This Fall Julian Gray will be joining the faculty of the Shenandoah Conservatory of the Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia where he has been appointed as Professor of Music and Director of the Guitar Studies. As he begins his new role at Shenandoah he will remain Chair of the Guitar Department at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University continuing his studio there.

Recognized as one of the most gifted and eminent performers, recording artists and teachers in the guitar world, Julian Gray's career over three decades include critically acclaimed recordings on the Dorian-Sono Luminus label and concert appearances and masterclasses throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. His work in helping to establish the guitar duo repertoire include his many arrangements for duo with partners Ronald Pearl and Serap Bastepe-Gray and the commissioning and premieres of works by composers such as Roberto Sierra, David Leisner, Gilbert Biberian, Loris Chobanian, William Bland, Oliver Hunt and Benjamin Verdery. His students are frequent top prize winners at major national and international solo guitar, guitar concerto and chamber ensemble competitions and his many former students are members of University, College and Conservatory faculties in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

In commenting on his new position, Mr. Gray stated "I am tremendously pleased to become a member of the faculty of the Shenandoah Conservatory. With a long tradition of excellence and community, exciting new hires as the great Irish pianist John O'Conor and Jonathan Snowden (former principal flute of the London Philharmonic) and the visionary leadership of Dean Michael Stepniak, I see nothing but the most exciting prospects for the Conservatory's future. I am also looking forward to exploring the creative synergies possible between the Shenandoah and Peabody Conservatories and partnerships with Shenandoah's vibrant Theatre and Dance programs."

For more information about the Shenandoah Conservatory, please visit http://www.conservatory.su.edu/

Sharon Isbin receives CAG Award, Public Television Concert, Rave review in DC, TM Magazine profile, & Documentary debut; Juilliard students on NPR’s From the Top & WQXR

Concert Artists Guild honors Sharon Isbin this month with their prestigious Virtuoso Award. Past Winners include Ned Rorem, Paquito D'Rivera, and Eugenia Zuckerman. On June 25, a one-hour documentary on Sharon Isbin produced by Susan Dangel will receive its world premiere at the GFA convention in Louisville. For future updates re screenings and television broadcasts of the documentary, sign up for newsletter notices at http://sharonisbin.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Public Television’s broadcast of Sharon Isbin’s live solo concert at the Portland Festival is now viewable in HD! Click here to watch the one-hour program:

http://bit.ly/UJ1ZsZ

The Washington Post gave Isbin a rave review of her recent solo recital in DC:

http://wapo.st/XSS3g4

Following her performances this season with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote: ‘Sharon Isbin is nearly a legend in the guitar scene. She created such a refined sound & elegant expression…As a guest of the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (ZKO) in the Tonhalle, she played with exquisite colors & poetry, the guitaristic effects & dynamic layers were gorgeous.’

She was recently profiled in The Transcendental Meditation Magazine:

http://issue7.tmmagazine.org/monet-of-classical-guitar.html

and has been featured on the cover of over 45 magazines, including Gramophone and Fanfare:

http://www.sharonisbin.com/presscovers.html

Sharon is also dedicated to mentoring the next generation. Hear her remarkable Juilliard students featured in a broadcast this month on WQXR’s Young Artists Showcase from their live concert at Juilliard:

http://www.wqxr.org/#!/programs/youngartists/2013/jun/05/

Included is 18yr-old sophomore Bokyung Byun who recently appeared on NPR’s nationally syndicated program "From the Top” – hear her performance at 11:50 in the NPR audio file:

http://www.fromthetop.org/content/show-270-athens-georgia

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