Festival Concert Artists

Thursday, May 13:

Marina Alexandra and Mir Ali
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Marina Alexandra has established herself as a dynamic performer with a powerful stage presence. FingerStyle Guitar Magazine described her as an “amazing player who commands the guitar with world-class technique and musicianship that is uncommon." Over the past five years, she has received awards in several guitar competitions including the Music Teachers National Association State and Regional Competitions and recognition as a semifinalist in the 6th annual Edwin H. and Leigh W. Schadt National String Competition for classical guitar. In 2006 she was a semifinalist in the Columbus International Guitar Competition. Marina Alexandra was born in the Ukraine, where she began her guitar studies at the age of six. In 1996 she immigrated with her family to the United States and in 1998 she was awarded a scholarship and assistantship to continue her studies towards a Master of Music degree with Christopher Berg at the University of South Carolina. She is the founder of the Guitar Muse Concert Series in Columbia, South Carolina, which features nationally and internationally known guitarists. She has released two albums: Timeless Enchantment (Baroque, Classical, Modern, and Latin-American music) and A Moment of Magic (Russian modern music by Nikita Koshkin). Her last CD received reviews in such prestigious music magazines as the Soundboard, and the American Record Guide. She has served on the faculties of University of South Carolina (Aiken), Wingate University, and Columbia College. Her students have been awarded scholarships from Eastman School of Music, Peabody Conservatory, and the University of Southern California, and have received top prizes in national and international guitar competitions.
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Pakistani-born guitar virtuoso and composer Mir Ali has been described by Acoustic Guitar Magazine as “an exceptional nylon string guitarist” and by NPR as "mesmerizing and hypnotic" Since winning his first guitar competition at the age of thirteen, Mir has been raising the eyebrows of audiences and music critics around the globe with unique, expressive and dazzling performances. He is a fluent performer of flamenco guitar, an experienced jazz stylist, a trained practitioner of North Indian classical music, an award-winning classical guitarist, and a composer of music in several genres. Ali’s compositions are published with Mel Bay Publications as part of a graded repertoire series for guitarists. In 2003 Mir composed an original soundtrack for the documentary Roots and Branches- personal reflections on adoption, which was given the “Award of Excellence” by the Niagara Film Commission.

A much in-demand soloist, chamber and studio musician and guitar pedagogue, Mir’s performances and masterclasses have taken him to three continents and have been greeted with standing ovations and critical acclaim. He has performed across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. In the past two seasons, he has toured Spain, Italy, Canada, and has performed at New York’s Shea Stadium before a crowd of over 5,000 people. His appearance with the Irish Classical Theater Company in the production of Federico Garcia Lorca's “Blood Wedding” awarded him outstanding reviews. Buffalo News referred to his performance as "…stunningly perfect…” His popularity as a teacher continues to grow throughout the United States and Canada. Mir has produced several guitar students who have won competitions and gone on to successful performance careers. He has given masterclasses, lectures and workshops at many colleges and universities throughout the United States including Austin Peay State University, Northern Illinois University, Wheaton College, Appalachian State University, Cleveland School of Music, University of Akron and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He continues to perform and adjudicate at prestigious guitar competitions and festivals such as the Appalachian Guitar Festival, Charlottesville Guitar Festival, North-East Ohio Guitar Festival, Rantucci International Guitar Festival and competition and The St. Carles Festival in Tarragona, Spain.

Mir’s first recording “Café” with Buffalo Philharmonic flautist Betsy Reeds on the Triloca label features music from Pakistan, Flamenco transcriptions from Spain (Andalusia), Latin America, Cuba, Ireland and Italy. The CD is heard throughout the country on numerous radio stations including National Public Radio. Mercury News of San Jose, California, refers to the CD as "…an absolute joy…" Richard Bruné from the Guild of American Luthiers in a recent review comments "…well played and artfully presented by some of the leading proponents of their instruments today…" His new album Dances and Romances features a collection of Nuevo Flamenco and classical works, Jazz standards with vocalist Beth Aschbacher and two new original compositions. Mir currently resides in Buffalo, New York where he serves as President of the Buffalo Guitar Society and Director of the Rantucci International Guitar Festival and Competition. He has served on the music faculties of Villa Maria College and the Community Music School in Buffalo, New York and University of Akron in Ohio. Mir Ali is represented by Jaffar Shah Management of New York and Performing Arts Management by special arrangement with Sandra Wicinski.

Friday, May 14:

Stephen Aron and Marco Sartor
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Described by the New York Times as "cultivated and musical," Stephen Aron has established himself at the center of the American classical guitar scene. His first solo CD, Sketches, features the first recordings of works by Ned Rorem and David Bernstein. Of this recording, the Cleveland Plain Dealer said it features "interpretations that sing with vibrant rhythm, subtle color and a feeling of intimacy." Mr. Aron's recording of Chopin Mazurkas on solo guitar (Clear Note Publications) has been described "as the most important contribution to the repertoire (by arrangement) in recent years...breathtaking" (Guitar Review). An avid arranger, his work is published by Clear Note Publications, Tuscany Editions ("wonderful guitaristic arrangement," American Music Teacher) and Mel Bay Publications ("historic," Guitart). He recently released three new publications: a collection of Handel arias arranged for voice and guitar; the complete guitar works of Brazilian composer, Burle Marx; and an original composition, Rockport Stomp, all with Clear Note.

A vigorous chamber music advocate, he performs regularly with JoNell Aron, a soprano with whom he has recorded two CD's. Of Shine On Harvest Moon, Fanfare magazine said it was "warmly recommended"; of In My Heart, Soundboard called it "one of the best discs to cross my desk." Stephen Aron has adjudicated and produced numerous national and international competitions. A frequent guest at guitar festivals, he has appeared at such events as GFA Conventions, Stetson International Guitar Festivals, Portland Guitar Festivals, Great Lakes Festivals, Weathersfield Chamber Music Festival, Rantucci Guitar Festivals, Appalachian Guitar Festivals, Eastman Guitar Festivals, Ithaca College Winter Guitar Festival, Yale University Guitar Extravaganza, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, Tennessee Guitar Festival, National Summer Guitar Workshop, Alexandria Guitar Festival, Classical Minds Guitar Festival, and the ECU Summer Guitar Workshop.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GFA from 1991-93, Aron hosted and directed GFA Festivals in Akron in 1988 and in Oberlin in 2005. In addition to his post as Professor of Music and Chairman of Guitar Studies at the University of Akron (since 1981), Stephen Aron is Teacher of Classical Guitar and founder of the classical guitar studies program at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (since 1991).
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Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Marco Sartor is a top prize winner in numerous international competitions including first prizes in the Schadt String Competition, Texas Guitar Competition, and the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition. He has performed extensively across the USA and appeared as a soloist with the Allentown Symphony, Virginia Symphony and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestras. Marco has also performed and was featured in radio and television broadcasts throughout Spain, Germany, Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay to both critical and public acclaim.

As an increasingly sought-after teacher, he has been invited to give master-classes in Uruguay, Argentina, and a number of universities and conservatories in the USA. He has started the guitar programs at the Carnegie Mellon Music Preparatory School in Pittsburgh, PA and at the Charleston Academy of Music in Charleston, SC, where he currently teaches. Marco Sartor received degrees from the College of Charleston and Carnegie Mellon University. He studied with Robert Ravera, Mario Paysee and Eduardo Fernandez in Uruguay and Marc Regnier and James Ferla in the USA.

Saturday, May 15:

José Lezcano and Christopher Berg
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Described by the New Millennium Guitar Magazine as "a superb guitarist as well as a first-rate composer and arranger" José Manuel Lezcano has captivated audiences on four continents. His programs, featuring traditional and Latin American repertory, and his own original compositions, have taken him as recitalist, collaborative musician, and concerto soloist from Carnegie Recital Hall and the North-South Consonance Series in New York City to major venues and festivals in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic and Germany. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1960, Lezcano was invited to join the faculty of Keene State College in New Hampshire in 1991, where he is Professor of Music and teaches courses in guitar, music theory, and Latin American music; he directs the Guitar Orchestra and Latin American ensemble. He earned degrees from Peabody Conservatory (BM), University of South Carolina (MM), and Florida State University (Ph.d. music theory) where his teachers included Aaron Shearer and Christopher Berg. He also participated in master classes taught by Michael Lorimer, Sharon Isbin. Leo Brouwer, the noted Cuban guitarist and composer, referred to him as "a magnificent guitarist—un guitarista magnifico." Dr. Lezcano's own Guitar Concerto (2004), which he premiered in New York City as soloist with the North-South Consonance Chamber Orchestra directed by Max Lifschitz, has received critical acclaim after release on the North-South label in 2007 as Remembrances/Recuerdos. Fanfare Magazine wrote, "Colorfully scored… agreeable music, and dashingly performed by the composer." Turok's Choice wrote, "Lezcano's Guitar Concerto (is) a first-rate composition… Lezcano is a fine guitarist in his own cause." And the American Record Guide wrote, "Amiability is the keynote in the latest collection… by the excellent North-South Chamber Orchestra… Lezcano's Guitar Concerto is an atmospheric, tuneful melange." In September, 2008, Dr. Lezcano performed his concerto with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Peru. He has also performed it with orchestras in Ecuador, Colombia, and New Hampshire. Dr. Lezcano's works include two additional concerti, a song cycle, a choral suite, chamber music, and solos, written in an eclectic, expressive, but accessible language that is praised for "energy" and "soaring melodies" (Flute Talk). His chamber works with guitar, published by Alry and Tuscany, have been performed by major artists including Ricardo Cobo, Antigoni Goni, Duo Fresco, the Alturas Duo, and William Bennet. A recent CD by Ms. Goni, Songs from the New Villageincludes José's Sonatina Tropical.

José has earned numerous awards, including first prize in the MTNA National Guitar Competition, the NH State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, NHMTA Composer of the Year (2002 & 07), KSC Distinguished Research Award, and a Fulbright Award to Ecuador, where he performed as orchestral soloist and pursued research on indigenous guitar traditions. Jose's scholarly publications include Latin American Music Review, Soundboard, and the Latino Encyclopedia. He has lectured throughout the state for the NH Humanities Council on Ecuadorean indian guitar traditions, rituals, and mythology. Most recently in 2007, two additional works received New York premieres (Viola Concerto, and Tango-Overture) by orchestras North-South Consonance and the Astoria Symphony with soloist Brett Deubner.
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Christopher Berg has performed hundreds of recital and concerto appearances throughout the United States, including some of the country’s most prestigious venues: Carnegie Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York; The Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago; The Norton Gallery in West Palm Beach; The Garth Newell Chamber Music Festival in Warm Springs, VA; Xavier University Artist Series in Cincinnati and The Norton Gallery Artist Series in West Palm Beach. Recent tours have included recitals at the New England Guitar Festival at Northeastern University in Boston, the Radford University International Guitar Festival in Virginia, the Appalachian Guitar Festival in Boone, NC, the St. Joseph International Guitar Festival in Missouri, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The National Endowment for the Arts has honored him as a recipient of a Solo Recitalist Fellowship and the South Carolina Arts Commission has awarded him two Solo Artist Fellowships. The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) called his playing “a stellar display of guitar virtuosity,” and The State (Columbia, SC) found his performance of Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez “electrifying...hugely enjoyable and freshly played,” and his New York debut concert at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1981 was praised by the New York Times for its "special sensitivity."

The Pilgrim Forest, his recording of original compositions for solo guitar, has been praised as “a journey through a new geography… nothing less than radiant and compelling,” (The State) and an “uncharted forest of music that is free-flowing, vibrant, expansive and modern — even postmodern” (The Free Times). William Starr of The State selected The Pilgrim Forest as one of the top ten classical releases of 2000.

Christopher Berg received his training at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, in master classes with Andrés Segovia at the University of Southern California, and at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis in Switzerland. He is a professor of music at the University of South Carolina where he directs the classical guitar program and in 2008 was named a Carolina Distinguished Professor, the university’s highest honor. His students have won top prizes in regional and national competitions. He was honored by the University of South Carolina as a recipient of a Michael J. Mungo Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in 2000 and in 2003 he was awarded the Cantey Outstanding Faculty Award by the School of Music. In 2003 his former students created the Christopher Berg Endowment Fund at USC, which supports The Christopher Berg Guitar Award presented annually to an outstanding undergraduate guitar student at USC. He is the author of Mastering Guitar Technique: Process and Essence and Giuliani Revisited. Neil Smith, in the October 2002 issue of Classical Guitar Magazine (Great Britain) wrote of Mastering Guitar Technique, “Mr. Berg's analysis is among the most thorough and professional to come my way…. If you are having real problems playing clearly, efficiently and in a relaxed manner, this could be the book for you to read and open up your technical know-how.” His recent article, “The Re-Imagination of Performance,” appeared in the January 2009 issue of Soundboard (Volume 35, No. 1), the Journal of the Guitar Foundation of America. In June 2009 he spoke at the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Competition and Convention in Ithaca, NY on “The Re-Imagination of Performance: The Performer as Co-Creator.”