoso Christopher McGuire.”
Wayne Lee Gay, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
From March/April 2005 U.S. Tour for “Live on Stage”
CLASSICAL GUITARIST SHINES
"In March, Auburn Community Concerts Association presented another spectacular concert. Classical guitarist Christopher McGuire, student of Segovia, Romero, Tomás, and Torroba, played classical compositions by Carcassi, Villa-Lobos, Sor, Tedesco, Ponce, his mentor Federico Moreno-Torroba, and others. But most importantly, he performed the most exquisite interpretation I have ever heard of the lovely “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” by Francisco Tarrega. It would bring tears to the eyes of classical guitar music lovers anywhere.
To entertain us further, Mr. McGuire played more modern pieces – an “Oh! Susanna” such as you have never before heard, two pieces he wrote himself, and “Vincent” by McLean and arranged by John Knowles. This intriguing and beautifully played piece has been popularized by Josh Groban.
A heart-felt standing ovation was touchingly received by McGuire, who seemed a bit surprised by it, but certainly should not have been."
Ronald D. Greenwood, Perspectives Arts Magazine
"Christopher McGuire's guitar sang with beauty, emotion, and power; our full-house audience was mesmerized for two full hours, and still we wanted more."
Diane Hess, President: Josephine County Community Concert Association
"As President of the Pendleton Concert Association, I have the good fortune to meet and get to know many of the artists we invite to perform. Christopher McGuire not only delighted our audience with his skill, repertoire and presence, he also gave us the opportunity to experience his unassuming charm and delightful sense of humor. We look forward to his return when we can once again welcome his artistic mastery and personal warmth."
Arthur J. (Art) Hill, President, Pendleton Concert Association, Pendleton, Oregon