Xuefei Yang
Xuefei Yang February 13 & 14, 2027
| Dallas: Saturday Nov 7, 2026 7:30pm Westminster Presbyterian Church 8200 Devonshire Drive, Dallas, TX 75209 |
Fort Worth: Sun Nov 8, 2026 2:30pm Kimbell Art Museum – Renzo Piano Pavillion Auditorium 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107 |
MUSICAL PIONEER
Xuefei Yang is acclaimed as one of the world’s finest classical guitarists. Hailed as a musical pioneer – her fascinating journey began after the Cultural Revolution, a period where Western musical instruments & music were banned. Xuefei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school, & became the first internationally recognised Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Her first public appearance was at the age of ten and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo and, when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students.
MUSICAL EDUCATION
Xuefei was born in Beijing, & is a graduate of Beijing’s Central Conservatoire of Music, and went on to become the first Chinese musician to receive a full scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she received the Principal’s Prize on completion of her postgraduate study.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Her international success has led her to be invited to play in more than 50 countries at numerous prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, all Southbank venues, and Royal Albert Hall in London, as well as the Philharmonie Berlin, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Vienna, Auditorio Nacional de Espana, Barcelona Auditorium, Carnegie Hall & Lincoln Center New York. In Asia she has appeared at the National Concert Hall Taipei, Hong Kong City Hall & Cultural Center, Esplanade Singapore, Seoul Arts Centre and gave the first guitar recital and concerto in the Beijing National Center of Performing Arts. Xuefei has also been invited to perform at major music festivals such as BBC Proms, Edinburgh International Festival, Shanghai MISA Festival and the Beijing international Music Festival.
In 2003 she performed 54 concerts for the “Night of the Proms” Tour, appearing in Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, to a total audience of over 800,000 people.
Xuefei is frequently invited to play with the world’s leading orchestras including Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Scotland National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, & Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, China Philharmonic. Xuefei’s recent highlights include return performances with the English Chamber Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Wintertour Philharmonic, debut performances with Beijing Symphony Orchestra, China National Orchestra giving the Asian premier of the The Albeniz Concerto written for Xuefei by Stephen Goss, and an Australian tour with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra which included performing the Australian premier of Tan Dun’s guitar concerto.
Xuefei’s dedication as a recitalist will see her appear across the world throughout the season. Her engagements in the 2016/17 season include appearances in Melbourne, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, San Francisco, Frankfurt, London, Bath, Istanbul and concertos with the Seoul Philharmonic, HK Philharmonic, Beijing Symphony & Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester. Xuefei also continues her successful collaboration with the Heath Quartet.
NEW REPERTOIRE
Gramophone magazine praised Xuefei as one of the leading innovators of her generation for continuing to build the guitar repertoire. Xuefei is committed to commissioning new works and making her own arrangements, with a particular interest in adding Chinese music and chamber music, many of which have appeared on her recordings. Xuefei has received new works from composers such as Chen Yi, Stephen Goss, Timothy Salter, Carlo Domeniconi. This season sees her giving at least three world premiere performances.
RECORDING ARTIST
Xuefei has made many albums including several acclaimed recordings for EMI Classics. Her first recording received a gold disc & her second was selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone magazine. Several of the recordings reflect Xuefei’s interest in expanding the repertoire. A concerto album recorded with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eiji Oue, featuring Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez & Goss’ Albeniz Concerto. Another recording of “Bach Concertos” featured Xuefei’s innovative transcriptions of solo works and concertos by J.S. Bach. Xuefei has released two albums in 2016, her latest solo album “Colours of Brazil,” (Decca Classics) and “Songs from our Ancestors” (Globe Music) which continues her successful collaboration with Ian Bostridge in a recording made at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
IN THE MEDIA
Xuefei is one of the few guitarists whose artistry connect with audiences far beyond the guitar fraternity. She collaborates with an eclectic range of artists: classical musicians such as Jian Wang, Ian Bostridge, Rosalind Plowright, Sir James Galway, Elias String Quartet & the Heath Quartet; cross-over artist David Garrett. Xuefei has also appeared on numerous radio and television programmes including BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, the BBC Proms, a BBC documentary ‘The Story of Guitar’, and China Central Television, who made a biographical documentary on Xuefei, & are filming another this year.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
The UK classical music magazine, Classic FM, named Xuefei as one of the 100 top classical musicians of our time. In recognition of her distinguished career, Xuefei was awarded ‘Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music’ in June 2012. Xuefei continues to be ambassador & role model for guitar in China, & from 2015 she is honoured to be the artistic director of Changsha International Guitar Festival.
Xuefei is now based in the UK.
.
Kaleido Guitar Duo
Kaleido Guitar Duo November 7 & 8, 2026
| Dallas: Saturday Nov 7, 2026 7:30pm Westminster Presbyterian Church 8200 Devonshire Drive, Dallas, TX 75209 |
Fort Worth: Sun Nov 8, 2026 2:30pm Kimbell Art Museum – Renzo Piano Pavillion Auditorium 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107 |
Kaleido Guitar Duo brings together two distinctive voices from across the globe. Chinese guitarist Hao Yang and Singaporean classical guitarist Kevin Loh, both internationally renowned award-winning musicians in their own right, are united by a shared musical heritage and an adventurous spirit for exploring uncharted territories in the guitar duo repertoire.
The partnership was born from their common roots in the English classical guitar tradition, with both musicians studying under the connected lineage of Richard Wright and Jonathan Leathwood. Before moving to the US for postgraduate studies, Kevin studied in the UK for a decade under various professors, including Wright, and worked regularly with Leathwood during his frequent visits to the UK, both of whom are close colleagues. Coincidentally, Hao later studied with Leathwood for her master’s degree at the Lamont School of Music in Denver, Colorado. This shared exposure to similar pedagogical approaches created an intuitive understanding between the two musicians.
The duo’s name, “Kaleido,” draws inspiration from the kaleidoscope, an ingenious instrument that creates infinite patterns of beauty from simple elements. Like the kaleidoscope’s ever-shifting colors, Kaleido Guitar Duo seeks to discover and reveal the vast spectrum of sonic possibilities within the guitar duo combination.
What sets Kaleido Guitar Duo apart is not only their individual achievements as internationally recognized soloists, but their dedication to expanding the boundaries of what two guitars can achieve together. Rather than retreading familiar ground, they actively seek compositions that challenge both performers and audiences, revealing rich harmonic and textural possibilities.
.
David Leisner
David Leisner October 10 & 11, 2026
| Dallas: Saturday Oct 10, 2026 7:30pm Westminster Presbyterian Church 8200 Devonshire Drive, Dallas, TX 75209 |
Fort Worth: Sun Oct 11, 2026 2:30pm Kimbell Art Museum – Renzo Piano Pavillion Auditorium 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107 |
David Leisner, winner of the Leyenda Foundation’s 2026 Celedonio Romero Lifetime Achievement Award, is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as a performing artist, composer and teacher. “Among the finest guitarists of all time”, according to American Record Guide, Leisner is a featured recording artist for the Azica label, with 11 highly acclaimed solo CDs. His recent recordings of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with baritone Michael Kelly (Bright Shiny Things) and his solo album for Azica, Charms to Soothe, featuring early 19th-century music, garnered rave reviews. His latest album for Azica, a recordings of works he commissioned, called Dedications, is scheduled for release in November 2025. Other recordings are on the Naxos, Telarc and Koch labels, with a concert DVD published by Mel Bay. David Leisner’s recent seasons have taken him around the US, a major tour of Australia and New Zealand, and debuts and reappearances in China, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the U.K., Italy, Czech Republic, Greece, Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. An innovative three-concert series at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall included the first all-Bach guitar recital in New York’s history, and for 12 years, he was the Artistic Director of Guitar Plus, a New York series devoted to chamber music with the guitar. Celebrated for expanding the guitar repertoire, David Leisner has premiered and commissioned works by many important composers, including David Del Tredici, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem, Philip Glass, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Sculthorpe and Osvaldo Golijov. His recent Pandemic Commissions project elicited works from Pierre Jalbert, Laura Kaminsky, Chester Biscardi, Bun-Ching Lam and João Luiz. He has also spearheaded the revival of neglected 19th-century composers, J.K. Mertz and Wenzeslaus Matiegka. He has performed at the Santa Fe, Rockport, Vail Valley, Bargemusic, Bay Chamber, Cape Cod and Islands, Maui, Portland, Sitka, Music in the Vineyards, Crested Butte and Angel Fire chamber music festivals.
Mr. Leisner is also a highly respected composer, noted for the emotional and dramatic power of his music. Fanfare magazine described it as “rich in invention and melody, emotionally direct, and beautiful”, and Textura praised its “arresting melodic character, emotional depth, and dramatic sweep”. His music has been performed worldwide by eminent soloists, chamber ensembles and orchestras. An extensive discography includes the much-praised Cedille CD, Acrobats, performed by the Cavatina Duo, and Letter to the World, an album of his vocal chamber music. His compositions are published by Theodore Presser Co. and Dobermann-Ypann. Recent works and commissions include a guitar concerto, Wayfaring for Pepe Romero and the New American Sinfonietta, Singing to the Stars for soprano, violin, saxophone and 2 guitars for the New Music Festival at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, Pranayama for the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Love Dreams of the Exile for the Cavatina Duo and the Avalon Quartet and Das Wunderbare Wesen for baritone Wolfgang Holzmair and solo cello.
A distinguished teacher as well, Leisner is currently on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and taught for over two decades at the New England Conservatory. His book about ergonomic guitar technique, Playing with Ease, is published by Oxford University Press. Primarily self-taught as both guitarist and composer, he briefly studied guitar with John Duarte, David Starobin and Angelo Gilardino and composition with Richard Winslow, Virgil Thomson, Charles Turner and David Del Tredici.
David Russell | Scotland/Spain
David Russell
| Dallas: Sat Mar 6, 2027 7:30pm University of Texas at Dallas University Theater click for map 800 W Campbell Rd, Richardson, TX 75080 |
Fort Worth: Sun Mar 7, 2027 2:30pm Kimbell Art Museum – Renzo Piano Pavilion Auditorium 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107 |
David Russell
GRAMMY award winner for his CD AIRE LATINO in the category of best instrumental soloist in classical music.
Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2014.
Inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Guitar Foundation of America in 2018
Classical guitarist David Russell is world renowned for his superb musicianship and inspired artistry, having earned the highest praise from audiences and critics alike. In recognition of his great talent and his international career, he was named a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Music in London in 1997.
In May 2003 he was bestowed the great honor of being made “adopted son” of Es Migjorn, the town in Minorca where he grew up. Later the town named a street after him, “Avinguda David Russell”.
In November 2003 he was given the Medal of Honor of the Conservatory of the Balearics.
After winning the grammy award, the town of Nigrán in Spain where he resides, gave him the silver medal of the town in an emotional ceremony.
During his studies at the Royal Academy, David Russell won twice the Julian Bream Guitar Prize. Later he won numerous international competitions, including the Andrés Segovia Competition , the José Ramírez Competition and Spain’s prestigious Francisco Tárrega Competition .
David Russell spends his time touring the world, appearing regularly at prestigious halls in main cities, such as New York, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Madrid, Toronto or Rome. Concert-goers everywhere are in awe of his musical genius and inspired by his captivating stage presence. His love of his craft resonates through his flawless and seemingly effortless performance. The attention to detail and provocative lyrical phrasing suggest an innate understanding of what each individual composer was working to achieve, bringing to each piece a sense of adventure.
In May 2005 he received a homage from the music conservatory of Vigo, culminating with the opening of the new Auditorium, to which they gave the name “Auditorio David Russell”.
In 2009 David was named honorary member of “Amigos de la Guitarra”, the oldest guitar society in Spain.
A prolific recording artists, his collection includes seventeen CDs with Telarc International.
The New York Times wrote about his performance: “… Mr. Russell made his mastery evident without ever deviating from an approach that places musical values above mere display. It was apparent to the audience throughout the recital that Mr. Russell possesses a talent of extraordinary dimension”.
Upon hearing play in London, Andrés Segovia wrote: “My congratulations on your musicality and guitaristic technique”.
Ganador de un GRAMMY por su CD AIRE LATINO en la categoría de mejor solista instrumental en música clásica.
Doctor Honoris Causa por la Universidad de Arizona en Tucson en 2014.
Fue ingresado en el Salón de la Fama del Guitar Foundation of América en 2018.
El guitarrista clásico David Russell es mundialmente reconocido por su magnífica maestría musical y su inspirada habilidad artística, habiendo ganado los más altos elogios de crítica y público. Como reconocimiento a su gran talento y a su carrera internacional, en 1997 fue nombrado Miembro de la “Royal Academy of Music” de Londres.
En Mayo de 2003 fue nombrado “hijo adoptivo” de Es Migjorn, el pueblo de Menorca donde pasó su infancia. Posteriormente, el pueblo dio su nombre a una calle, “Avinguda David Russell”.
En Octubre de 2003 le fue otorgada la “medalla de honor” del Conservatorio de las Islas Baleares.
Después de ganar el premio grammy, en Nigrán, Galicia ,donde reside en la acualidad, se le impuso la medalla de plata del pueblo en una emocionante ceremonia.
Durante sus años de estudio en la “Royal Academy of Music” de Londres, ganó el premio Julian Bream dos años consecutivos. Ha ganado numerosos concursos internacionales, entre los que cabe destacar el concurso de guitarra de Alicante, el concurso José Ramírez de Santiago de Compostela, el Andrés Segovia de Palma de Mallorca, el Concurso de guitarra de Benicasim, así como el premio Francisco Tárrega.
Mak Grgic
Mak Grgic – April 10 & 11, 2027
| Dallas: Sat Apr 10, 2027 7:30pm Westminster Presbyterian Church 8200 Devonshire Drive, Dallas, TX 75209 |
Fort Worth: Sun Apr 11, 2027 2:30pm Kimbell Art Museum – Renzo Piano Pavilion Auditorium 3333 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107 |
Touted as a “gifted young guitarist” by the New York Times, and “a guitarist to keep an eye on” by the Washington Post, Grammy®- nominated artist Mak Grgić [GER-gich] is a star on the worldwide stage. An expansive and adventurous repertoire attests to his versatility and wide-ranging interests. From the ethnic music of his native Balkans to extreme avant-garde and microtonal music, his roles as soloist, collaborator, and Grammy-nominated recording artist are fueled by curiosity, imagination, and boundless energy. As a testament to his versatility and wide-ranging appeal, in 2018 Mak was invited by legendary singer-songwriter k.d. lang to perform as the opening act for the North American leg of her Ingénue Redux Tour.
An avid new music proponent, Mak has commissioned a multitude of new works for solo guitar and guitar with ensemble. Some of these include works by Michael Gordon, Julia Adolphe, Nina Senk, Leon First and Cengiz Eren, to name a few. In fall 2022 he will premiere and tour a newly commissioned guitar concerto by Michael Abels, composer for the Oscar-winning motion picture Get Out.
As both soloist and collaborator, Mak averages eighty-five performances a year — nearly two bookings per week. He is a founding member and active performer in two duos—the Flamenco-style “Duo Deloro” with Adam Del Monte, and the new music-focused “FretX Duo” with Daniel Lippel, guitarist of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). As Young Artist in Residence with the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, he founded “DC8,” an octet declared “an inspiring addition to the contemporary music landscape in Los Angeles [Los Angeles Times].” Other ongoing collaborations include the JACK Quartet, The Assad Brothers, violinists Augustin Hadelich, Martin Chalifour and Chee Yun, and cellists Jay Campbell, Joshua Roman, John Sant’Ambrogio, and Clive Greensmith, formerly of the Tokyo String Quartet, as well as a residency with the Slovenian Philharmonic.
In 2009 at the age of 22, Mak made his professional debut in Russia, performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Lande. He now makes two regular tours to Asia each season and performs in Europe every other month. Recent engagements include performances and residencies at the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna; the Konzerthuset in Stockholm; several venues in Portugal; Teatro Cervantes de Bejar in Castilla-Leon/Spain; the Sarajevo Music Academy; several venues in Slovenia; the Paris Guitar Foundation; Zurich University of the Arts; Taipei National Theater; Shanghai Grand Theater; and the Hong Kong International Guitar Festival.
In North America, he has performed at Austin Classical Guitar; Beyond Microtonal Music Festival/Pittsburgh; the Dallas Opera for performances of Peter Maxwell Davies’s The Lighthouse; Dumbarton Concerts/Washington, D.C.; The Kennedy Center/Washington, D.C.; Mainly Mozart/San Diego; the National Gallery of Art; NAMM Show/California; Strathmore Hall/Maryland; the New York Classical Guitar Society; the Pacific Symphony; Triangle Guitar Society/North Carolina; Walt Disney Hall/Los Angeles; and numerous other venues and guitar societies across the globe.
An enthusiastic recording artist, Mak’s albums capture a probing and continuous exploration of the world of guitar and all its possibilities. His latest recordings, “Balkanisms” for Naxos Music plus “MAKrotonal” and Grammy®- nominated “Mak|Bach” for MicroFest Records, explore a vast repertoire spanning ethnic music, microtonal, new music and early music on re-fretted instruments, such as a “zig-zag fretted Bach prototype guitar” that allows him to create a “well- tempered guitar” for “Mak|Bach.” Mak is also featured on another Naxos release, “La Buena Vida” with flamenco guitarist Adam del Monte. Other albums in progress include an homage to Ligeti, spotlighting gamelan-inspired guitar arrangements; “Peaceful Guitar” on Symphonic, Mak’s first recording of his own compositions; and on the Avie label, an all-concerto recording including Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” and “Balkan Suite of Dances,” a new concerto based on music from “Balkanisms.”
Also an active entrepreneur and educator, Mak is a member of the leadership teams of several organizations including the European Guitar Festival Collaborative (EuroStrings), the Zagreb Guitar Festival, and the Connecticut Guitar Festival. He serves as an adjunct faculty member at Mount St. Mary’s University in Los Angeles, and director of Elemental Guitar in Santa Monica, a program designed especially for young people. This year, he founded “Notey’s World” and the company Notey Inc, to develop a unique game for tablets and smart phones intended to popularize music learning and make it more fun. As a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, he founded the Virtual Guitar Orchestra, gathering more than 1500 guitarists from more than 50 countries to date. VGO is a community-oriented project, recognized by the Library of Congress for its cultural contributions, and has also formed collaborations with the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the Augustine Educational Foundation, to help ensembles be active virtually.
Born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in 1987, Mak studied guitar in Zagreb with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Music Academy. By the age of 14, he was balancing his world champion status in karate with his love for the guitar. Throughout his high school years, he concertized in Ljubljana and Zagreb, splitting his weeks between the two cities, as well as competing in professional martial arts contests across Europe and Asia. Following an injury to his left thumb, he made the decision to focus solely on a career in music, going on to complete a bachelor’s degree with Alvaro Pierri at the University for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Pursuing advanced studies in the U.S., Mak was one of the first students to apply for USC Thornton’s new Arts Leadership graduate program, which he incorporated into his doctoral studies in guitar. He has been a student of William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, in addition to Brian Head, artistic director of Guitar Foundation of America. In the fall of 2017, he began the Artist Diploma program at USC, the first guitarist in the university’s history to be admitted to this elite program.
Mak plays and endorses an array of outstanding concert guitars made by diverse craftsmen, including German luthier Antonius Müller, the Chinese master Hanson Yao, Bosnian Slavko Mrdalj, Slovenian Samo Sali, Polish Rafal Turkowiak, a 1966 José Ramírez, as well as other re-fretted and remodeled guitars.
Mak Grgić is also proud to be involved with the Bosana Foundation, an organization that raises money for Bosnian youth. He also regularly awards education-furthering scholarships to select students across South America.
* * *
“a superb, finely detailed reading that showed Grgic is a guitarist to keep an eye on.”