Guitarist Michael Kudirka will be joining the faculty of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts as an Artist/Teacher of Guitar. UNCSA, part of the University of North Carolina system, contains a 4-year boarding arts high school, bachelors, masters, and performance certificate programs. Located in Winston-Salem, NC, the school houses departments of Dance, Design & Production, Drama, Filmmaking, Music, and Visual Arts. UNCSA has a thriving guitar program with two studios, each with 12 students.

Kudirka will be moving to UNCSA after teaching full-time at the Interlochen Arts Academy for two years. During those two years, he brought about a significant increase in applications and enrollment to the guitar program, hosted a variety of guest artists such as William Kanengiser, Duo Amaral (Jorge Amaral & Mia Pomerantz-Amaral), Jeremy Collins, and Stevan Jovic. He also spearheaded Interlochen's new Internet 2 video conferencing system by collaborating with Jason Vieaux on two masterclass exchanges. His students have gone on to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Oberlin, Manhattan School of Music, and California State University. His website is http://www.michaelkudirka.com/index.html

The thirteenth annual Classical Guitar Weekend - one of North America’s oldest, most respected classical guitar festivals - will take place at the Cleveland Institute of Music in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday, May 23 through Saturday, May 25, 2013. All recitals will take place in Mixon Hall, CIM's award winning new concert hall.

Please join this spring’s roster of internationally acclaimed artists in a concentrated series of recitals, debut performances, world premieres, master classes, lectures, and exhibits celebrating the classical guitar and art music, solo and ensemble, old and new. For further information, artist’s biographies and video samples, and to purchase recital tickets on line visit http://www.guitarsint.com/concert_series.cfm or call 216.752.7502.

Classical guitarists:

Jason Vieaux (USA, CIM Guitar Department Head)

Colin Davin (USA)

Jiyeon Kim (Republic of Korea)

Jonathan Leathwood (England)

Raphaella Smits (Belgium)

Assisting Artists:

Jinjoo Cho, violin (Republic of Korea)

Jeffrey Irvine, viola (USA)

Melissa Kraut, cello (USA)

Composers:

Stephen Goss (England)

Riho Esko Maimets (Canada)

Erin Rogers (Canada)

Classical Guitarist and Distance Learning Guest Instructor:

Jesper Sivebak (Denmark)

Classical Guitarist and Lecturer:

Brad DeRoche (USA)

Master Guitar Maker:

German Vazquez Rubio (USA)

We note with pride that both the diversity of our artists and audience members over the years (representing more than fifteen states and as many foreign countries) and the breadth of repertoire our artists have performed attest that the musical arts we celebrate here are heartfelt, universal, and dynamic.

Classical Guitar Weekend is presented in University Circle - Cleveland, Ohio's world renowned cultural and educational center - by Guitars International in cooperation with the Cleveland Institute of Music with generous additional support from the Cleveland business community and beyond.

Armin Kelly, Artistic Director

Classical Guitar Weekend 2013

classicalguitars@guitarsint.com

216.752.7502

GUITARRADA VII: PEPE ROMERO AND GEMS FROM THE HARRIS GUITAR COLLECTION AT THE SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC

The Harris Guitar Foundation (HGF) and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music are delighted to announce Guitarrada VII and an exciting new collaboration between HGF and the Conservatory. On April 29 at 7:30 p.m., guitarist Pepe Romero and luthier Richard Bruné join Conservatory guitar faculty and students for an evening of lively conversation and music performed on rare vintage guitars from the Harris Guitar Collection (HGC). Co-hosted by David Tanenbaum, chair of the Conservatory guitar department, and L. John Harris, president of The Harris Guitar Foundation, Guitarrada VII takes place in the Conservatory’s Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall at 50 Oak Street in San Francisco. Now it its seventh year, the annual event is free and open to the public.

The occasion will also celebrate a new collaboration between HGF and the Conservatory that integrates instruments from the Harris Guitar Collection into the guitar department’s curriculum.

"Thanks to the enthusiastic support of the Conservatory and the loyalty of our audiences, Guitarrada has become a popular event at the Conservatory,” says Harris, president of The Harris Guitar Foundation. "Now I’m thrilled to announce that the newly formed Harris Guitar Foundation will make the Harris Guitar Collection available on a regular basis to the guitar students and faculty of the Conservatory for educational purposes, including scholarship, performance and recordings.”

"The Conservatory guitar department,” says Tanenbaum, "is very happy to welcome back Richard Bruné, Pepe Romero and the wonderful Harris Guitar Collection for another evening devoted to the exploration of the guitar's history through the lens of these instruments. In addition, the occasion represents a heartfelt thank you to President Colin Murdoch for fostering the collaboration between the organizations as well as an homage to Pepe, who received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2011.”

This year’s Guitarrada features over a dozen guitars from the Harris Collection that will eventually be on permanent public display at the Conservatory. Special guests Romero and Bruné will deliver their usual fare—exquisite playing by Romero and fascinating lore and scholarship from Bruné. The event will also feature a special performance by Conservatory faculty guitarists Sérgio Assad, Marc Teicholz, Lawrence Farrara and David Tanenbaum.

"We will play together as a quartet for the first time,” says Tanenbaum.” "We chose a piece by Moreno Torroba written for the Romero Quartet to honor Pepe and his family and the beginning of the life of the Harris Guitar Collection on our campus."

In the tradition of previous Guitarradas, Conservatory students will perform on instruments they have selected from the Harris Collection.

Romero appears at Guitarrada in conjunction with a solo concert on April 28 at Herbst Theatre produced by the OMNI Foundation for the Performing Arts in partnership with San Francisco Performances. The HGF and Conservatory are grateful to the OMNI Foundation and Director Richard Patterson for its ongoing support of the Guitarrada series. Tickets for Romero’s solo concert are available at omniconcerts.com or by calling (415) 242-4500 or (650) 726-1203.

Plans for joint projects between HGF and OMNI will be the subject of future announcements.

Lanciano International Guitar Seminar, Lanciano (CH) - Italy

July 23- 28, 2013

Parco delle Arti Musicali 'Torri Montanare'
Via Largo dell'Appello, 2, Lanciano (CH), Italy

Michal Newman, Laura Oltman, Gaelle Solal, Massimo delle Cese, Isabella Abbonizio

Registration Deadline June 30, 2013

For registration and more information, visit:
http://www.lancianoguitar.com/
email: lancianoguitar@gmail.com

or call (646) 243-4266

Join an international faculty for an exciting week-long guitar seminar in the center of Italy. Concerts, master classes, rehearsals, and cultural events for classical guitarists of mid-high levels.
July 23 – 28, 2013.

For information on registration, schedule, faculty bios, sponsors info and other links, please visit the web site at
http://www.lancianoguitar.com/

Lanciano International Guitar Seminar
email: lancianoguitar@gmail.com
http://www.lancianoguitar.com/
(646) 243-4266

Boston, MA, March 13, 2013 — The Boston Conservatory has recently re-launched its guitar program with a restructuring of the curriculum, changes in audition requirements, and engagement of additional faculty members. The program offers three possible degrees: a Bachelor of Music, Graduate Performance Diploma, and Master of Music in Guitar Performance. Faculty members include Aaron Larget-Caplan, Berit Strong, and Olav Chris Henriksen, all of whom are active performers in addition to their teaching responsibilities.

"This is an extremely exciting time at The Boston Conservatory,” said Larget-Caplan. "I am honored to be working alongside Berit Strong and Olav Chris Henriksen to create a top-tier conservatory music program for guitar. With our diverse backgrounds, we are looking forward to challenging future students in all genres of music, from all eras.”

Students in the guitar program have ample performance opportunities through The Boston Conservatory’s chamber music program (including groups such as Renaissance consort, world music ensemble and contemporary music); a weekly performance seminar; training and playing in therapeutic music; participating in productions of the Conservatory’s Musical Theater, Dance and Opera Departments; and involvement in concerto and other competitions through the Conservatory and through ASTA (American String Teachers Association)

Recent changes to the curriculum include expanded performance seminars and revamped courses in guitar research and pedagogy. Audition requirements have been increased to include a broader range of eras and more detailed requirements. For more information, visit www.bostonconservatory.edu/music/guitar.

About The Boston Conservatory

The Boston Conservatory trains exceptional young performing artists for careers that enrich and transform the human experience. Known for its intimate and supportive multi-disciplinary environment, The Boston Conservatory offers fully accredited graduate and undergraduate programs in music, dance and musical theater, and presents more than 200 performances each year by students, faculty and guest artists. Since its founding in 1867, The Boston Conservatory has shared its talent and creativity with the city of Boston, the region and the nation, and continues to grow today as a vibrant community of artists and educators. For more information, visit www.bostonconservatory.edu.