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

Upcoming: Society Meeting and Second Annual Guitar Festival!

We are fast approaching the exciting summit of 2018 with the pending Guitar Society Meeting on June 4th followed by the 2nd Annual Corvallis Guitar Festival on Friday June 8th and Saturday 9th.

Many of you know Cameron O’Connor who will be opening the festival for us on Friday June 8th and we are all excited to hear his exceptional talent in the world of classical guitar. But should you want to know more about Grisha Goryachev who is the Saturday night concert maestro, I recommend you read Tom Strini’s post on the Corvallis Review which he published after interviewing Grisha. Tom is a great writer and Grisha an extraordinary guitarist with a fascinating history so I highly recommend you check out the collision of these two talents here:
https://corvallisreview.blogspot.com/2018/05/corvallis-guitar-festival-grisha.html

Also check out the following video which summarizes the Festival:

 

THE NEXT GUITAR SOCIETY MEETING IS MONDAY JUNE 4TH 7-9PM

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

The featured artists for the upcoming Guitar Society meeting are the newly formed OSU Guitar Ensemble under the baton of Cameron O’Connor. The members of the growing ensemble include OSU students as well as members of the Guitar Society. This will be a great way to wrap up the first six months of Society meetings for 2018 that have featured great artists, workshops, music, and community participation.

The workshop at the meeting will be conducted by our very own Berto Boyd on the subject of music theory. Come along, bring your guitar and join in, or just bring your ears to enjoy a wonderful evening of local music.

AGENDA
7:00 – 7:05pm Welcome
7:05 – 7:35pm Guitar Workshop on Music Theory by Berto Boyd
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 Artists: OSU Guitar Ensemble directed by Cameron O’Connor

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.

 

SECOND ANNUAL CORVALLIS GUITAR FESTIVAL

Weekend of June 8th and 9th
Venue: 1st Presbyterian Church 8th St Downtown Corvallis

FEATURING CONCERTS BY GRISHA GORYACHEV AND CAMERON O’CONNOR

Tickets available downtown Corvallis at Grassroots Books and Music on 2nd St. and tickets are also available online at Brown Paper Tickets:
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3405445

Fri. June 8th Cameron O’Connor $15 advanced $20 at the door
Sat. Jun 9th Grisha Goryachev $20 advanced $25 at the door
A festival package including tickets for both concerts and a Festival T Shirt featuring this beautiful design by local artist Jennifer Lommers is available for $52

Design by Jennifer Lommers

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
All festival events will take place at the 1st Presbyterian Church downtown Corvallis: 114 SW 8th St.

Friday  June 8th
7:30pm                         Opening Concert: Classical Maestro Cameron O’Connor

Saturday June 9th
10:00am – 12:00pm Masterclass with Grisha Goryachev: 4 students, 30 mins each
                Free and open to the public: In the Sanctuary

12:00 – 1:00pm                 LUNCH

1:00 – 2:00pm            Workshop with Cameron O’Connor & Tom Strini: Exhibition and demonstration of historically significant and famous guitars from an anonymous private collection. Join moderator Tom Strini and performer Cameron O’Connor for a discussion on the development of the guitar through showcasing a 100-year span of instruments from builders Ramirez, Hauser II, Romanillos, and Elliot.
Location:  Free and open to the public: In the Sanctuary

2:00 – 3:00pm            Workshop with Berto Boyd & Grant Ruiz: How to play Flamenco Rumba: Learn to play the popular 4/4 rhythm from Spain. Students will learn basic strumming patterns & techniques with an introduction of how to improvise over the chord changes. Bring your guitar!
Location: Free and Open to the Public in the Allison Room

3:00 – 3:15pm                    BREAK

3:15 – 4:15pm             Workshop with Mickey Jones:  Practice Techniques for the Hands and the Mind: An introduction to practice approaches that will help the guitarist get the most out of their practices by addressing focus, concentration, problem solving, and musical imagination. Appropriate for all levels, bring your guitar!
Location: Free and Open to the Public in the Allison Room

4:15 – 5:15pm              Workshop with Mario Diaz (of the Oregon Guitar Quartet) : Musica Costeña: An introduction to the instruments and different musical forms from the coast of Peru. We will break down the respective rhythms and accompaniment techniques in Landó, Festejo, Marinera and more. Bring your guitar!
Location: Free and Open to the Public in the Allison Room

5:15 – 7pm                       DINNER

7:30pm- —                 Closing Concert: Flamenco/Classical Maestro Grisha Goryachev

FARMERS MARKET JUNE 2ND

Date: June 2nd, 2018
Time: 9:30 pm  to  1:00 pm
Members of the Guitar Society will be performing at the farmers market June 2nd and promoting the upcoming Guitar Festival. Come along and check it out and, if you want to play, let me know!

I look forward to seeing you on June 4th at our next monthly meeting,

Best Regards
Jon Sharp
President, Corvallis Guitar Society