2018-2019 Season

Jazz guitarist Peter Bernstein (b. 1967, New York City) has been a part of the jazz scene in New York and abroad since 1989. During that time he has participated in over 80 recordings and numerous festival, concert and club performances with musicians from all generations. As a leader, Peter has released nine albums and a DVD, Live at Smoke. He got his first break while attending the New School when he met the legendary guitarist Jim Hall. Hall asked Peter to participate in his Invitational Concert as part of the 1990 JVC Jazz Festival. The event featured such guitarists as John Scofield and Pat Metheny and was release as Live at Town Hall Vol. 2. by Music Masters. Hall noted that Peter “…has paid attention to the past as well as the future. He is the most impressive guitarist I’ve heard. He plays the best of them all for swing, logic, feel and taste.” Also in 1990, Peter Bernstein was discovered by alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson and took part in the first of four recordings with him. He was a regular member of his group throughout the 1990s. “Some people just have it.” Donaldson said. “…most of the time you have to teach someone what to do, but Peter knows it all.” Peter has also enjoyed long musical associations with legendary drummer Jimmy Cobb (Cobb’s Mob), as well as organist Larry Goldings and drummer Bill [...]

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An all-day guitar extravaganza featuring concerts and workshops by extraordinary guitarists:  Keyla Mejia, Nick Cutroneo, Randy Spaulding, Ron Calabrese, Dave Dick, Peppino D'Agostino and a performance by the Connecticut Guitar Society Ensemble. Guitar Day 2018 is an event sponsored by the Connecticut Guitar Society, the activities are open to the general public and guitar enthusiasts. Join us for a complete day of workshops and a performance by fingerstyle artist Peppino D'Agostino. Guitar Day 2018, Saturday, October 20 beginning at 9:00 AM in the Welte Hall located at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT. Tickets for the full day, are $45, $40 for CGS Members, $20 Students. The Guitar Day ticket includes the evening performance by Peppino D'Agostino.  Please pre-register by calling 860.249.1132 or emailing: info@ctguitar.org. Without doubt, Guitar Day will offer a sensational music experience for the public! The full day of events features master classes, workshops and lectures by some of today’s top performers and featuring instruction by Peppino D'Agostino, as well as an open stage.9:00 AM Registration  9:15 AM Warmups with Keyla Mejia 10:15 AM Classical with Nick Cutroneo 11:15 AM Sight Reading with Randy Spaulding12:15 PM Jazz and Jam with Ron Calabrese 1:00 PM Lunch and Luthier with Dave Dick 2:00 PM Fingerstyle seminar with [...]

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A young Sicilian artist left Italy over 30 years ago, with the dream of “playing with the greatest guitarists”.  Peppino has achieved his dream and he’s now firmly planted in the “who’s who” of the guitar world. Peppino D’Agostino emerged on the acoustic guitar scene in the early 80’s as a leading member of the second wave of the great fingerstylists that helped redefine the instrument in the ’90s. His remarkable technique, penchant for open tunings, and percussive effects are the basis of his unique compositional style which has been inspiring musicians and audiences alike for decades. Add to that his natural warmth, playfulness, and broad musical tastes and you have the recipe for what he calls “minestrone music”. His virtuosity and his emotional charge have also had a significant influence on the younger generation of fingerstyle guitarists. D’Agostino continues to evolve and grow in ways that would have been hard to predict when he first showcased his melodic yet emotionally intense style on the recordings Acoustic Spirit, Close to the Heart, and Every Step of the Way which was named one of the top three acoustic guitar albums of all time by Acoustic Guitar magazine readers. D’Agostino has performed in more than 30 countries, at prestigious international festivals and has played in some of [...]

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Ms. Chaconne Klaverenga burst onto the concert stage and international guitar competition world at age 14. Giving solo concerts to sold-out venues and securing 14 championship titles in the world’s most prestigious International Classical Guitar Competitions in the Junior, Senior, Collegiate and Artist Divisions (7 first place finishes; she has since retired from competition). Excerpts of her solo concerts and CD recordings have been featured 11 times on American Public Media’s Performance Today and Sunday Baroque. She has also been featured on National Public Radio’s From the Top with Maestra JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Her elegant and accomplished performances have won the hearts of audiences throughout the United States. The poetry of her interpretations and graceful yet exciting stage presence proves she plays the guitar the way the rest of us breathe. She has repeatedly been hailed by the press as a significant rising star in the world of classical guitar and one of the most beautiful women on stage. On April 10, 2013 Ms. Klaverenga performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. for the Kennedy Center Conservatory Project. “The Conservatory Project is an initiative of Performing Arts for Everyone's Millennium Stage. The Conservatory Project creates an ongoing showcase for our nation's [...]

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This fascinating duo will play jazz standards and tunes by Thad Jones, Hank Mobley, Steve Swallow plus bossa nova.Internationally renowned jazz flutist Ali Ryerson, consistently voted among the top jazz flutists in the Downbeat Jazz Poll for nearly a decade, tours with her quintet and in several other configurations. She is currently promoting her new Capri Records release, "Game Changer," a historic big band recording featuring 16 of the music's most influential flutists. The Ali Ryerson Quintet features players well-known for their contributions to the contemporary jazz scene: keyboardist and arranger Pete Levin, a top NY session player & Moog synthesizer pioneer, best known for his 15 year association with the legendary Gil Evans and his 8 year stint with jazz icon Jimmy Giuffre; guitarist/composer Mike DeMicco, long-time guitarist with the Brubeck Brothers; the original bassist from the Pat Metheny Group, Mark Egan, with his unique fretless electric bass sound, and the exciting addition of drummer Karl Latham, a veteran of the European Jazz scene since 1993, now a sought after drummer in the NY area. The music is adventurous and contemporary, with a focus on original material.Tony Lombardozzi has been a fixture on the jazz scene since the 1970s and throughout the decades he has performed extensively with some of the legendary jazz greats. He has worked with Clark [...]

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Hiroya is a one-of-a-kind composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter from Kyoto, Japan. He began playing the five-string banjo when he was thirteen, and took up the guitar shortly after. In 2000, Hiroya received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and came to the United States. He formed his own group in Boston "INTEROCEANICO (inter-oceanic)" which consists of unique musicians from different continents including Latin Grammy Colombian singer Marta Gomez. The group released three acclaimed records ("The Other Side of the World", "Confluencia" and "Where the River Shines"). Hiroya released two solo albums ("Heartland" and "Places") from Japanese record label 333 discs. Hiroya has been leading concerts internationally including several appearances at Blue Note in New York City with his group and Japanese National Television(NHK). Hiroya performed, recorded and shared stage with Esperanza Spalding, The Kennedys, Joe Jencks(Brother Sun), Michael League (Snarky Puppy), Brooks Williams and Jim Kweskin.

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“Duo Alterity is rapidly emerging as one of the premier Flute and Guitar Duos on today’s concert stage” (Richard Provost, Professor Emeritus and Founder of The Hartt School Guitar Department). The multi-award-winning ensemble has performed extensively across the United States, and was most recently invited to be artists-in-residence for the 2018 Connecticut Summerfest Contemporary Music Festival where they had the opportunity to work closely with emerging composers and give three world premieres.  Duo Alterity is extremely dedicated to the performance of new music. “Their zest for contemporary music shines through in every performance, and their zeal for diving into new compositions is abundant in their work with emerging composers” (Aaron N. Price, Artistic Director & Co-Founder, Connecticut Summerfest, Inc.). In 2016, they gave the world premiere of “La Perla del Pico” by Frank Wallace, and the 2019 season will see them back to Connecticut Summerfest. In 2017, Duo Alterity became finalists in the Classics Alive Young Artist Auditions, adding to their quickly growing list of awards. The ensemble also won 1st prize in the 2017 Music of Americas Great Composers Competition, the 2016 Vivo International Music Competition, and the 2016 Inaugural Hartt Chamber Music Competition.  Duo Alterity has performed at numerous [...]

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Emmy award winner Stephen Nystrup has traded in his bicycle messenger job in NYC and is now mountain biking throughout New England, and is playing in some of the great venues there. He has been around the world and back, both musically and geographically. Steve was born in Hartford and began playing the guitar at age twelve. "It was the most important thing in my life then," he says. Early influences were Sandy Bull, Tom Rush, John Fahey and Jorma Kaukonen. As a teen he travelled Connecticut playing in a trio called The Villigeaires. Steve began a musical journey that included two music degrees, as well as stops in Europe, Boston, and Martha's Vineyard where he played to the famous locals in a band called The Ogres and was hired by Peter Asher to work with Kate Taylor. He eventually found his way to New York City where he studied classical guitar with Herbert Levine while simultaneously playing in a new wave band called Reverse that released one album on Warner Bros. Since his debut solo album, "C" flat, and continuing with Driving Rain, Steve has been hailed as a guitar wizard and acoustic guitar hero, and his performances, says Roger Catlin of The Hartford Courant, are filled with "clear, evocative guitar work." His music has been described as driving and rhythmic, healing, and absolutely uplifting Steve's audiences leave a performance feeling they have been on a spiritual,[...]

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Guitarist TY Zhang received First Prize in the Guitar Foundation of American (GFA) International Concert Artists Competition in 2017, known as the most prestigious guitar contest in the world. He has received First Prize in other top competitions as well in Austria, China, Russia and the U.S., including the GFA International Competition Senior Division, Austria’s Forum Gitarre Wien International Youth Competition, the Changsha International Guitar Competition, the 2017 Schadt String Competition, and the 2017 Alexander Frauchi International Competition in Moscow.   TY has given recitals in Vienna, Serbia, China and the United States. His performance for the 2017 New York Guitar Festival was broadcast on WQXR radio. The GFA prize leads him on a concert tour starting in 2018 of over 50 cities in North America, including his recital debut in Carnegie Weill Hall, with additional dates in Europe, South America and his native China. TY performs Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Allentown Symphony in 2018 and recital/concerto tours in Russia as the prize of the Frauchi Competition. With the goal of sharing the love of music through guitar in every piece he plays, TY's concert repertoire is filled with diverse cross-genre music he loves. His debut CD will be released on Naxos in June of 2018, and includes works by Bach, Scarlatti, Brouwer, Assad, Tansman [...]

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Maria Zemantauski is a nylon-string guitarist and composer whose style is most significantly influenced by the Spanish classical and flamenco repertoire. She has performed in Spain, Italy and across the continental United States to great acclaim. Her albums, Mrs. Laughinghouse (1997), Seeing Red (2000), Under the Lemon Tree (2005), Petty Feet & Mistletoe (2010) and the self-titled, Maria Zemantauski (2018) have received stellar reviews from music critics around the world. Maria’s programs are a dynamic blend of artistic freedom, innovation and tradition. This is not surprising considering that as a child, she resisted guitar lessons, telling her encouraging parents that she wanted to “discover the instrument on her own without being told what to do.” As one reviewer wrote, “Zemantauski has continually pushed the boundaries of the possible with her trusty 6-string, blending genres that have little or no business appearing on the same bill, much less in the same song. It's rarely less than electrifying to watch her do it." She believes that the expressive possibilities of the guitar are limitless and pursues her music with passion, confidence and grace. With a Masters Degree in Cultural Anthropology, she is a relentless promoter of the arts as a vital educational component and an integral part of society. She is highly regarded for combining both [...]

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