February 2019: Corvallis Guitar Society Monthly Newsletter

Dear Guitar Friends,

The next GUITAR SOCIETY MEETING is MONDAY March 4th 7-9PM
Venue: Odd Fellows Hall, Corvallis
Free & Open to the Public

The featured artist for this meeting will be Portland’s great classical guitar entertainer Ryan Walsh. If you have ever heard someone playing the guitar in the music program at Portland Airport, then you have heard Ryan! He plays a variety of some of the all time classical greats which you can check out here:

Ryan studied classical guitar in the Conservatorio de Sevilla in Spain. He currently lives in Portland, OR, and performs extensively around the Pacific Northwest. His passion is to share the classical guitar repertoire as well as his original compositions to the widest audience possible.

 To bring local guitarists out of the woodwork the February 4th meeting will also include an OPEN GUITAR ENSEMBLE SESSION featuring music that will be posted to the website at least one week ahead of the meeting  https://corvallisguitarsociety.org . Check out the scores online, download the parts you would like to play and bring them along to the meeting with your guitar and join in! EVERYONE is welcome.

AGENDA MONDAY March 4th 2019
7:00 – 7:05 pm Welcome
7:05 – 7:45 pm Open Guitar Ensemble: check out the music and download from the website.

7:45 – 8:10 pm Open Stage: share your music with us – all solo guitar styles (or ensembles) and all abilities welcome.
8:10 – 8:20 pm BREAK and Refreshments
8:20 – 9:00 pm Featured Artist: Ryan Walsh

Entrance is FREE and open to the public (donations gratefully received).

Location: Odd Fellows Hall, 223 SW 2nd St, Corvallis, OR 97333. The entrance is between New Morning Bakery and Sedlaks Boots and Shoes.

Upcoming Guitar Society Featured Artists

Here’s the Featured Artist line up for the Guitar Society meetings at Odd Fellows Hall for the first half of 2019:

March 4th             Ryan Walsh (as per above)

April 1st                 Brandon Azbill

May 6th                 Scott Kritzer

June 3rd                 OSU Guitar Ensemble

3rd Annual Corvallis Guitar Festival Saturday May 11th

We are finalizing the program for the 3rd Annual Corvallis Guitar Festival including concerts, workshops, a lecture and a Master Class all taking place at the 1stPresbyterian Church on 8th St downtown Corvallis on Saturday May 11th.

I am delighted to announce we will be featuring Grammy Award winner Bill Kanengiser as the Saturday night concert artist and the host of the festival Master Class. Bill is recognized as one of America’s finest classical guitarists with a long history of excellence in performing, teaching, composing, and giving Master Classes around the world. As a founding member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Mr. Kanengiser has toured extensively throughout Asia, Europe and North America and the  LAGQ was awarded a GRAMMY® for Best Classical Crossover Recording in 2004. We will be very fortunate to have Bill here in Corvallis so mark your calendars now!

We are also very pleased to welcome Ian O’Sullivan, a great Hawaiian classical guitarist and ukulele musician. He will be performing with both instruments and providing insight into the Hawaiian music in his concert, as well as presenting a workshop. So bring your guitar and ukulele to the festival to learn from the Hawaiian maestro!

And, in line with our goal to bring local guitarists out of the woodwork, there will be a short concert performed by the Corvallis Guitar Ensemble led by Cameron O’Connor! More details on this later, but if you are interested in being part of this ensemble, get in touch with me or Cameron.

It’s going to be an inspiring and hugely enjoyable event with a wide variety of guitar (and ukulele) music styles so mark your calendars!

Local House Concert – Soprano Amy Hansen and Guitarist Cameron O’Connor

Lea and David Paul Bayles are presenting a Local House Concert in their lovely Barn Studio featuring Soprano Amy Hansen and guitarist Cameron O-Connor as part of their artistic event series on Saturday March 15th 6:30pm to 9:00pm.

Amy and Cameron will perform a thrilling and intimate collection of songs of love, traveling around the world and throughout history with a special emphasis on Spanish folk music. 

Cost: $20/per person. Cash or check payable to “Cameron O’Connor”(All proceeds go to Cameron and Amy.) Pre-registration is required. Space is limited and it will fill quickly.

To register:  email [email protected] with CONCERT as subject line and specify the number of people who will be attending. Details and directions will be sent after you have registered.

I look forward to seeing you on March 4th at our Guitar Society Meeting,

Best Regards
Jon Sharp
President Corvallis Guitar Society

August 2018 Newsletter & Events

THE NEXT GUITAR SOCIETY MEETING IS MONDAY SEPT 10TH 7-9PM

Venue: Odd Fellows Hall, Corvallis
Free & Open to the Public

Dear Guitar Friends,

I hope you had a great time over the summer with all your activities and reveling in the pleasure generated by the extraordinary guitar talent we had at the 2nd Annual Corvallis Guitar Festival in June. We have a great new season lined up so let’s get together, open our ears, pick up our guitars, and have fun!

The next Guitar Society meeting is approaching and I am delighted to announce that John Mery, will be our featured artist at that meeting on September 10th. John has an extensive background in solo, ensemble, and symphonic guitar performances at the national and international level and his recordings are highly popular on online streaming services. He is a founder member of the famous Oregon Guitar Quartet and he continues to receive critical acclaim. We are very lucky to have him coming here to Corvallis, so don’t miss the opportunity to hear him play. Click here to find out more about him on his website: https://johnmery.com/

At the September 10th meeting we will re-start the open Guitar Ensemble where EVERYONE is welcome to bring their guitar and join in. The ensemble music will be posted to the website one week ahead of the meeting – download the scores and decide which parts you might like to play, print them out and bring to the meeting.

We have confirmed a Winter Guitar Concert series which will take place at the Corvallis-Benton County Library (like last year) that will feature the open Guitar Ensemble and we will practice the pieces we will perform at each meeting starting September 10th . It’s okay if you choose not to be in the concert – still bring your guitar and join in!

AGENDA MONDAY SEPT 10th

7:00 – 7:05pm Welcome
7:05 – 7:35pm Open Guitar Ensemble: check out the music and download from the website one week before the meeting.
7:40 – 8:10pm Open Stage: share your music with us – all solo guitar styles (or ensembles) and all abilities welcome.
8:10 – 8:20pm BREAK and Refreshments
8:20 – 9:00pm Featured Artist: JOHN MERY

Entrance is FREE and open to the public (donations gratefully received).

Location: Odd Fellows Hall, 223 SW 2nd St, Corvallis, OR 97333. The entrance is between New Morning Bakery and Sedlaks Boots and Shoes.

Upcoming Guitar Society Meetings

Our Artistic Director Berto Boyd has done a great job lining up top quality featured artists for our upcoming Guitar Society Meetings:

Monday September 10th: John Mery
Monday October 1st: Will Brahm
Monday November 5th: Wenjun Qi
Monday December 3rd: David Tutmark

Winter Concert Series

The Guitar Society has set up a Winter Concert Series in cooperation with the Corvallis-Benton County Library. The first concert will be on Saturday December 15th from 3pm – 4pm and will feature music by local guitar aficionados and the Guitar Society Group Ensemble.  All guitarists are welcome to participate in the Guitar Society Group Ensemble section of the program; rehearsals take place at all the upcoming First Monday Guitar Society Meetings, and the music will be posted to the website by September 3rd; download the scores and decide which parts you might like to play, print them out and bring to the meeting.

The Winter Concert Series is as follows:

Saturday December 15th, 3-4pm Guitar Society Group Ensemble and local guitarists
Saturday January 19th, 3-4pm Program TBD
Saturday February 16th, 3-4pm Program TBD

New Board Members

I am delighted to announce that Sonya Springstead and Cody Jaffe have joined the Board of the Guitar Society. Sonya is taking over as Secretary and Cody is taking on the role of Webmaster. It is wonderful to get so much help from the community to continue growing the guitar scene here in the greater Willamette Valley and to keep bringing local guitarists out the woodwork!

I look forward to seeing you on September 10th at our next monthly meeting,

Best Regards,

Jon Sharp

President, Corvallis Guitar Society

Fabulous Guitar Festival and What’s Up Next…

THE 2nd ANNUAL CORVALLIS GUITAR FESTIVAL – WOW!
What a fantastic culmination to the first half of 2018 with the 2nd Annual Corvallis Guitar Festival that took place on Friday June 8th and Saturday June 9th at the First Presbyterian Church, Corvallis!


Festival Design by Jennifer Lommers

A wonderful rendition of the world of classical guitar music in the opening concert by maestro Cameron O’Connor including some of his compositions inspired by his arrival here in the Pacific Northwest.

Our Saturday night audience witnessed a brilliant, jaw dropping, virtuosic flamenco performance by Grisha Goryachev. “An alien with extraordinary talent” according to Paco de Lucia, something to which we all agreed!

The Saturday Master class (free and open to the public) was enjoyed by many folks witnessing four local students performing prepared pieces and receiving guidance and insight from Grisha.

The opening free workshop on Saturday featured famous guitars provided by an anonymous Oregon collector. Cameron performed pieces on all of them and Tom described their historical significance to the audience.

The remaining free workshops on Saturday gave everyone a chance to bring out their guitars, join in, and learn from some of the best guitarists/teachers in the region.

A great raffle resulted in this gentleman winning a Cordoba Classical guitar!

Much delight expressed by the people who witnessed the wonderful performances by our two fantastic concert artists, Cameron and Grisha.

Thank you to the Oregon Arts Commission for their support and to our sponsors!
Anne Loewen
Shelton Farretta Guitars
Cordoba
Tom Strini
Jon Sharp Guitars
MiniFlex mic
Cloud and Kelly’s

THE NEXT GUITAR SOCIETY MEETING IS MONDAY SEPT 10TH 7-9PM
Venue: Odd Fellows Hall, Corvallis
Free & Open to the Public

Looking forward, the Guitar Society is taking a break over the summer and we will get back together again at the September Guitar Society meeting.

At that meeting we will re-start the open guitar ensemble in Sept where EVERYONE is welcome to bring their guitar and join in. The ensemble music will be posted to the website one week ahead of the meeting – download the scores and decide which parts you might like to play, print them out and bring to the meeting. We will be working towards a winter guitar concert that will feature the ensemble and we will practice the pieces at each subsequent meeting. It’s okay if you chose not to be in the concert – still bring your guitar and join in!

We are still closing on the featured artists who will perform at the upcoming meetings, so watch this space…

AGENDA MONDAY SEPT 10th
7:00 – 7:05pm Welcome
7:05 – 7:35pm Open Guitar Ensemble: check out the music and download from the website one week before the meeting.
7:40 – 8:10pm Open Stage: share your music with us – all solo guitar styles (or ensembles) and all abilities welcome.
8:10 – 8:20pm BREAK and Refreshments
8:20 – 9:00pm Featured Artist: To be confirmed

Entrance is FREE and open to the public (donations gratefully received).

Location: Odd Fellows Hall, 223 SW 2nd St, Corvallis, OR 97333. The entrance is between New Morning Bakery and Sedlaks Boots and Shoes.

I look forward to seeing you on September 10th at our next monthly meeting,

Best Regards
Jon Sharp
President, Corvallis Guitar Society