Virtuoso Showcase Concert
The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society presents:
Virtuoso Showcase Concert
Sunday, September 20, 2009, 3:00 PM
Forest Hill Church
Sonata A Minor HWV 362 George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Larghetto
Allegro
Sevilla (Sevillanas) from Suite Española Op. 47 Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Robert Gruca, guitar
The Lass from the Low Countree John Jacob Niles (1892-1980)
Reward
Aria from Bachianas Brasileiros No. 5 Hector Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Two Songs From Haitienesques Frantz Casseus (1915-1993)
Assotô (Ceremonial Drum)
Cé Grand Matin (Such a Lively Morning)
Diane Menges, soprano and Brian Kozak, guitar
Intermission
Histoire du Tango Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Bordel 1900
Café 1930
Nightclub 1960
Virginia Crabtree, flute and Benjamin Kunkel, guitar
Prelude from Lute Suite BWV 995 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Julia Florida Agustín Barrios (1885-1944)
Vals, Op. 8 No. 4
The Bat Pat Metheny (b.1954)
Jason Vieaux, guitar
Biographies
Robert Gruca
Robert Gruca is an exciting guitarist who performs a wide range of solo, chamber, and orchestral music from the classical guitar repertoire. In recent seasons he has played solo concerts in over a dozen venues in the United States, including Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, as well as in Ontario, Canada. He has been described as a “wonderful and engaging performer” “bringing passion and artistry to his performance.”
In 2004, he toured the eastern United States and Europe with the Cleveland Orchestra performing Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 under the direction of Franz Welser-Most. Other performances with the Cleveland Orchestra include Kurt Weill’s Little Three Penny Music, Igor Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol under the baton of Pierre Boulez, and Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony with Howard Shore conducting. Robert Gruca made his concerto debut performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Marquette Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Nuvi Mehta.
With his expressive and nuanced musical interpretation and his complete technical command over the instrument, Robert Gruca won first prizes in the Columbus State Guitar Symposium Competition, the Appalachian State Guitar Festival Competition, and the East Carolina University Guitar Festival Competition. He was a top prize winner in the Rantucci International Guitar Competition and a semifinalist in both the Guitar Foundation of America Competition and the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition. He also received the 2007 Distinguished Alumni award from Grand Valley State University, Department of Music.
Robert Gruca studied with John Holmquist and Jason Vieaux at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree. He is described by both Holmquist and Vieaux as “one of the most talented guitarists” of his generation. Previous teachers include Brian Morris of Grand Valley State University and Roger Humphrey of Olivet College. He has participated in master classes with such prominent guitarists as David Russell, Lily Afshar, Judicael Perroy, Stephen Robinson, Sergio & Odair Assad, Hubert Kappel, Antigoni Goni, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
In a 2006 compact disc, Robert Gruca recorded solo guitar works by Bogdanovic, Koshkins, Dyens, Rodrigo, Schubert and J. S. Bach. He has recently completed a recording of several pieces by Handel including some original transcriptions. That compact disc will be released under the MSR record label in 2009.
In addition to performing, Robert Gruca is a highly motivated and dedicated guitar instructor who has a private guitar studio in University Heights and Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Diane Menges and Brian Kozak
Diane Julin Menges is the Soprano Soloist at First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland, where she has sung numerous works such as Faure Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Saint-Saens’ Christmas Oratorio. Her concert engagements include Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and Vaughan- William’s Serenade to Music with Robert Porco, as well as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Creation with Robert Page. Ms. Menges has sung Mozart’s Requiem for PAND (Performers and Artists For Nuclear Disarmament), and Canteloube’s Chants D’Auvergne with the Heights Chamber Orchestra. A frequent guest soloist at area churches, Ms. Menges has performed such works as Bach’s Cantata #51, Schubert’s Mass in G and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate. A former member of Apollo’s Fire, she has stepped in for soprano Sandra Simon to sing Bach’s Magnificat alongside Suzie LaBlanc and Elizabeth Shammash, and understudied roles for soprano Meredith Hall. In recital, Ms. Menges performs a wide range of repertoire from Baroque to contemporary. She has enjoyed two successful seasons presenting The Jesus Project A Musical Journey into the Life of Jesus through the Eyes of Poets. Ms. Menges is in the process of copyrighting this work which she created with new music from New York and Cleveland-based composers. On January 23, 2010 she will be featured at The Hermit Club in a musical review from the Big Band Era with singer/dancer Bob Gates.
Brian Kozak is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Baldwin-Wallace College with degrees in Classical Guitar Performance. He’s studied guitar with John Holmquist and Loris Chobanian and performed in master classes with Manuel Barrueco, Aaron Shearer, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Grey and Pearl Duo and many others. Featured as a solo performer at Capital University, Kent State University and Lorain County Community College as well as ensemble performances with Red (an orchestra), the Baldwin-Wallace Motet Choir, the Lorain County Civic Orchestra and the Lakeland Civic Orchestra. A regular performer at the First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland as well as with Latin American, jazz, pop and rock ensembles. In addition to holding a full-time lectureship in the music department at Cuyahoga Community College’s metro campus Jazz Studies Program, Mr. Kozak currently directs the Childbloom Guitar Program of Cleveland and has taught guitar at Baldwin-Wallace College for Loris Chobanian during his sabbatical.
Virginia Crabtree and Benjamin Kunkel
Flutist Virginia Crabtree is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music where she received her Masters degree studying with Mary Kay Fink and Joshua Smith. Holding a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University, Virginia graduated Magna Cum Laude with Woodwind Departmental Honors in 2007. With performances ranging from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia to concerts for the Seminari Musicali Internazionali in Prato, Italy, Virginia has performed extensively on both flute and piccolo. In addition to these instruments, this Spring Virginia played the Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 on baroque flute with the Case Western Early Music Ensemble. A native of San Diego, Virginia has been a member of the California Young Artist Guild since 2003 and in 2006 was a finalist for the Northwestern Concerto Competition. In March, 2008 Virginia was also a finalist for the piccolo position of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and in August 2008 she won second place in the National Flute Association Piccolo Artist competition. Virginia also enjoys teaching music and this Summer served on the flute faculty for the Interlochen Arts Camp in Interlochen, Michigan.
Benjamin Kunkel grew up in Mankato, Minnesota, where he began playing the guitar at the age of nine. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota, studying under guitarist Jeffrey Van, and a Master of Music degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying under world renowned guitarist Jason Vieaux. Benjamin is an active solo and chamber musician, having performed recitals across Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania. He has performed in master classes with a number of distinguished artists, including Ricardo Iznaola, Stanley Yates, Ricardo Gallen, Nigel North, Paul O’Dette and Carlos Perez. A dedicated teacher, Benjamin is currently on the faculty of the Cleveland Music School Settlement, and is also a sought after guest instructor, recently giving master classes for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society and guitar students at Edinboro University.
Jason Vieaux
One of the “leading guitarists of his generation” (Absolute Sound, 2009), Jason Vieaux has earned a devoted international fan base, and each season plays over 50 engagements across the US and abroad. Highlights of the 2009 – 2010 season include recitals for Lincoln Center and 92nd St. Y in New York, two sold-out concerts for Dumbarton Oaks Concert Series in Washington DC, a debut with Charlotte Symphony, and recitals for Spivey Hall, Indiana University, and Toronto’s Mooredale Series. In addition, Jason will travel to Poland and Korea this season, and return to concert series and festivals in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Hartford, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Norfolk, Greenville, and Steamboat Springs.
Jason Vieaux has recorded ten commercial CDs to date, including seven highly acclaimed solo records. Bach; Works for Lute, Vol.1 was released in the spring of 2009 on Azica Records, and, after hitting #13 on Billboard’s Classical Chart after its first week, received rave reviews by Gramophone Magazine and The Absolute Sound. Sevilla: The Music of Isaac Albéniz, was rated one of the Top Ten Classical CDs of 2003 by The Philadelphia Inquirer and Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. Images of Metheny is a CD of music by renowned American jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny. Metheny, after listening to this landmark recording, declared: “I am flattered to be included in Jason’s musical world.”
Jason Vieaux began guitar studies at age eight with Jeremy Sparks in Buffalo, and continued at The Cleveland Institute of Music with John Holmquist. He is the youngest First Prize winner in the history of the GFA International Guitar Competition, a Naumburg Foundation prizewinner, and a recipient of The Cleveland Institute of Music’s Alumni Achievement Award. Jason Vieaux is Head of the Cleveland Institute of Music Guitar Department.