Corvallis Guitar Society

Category: Newsletter

  • Newsletter November 2016

    Dear Guitar Friends,
    Thank you to all of you who came to the Guitar Society Meeting on November 7th. Yet again we had a great ensemble session and some lovely performances on the open stage. Thanks everyone!

    I am delighted to announce that, following the award of a grant from the Benton County Cultural Coalition (thank you BCCC!), we are now in the process of planning a Guitar Festival in Corvallis which is scheduled to take place on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th June 2017. Please mark your calendars! The Festival will comprise two concerts, a Masterclass with our internationally acclaimed headline concert artist (who we hope to announce soon), and guitar workshops. More information will follow as we nail down the details so please watch this space and please tell your friends.

    Looking forward to our next Guitar Society meeting on December 5th, I am very pleased to announce that our featured artist will be Eugene based classical guitarist Ricardo Cárdenas. Ricardo hails from Chile and is a master of Latin American music by composers including some of my personal favourites, Heitor Villa-lobos, Antonio Lauro, Agustin Barrios, and Joao Pernambuco. Ricardo also plays his own arrangements of Chilean songs, so come along and enjoy listening to some great music. There is no admission charge, but donations are gratefully received.

    I think everyone attending our meetings has been increasingly impressed with our open ensemble sessions. The overriding goal of these sessions is to encourage participation which has been expanding significantly in recent months. The quality of what we are playing is also on the up, but we will continue to include beginner-level material to ensure people of all ability levels are able to join in. As usual, I will post the music on the Guitar Society website one week ahead of the meeting so you can both review and download the parts you wish to play. Bring your parts, your guitar, and footstool and join in the fun!

    Upcoming Events: for those of you who were mesmerized by Flamenco star Fanny Ara and her wonderful group at the Majestic Theater this month, and are hungry for more, please note that Flamenco Pacifico featuring our very own Berto Boyd with Grant Ruiz, along with percussionist Terry Longshore and dancer Elena Villa, will be performing at the Majestic Theater on January 22nd. This will coincide with the release of their debut album which you can view (and support if you wish) on the Indiegogo website:
    http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/flamenco-pacifico-s-debut-album-music-guitar#/

    Many of you will already be aware that Gracewinds Music is closing its store. I would like to thank Ken, Sharon and Travis for their wonderful support which has helped establish the Corvallis Guitar Society over the last 20 months. Thank you Gracewinds! We are in the process of identifying a suitable new venue for our monthly meetings and that will be announced in the New Year. In the meantime, we will continue to meet at Gracewinds Music (3rd Flr) as usual.

    The agenda for the December 5th Meeting is as follows:
    7:00 – 7:05pm      Welcome
    7:05 – 7:40pm Open Ensemble: bring your guitar, footstool and join in. Music can be downloaded from the website one week ahead of time.
    7:40 – 8:10pm Open Stage: please share your music with us – all ages and abilities welcome.
    8:10 – 8:20pm BREAK and Refreshments
    8:20 – 9:00pm Featured Artist Ricardo Cárdenas. The meeting will take place as usual on the 3rd floor at Gracewinds Music downtown Corvallis (please use rear entrance).

    Thank you and Best Regards,
    Jon Sharp
    President, Corvallis Guitar Society

  • Newsletter October 2016

    Dear Guitar Friends,
    Thank you to all of you who came to the Guitar Society Meeting on October 3rd. We had a great ensemble session and some wonderful performances on the open stage by a number of our members of all ages and abilities. Our featured artist, Scott Kritzer, played some great pieces and provided fascinating insight into the background of the J. S. Bach Cello Suite arrangements by classical maestro and pedagogue Michael Lorimer. All-round entertaining, educational, and inspirational. Thanks everyone!

    For those of you who missed Scott, he will be performing as part of the Portland Classic Guitar Concert Series on Friday December 9th.  On the same subject, a group of us from CGS will be attending a number of the Portland guitar concerts, the next one being the Oregon Guitar Quartet on Friday October 28th. If you are interested in carpooling, get in touch with me. More information about that series can be found at:
    http://www.portlandclassicguitar.com/2016-2017-upcoming-concerts

    Meanwhile, here in Corvallis, we are pleased to announce that our very own Berto Boyd will be guest starring with internationally renowned flamenco dancer/choreographer Fanny Ara who is presenting her new show at the Majestic Theater, downtown Corvallis, on Saturday November 12th starting at 7:30pm. If you have never seen a flamenco show featuring all the elements of this amazing art form including singing, dance, and guitar, then check this one out. For more information and tickets go to:
    http://www.majestic.org/event/on-our-way-a-night-of-flamenco/?instance_id=1598

    Looking forward, our next meeting will be on Monday November 7th.  Following the fun we had last time with everyone participating, this meeting will feature extended ensemble and open stage sessions.

    The agenda for the November 7th Meeting is as follows:

    7:00 – 7:05pm      Welcome
    7:05pm to 7:50pm Open Ensemble: bring your guitar, footstool and join in. Music can be downloaded from the website one week ahead of time.
    7:50 – 8:00 pm BREAK and Refreshments
    8:00 – 9:00pm Open Stage: please share your music with us – all ages and abilities welcome

    The meeting will take place as usual on the 3rd floor at Gracewinds Music downtown Corvallis (please use rear entrance).

    Thank you and Best Regards,
    Jon Sharp
    President, Corvallis Guitar Society

  • August 2016 Newsletter

    Dear Guitar Friends,
    Thank you to all of you who came to see the Jaxon Williams concert last month at the Troubadour in downtown Corvallis. It was wonderful to hear such a great young talent perform here in town and I am sure this is not the last we will see of him. Jaxon is a Fulbright Scholar who is now heading down to the University of Southern California where he will begin his Doctorate studies with William Kannengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and we wish him all the very best.

    Over the summer there have been some changes to the Corvallis Guitar Society Board:

    (more…)

  • Newsletter June 2016

    Dear Guitar Friends,
    What a great time we all had with the events surrounding the visit by the great guitarist Tavi Jinariu. The concert on Sunday June 5th featuring many of the works performed by Andre Segovia was truly wonderful. Tavi played a great program displaying his prodigious talent and truly emulating the philosophy of Segovia that it is ‘all about the music’! Thanks to everyone for the great turn-out despite the heat.

    On Monday June 6th at Gracewinds Music, Tavi set a high bar for what we hope will be the first of many Master Classes presented by the Corvallis Guitar Society. Four students, Sofia, Paige, Paul, and Zoe performed wonderfully for Tavi who then worked with each student in turn to improve their playing and performance of the piece. Tavi’s generous spirit, knowledge, and musical genius combined to deliver valuable lessons to all of us who attended the class. If you have never been to a master class before, keep an eye open for the next one as they have a long tradition in music pedagogy (starting with Franz Liszt) and are a very valuable learning experience whether you perform in, or simply audit, the class.

    Tavi Master Class

    It was great to hear Tavi recount his life story at the Meet and Greet at The Troubadour on Tuesday June 7th as it pertains to the guitar from his childhood playing in Transylvania to his experience studying with Christopher Parkening in California. Hearing about his musical experiences and music philosophy as well as his teaching ethos endeared him greatly to those of us seeking to encourage and promote guitar playing. Tavi’s goal of “Putting the guitar back in the hands of the people” resonated strongly with Corvallis Guitar Society’s motto “Bringing local guitarists out of the woodwork” so I think we can expect to see Tavi involved in our future activities 🙂

    Upcoming Events:
    Looking forward please note there will NOT be a Corvallis Guitar Society meeting on Monday July 4th owing to the national holiday.

    Monday August 1st 7pm – 9pm Guitar Society Meeting, Gracewinds Music – more details on that will follow.

    Saturday July 23rd: The Guitar Society has booked a table at the Corvallis Farmers Market on July 23rd where we will be playing and handing out information. Please come on down and say hello!

    In the meantime here is some news from a couple of very good friends of the Guitar Society who have been featured artists in the past – James Edwards and David Rogers. Here is another opportunity to catch up with them:

    As of now: James Edwards has updated his website to make all the album downloads of his music free.  Sheet music for his arrangements is also available on the site. http://www.jamesbishopedwardsguitar.com/
    Friday July 15th: Laura Wayte and Guitarist, David Rogers perform a concert of Spanish Songs and Joni Mitchell covers, Friday, July 15 at 7:00pm at Marks Ridge Winery, 29255 Berlin Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386

     Saturday August 20th Musical Celebration of the life of Michael Fridley.

    Thank you and Best Regards,
    Jon Sharp
    President, Corvallis Guitar Society

  • May 2016 Newsletter

    Dear Guitar Friends,
    There are a number of key events, calendar, and time changes coming up in the next few weeks, so please read on!

    On Sunday June 5th at 3pm Corvallis Guitar Society is very excited to present our next major concert, “The Segovia Guitar with Tavi Jinariu”. Born in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania, Romania, Tavi began playing guitar at age 5. His obvious passion and ability led to a scholarship in 1999 that made it possible for him to study with one of the world’s preeminent classical guitarist, Christopher Parkening, who in turn was the American protégé of maestro André Segovia. By the age of twenty-three Tavi completed a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on classical guitar performance under the tutelage of Christopher Parkening and John Nelson. While contemplating other guitars, Tavi finds himself returning over and over to his old Ramirez instruments for recordings and performances due to their mysterious and haunting sound quality. Ramirez was one of the guitars favoured by André Segovia and Tavi’s program will feature some of the significant repertoire of the great Maestro. (more…)