Marc Teicholz   September 14, 1990, Williamsurg Regional LIbrary Theater; Sep 15, 1990, Unitarian Church, Norfolk

Classical guitarist Marc Teicholz, a native of Berkeley, is the first prize winner in the 1989 seventh International Guitar Competition of the Guitar Foundation of America. the GFA competition is the largest, most prestigious contest of its kind in the United States. Marc Teicholz graduated magna cum laude from Yale University in 1985. In 1986 he earned his masters degree at the Yale school of music and won top prize at the Paganini competition in Georgia. His teachers have included David Tanenbaum, Eliot Fisk, Robert Guthrie, Benjamin Verdery, Manuel Barrueco and John Williams. In 1990 Teicholz graduated from the Boalt Law School at U.C. Berkeley.

Teicholz has appeared as a concerto soloist with the Cordoba City Orchestra in Spain and with the Oakland East Bay Symphony. His performance in Spain was reviewed as "Delicioso y muy expresivo". Benjamin Verdery has called Teicholz "unquestionably one of America's outstanding young guitarists". Soundboard Magazine said that Teicholz kept "the audience at the edge of their seats" and that "he was a player not afraid of taking chances, and ... was consistently successful in bringing his interpretive ideas across both musically and technically". Marc Teicholz is, as part of his prize, playing a 50 concert tour of the United States and Canada. A CD of Sor compositions performed by Teicholz is available on Amazon.com.

Eduardo Fernandez   October 5, 1990, Wells Theater, Norfolk; Oct 6, 1990, Williamsburg Regional Library Theater

Since his spectacular New York debut in 1977, Eduardo Fernandez has been hailed across North America and Europe as one of the most brilliant guitarists of his generation. On the occasion of that debut, Donald Henahan of the New York Times reported, "Rarely has this reviewer heard a more impressive debut recital on any instrument." Since then, the Uruguayan born Mr. Fernandez has performed throughout North America and Europe to growing acclaim as one of the world's top guitarists. He also is the only guitarist to have been signed by Decca/London to a long-term recording contract since Andrés Segovia. Mr Fernandez records two albums a year for the label, and several of his recordings - including both solo recital and orchestral albums with the English Chamber Orchestra - have been cited as "Best" by such publications as Stereo Review and the New York Times. CD's are available at this writing (3/2000) from www.cdnow.com.

Mr. Fernandez brought to us one of the most controversial concerts we have ever presented. Because of previous recordings and advertising hype, we expected a very conventional classical guitar concert à la Segovia. Instead, we found that over half of the concert was devoted to two (one in each set) very avante garde pieces that were either hated or loved by the attendees. Well, we do need new pieces written, and perhaps we should put Fernandez down for great courage in presenting very controversial music because he believed it should be presented. On the other hand, we must note that he was not called back for an encore at either concert. The pieces in question were the last in each set, which in itself is questionable programming. I have resigned myself to being prepared for at least one off-the-wall piece in an evening, but two was a bit much for this listener.

Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl   Nov 16, 1990, Williamsurg Regional LIbrary Theater; Nov 17, 1990 Chrysler Museum Theater

The medium of the classical guitar duo is one of great beauty, combining the expressive nuance of the instrument with the rich textures and sonorities of two guitars. Its literature is diverse - including music originally written for guitar duo as well as transcriptions of music composed for other mediums - and spans the Classical and Romantic periods through contemporary and Latin American idioms.

Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl have established themselves as one of the leading American guitar duos, performing for enthusiastic audiences in New York's Carnegie Recital Hall, London's Wigmore Hall and at music series throught America. The Journal of the American String Teacher's Association says "They have demonstrated just how wonderful two fine musicians can sound on two guitars. The concert was superb." Of the Williamsburg concert, the Virginia Gazette wrote, " ... Gray & Pearl provided an ingratiating, if somewhat too long, program ... Playing and style were impeccable throughout."

Milwaukee Quartet   February 2, 1991, Chrysler Museum Theater

Well, count this as a place holder until more information is available. It also counts as a tribute to Sam Dorsey's gift of 'Making the show go on', in spite of everything. Originally, The Amsterdam Trio was scheduled to play this evening, but for some unknown reason, they cancelled their American tour. With a great scramble, Sam found and booked the Prague Guitar Quartet in their stead. But at the last minute, they found they could not get a visa (Remember, this was still very near the cold war days). One more scramble turned up the Milwaukee Quartet. Or so my notes say. Apparently I did not attend this concert, as I don't have a copy of the program, and Sam's scrap book is equally silent. We did present a concert; it was a quartet, and I'm pretty sure of their identity. But I don't have a picture or a program or any other clue. Maybe somebody out there knows something?

David Russell   October 16, 1998, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia;
Oct 17, 1998, Williamsurg Regional LIbrary Theater

David Russell was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1953. He spent his childhood on the Spanish Island of Menorca, where he was introduced to the guitar by his father, an accomplished guitarist.

At London's Royal Academy of Music, David Russell studied guitar with Hector Quine, and in 1975 he received a grant from the Spanish government to study with José Tomas in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. He has won numerous international competitions, including the Julian Bream Guitar Prize, the Alicante Guitar Competition, the Andrés Segovia Competition in Palma de Mallorca, and - Spain's most prestigious competition - the Tárrega Prize in Benicasim. In 1979 Mr. Russell became one of the Greater London Art Association's "Young Musicians of London".

David Russell has given recitals in Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia, and Africa, all to enthusiastic acclaim. He made both his Wigmore Hall debut in London and his Merkin Concert Hall debut in New York the same year. Upon hearing Mr. Russell's playing in London, Andrés Segovia wrote, "my congratulations on your musicality and guitaristic technique." Uruguayan composer Guido Santorsola composed the "Brasileira" Sonata No. 5 for Russell, and guitarist-composer Jorge Morel dedicated "Sonatina" to him.

Manuel Barrueco   April 13, 1991, Chrysler Museum Theater

Classical guitarist Manuel Barrueco has won critical and audience acclaim across North America, South America, Europe and Asia. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Scottish National Orchestra and the Finnish Radio Symphony, among others. His triumphant recitals have taken him to many of the country's leading musical centers, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and San Francisco. Abroad, Mr. Barrueco is heard regularly in London, Rome, Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Vienna, Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich, Brussels and Paris. His four recordings for Vox have been best sellers for many years, and he recently established a long term relationship with EMI/Angel records beginning 1987-88.

We could list compliments from newspapers around the world, but - cutting to the chase - our own Virginian Pilot wrote of this concert, "Manuel Barrueco is rated among the world's most celebrated guitarists, and at a Chrysler Museum performance Saturday, it was easy to understand why. In a program of light pieces from Spain, the Cuban-born guitarist had the virtuosity and restraint to let the music speak." Of course, being called back for two encores means something also.

TCGS Members Concert   May 11, 1991, St Andrews Episcopal Church, Norfolk (Ghent)

Well, this is an easy one. There are no photos, and no records other than the program for the evening, which is surely - in at least some details - wrong. Since I'm writing, I'll tell you what I know something about, and let others add information if and when they so desire. Somewhere during this year, I took a call from a lady wanting reservations to a concert in Williamsburg, and discovered that she sang and played guitar in a ladies trio, who presented songs from my favorite era (which is surely way before your time, gentle reader). After many conversations, I convinced them to sing for our members' concert, and convinced Tim Olbrych to help me accompany them. That would be 'Autumn Lace' (the vocal trio) and 'The Rhythm Boys' (Tim on guitar and I on electric bass - except for the encore, where we switched because we had no music for the piece. He reads stuff. I just hear stuff).

I just noted that the membership of the last group (the TCGS Ensemble) is not listed, although several other groups are. I'm pretty sure I was there, as I believe I transcribed the Handel piece played. And John Boyles, Sam Dorsey and the other usual suspects are virtual certainties. I think we were about eight in all. Enough to make a lot of noise. Of course, all of the above was simply a prelude for the hootenanny that followed.

Autumn Lace: Glenna Kennedy, Joan Bonnett and Shirley Godwin
Rhythm Boys: Timothy Olbrych and David Wolverton
Peninsula Quintet: John Allen, Chris Basford, Marc Cheek, Timothy Olbrych and David Wolverton