Ralph Towner    Sep 19, 1992, Chrysler Museum Theater, Norfolk; Sept 20, 1992, Williamsburg Regional Library, Williamsburg

Ralph Towner was born in Washington state in 1940, and grew up in Oregon. He began to improvise at the piano at age 5 , imitating recordings from the WW II era. The Towner family were all musicians, and instruments from the brass, string, and woodwind groups were all represented in the family orchestra. Ralph began formal study on trumpet, and began playing in dixieland, swing and polka bands at age seven. Although his mother was a piano teacher and church organist, he declined to study the keyboard and continued as a self-taught pianist/ improvisor.

He studied classical composition at the University of Oregon, graduated in 1963, and went to Vienna, Austria, to study classical guitar, an instrument he discovered in his fourth year of college. He studied for a year under the renowned Professor Karl Scheit, returned to the University of Oregon for graduate studies with professor Homer Keller, then returned for a second year of study in Vienna. He then moved to New York City in 1968 to continue his career as guitarist-pianist-composer in earnest. In 1980 he added the keyboard synthesizers to his instrumental arsenal.

Since 1970 he has recorded over thirty albums under his own name and has collaborated in concert and/ or recording with Keith Jarrett, Weather Report (Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter), Egberto Gismonti, Gary Burton, John Abercrombie, Gary Peacock, Jack De Johnette, Jan Hammer, Eddie Gomez, Elvin Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Oregon, and the Paul Winter Consort (to mention a few). He has won numerous awards, including two German Grammies (Deutsche Schallplatten Preise) for the best jazz recording: of 1976 world-wide (Solstice, with Jan Garbarek, Eberhard Weber and Jon Christenson), and again in 1988 for 'Ecotopia' with the group 'Oregon' (Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, Trilok Gurtu), a US Grammy nomination, the Downbeat magazine poll as guitarist, and the New York Jazz Award as best New York City acoustic guitarist among them. He has performed world-wide in Asia, Africa, South America, Eastern and Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Japan and North America; in jazz clubs and major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Vienna's Mozartsaal, etc.

PROGRAM

No program was made available for this concert. Mr Towner announced the pieces from the stage as he played them, and everyone was too busy enjoying the concert to write them down. You might, however, consider his recordings (see link above) for a list of what he might have played. A review of the concert in Williamsburg mentioned specifically the pieces Nimbus, Jamaica Stopover and Spirit Lake, and went on to say that "Towner's artistry and technique were impeccable."

Trio Voces de Puerto Rico   October 23, 1992, Virginia Beach Center for the Arts; Oct 24, 1992, Williamsurg Regional LIbrary Theater

Making a return appearance by popular demand, the "Voices of Puerto Rico" feature three requinto guitars and three romantic voices. Specializing in popular latin songs from all over the western hemisphere, they are an instant sensation wherever they perform. Don't miss them!

"The audience loved it, and why shouldn't they? It was nightime, and the 'Voces de Puerto Rico' were singing so softly ... of love and far-away places."   The Virginian Pilot/Ledger Star

This group is more used to playing club dates, and our concert format of two 45 minute sets seemed hardly enough for them. I missed this one, but from what I heard, the following program is only a representative sampling of the songs they played and sang. In any event, the audience was charmed.

Alexei Zimakov   November 27, 1992, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia; November 28, 1992, Williamsurg Regional LIbrary Theater

Alexei Zimakov was born January 3, 1971 in the City of Tomsk, Russia. His father began teaching him the guitar at the age of ten. In 1985, Alexei began his formal music studies at the Tomsk Music School.

Thereafter he became a student at Gnesin Institute of Music in Moscow in 1988. In 1990, Alexei was awarded first prize in the all Russian guitar competition. In the fall of the same year, he won the first prize in the European Guitar Competition held in Poland.

In November of 1991, Alexei became the first place winner in the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition held in Miami, Florida. He is presently continuing his guitar studies with Nicholai Komolyatov at the Gnesin Institute of Music.

The audience was uniformly impressed by Alexei's command of the instrument. The Virginia Gazette wrote, "Classical guitar isn't an art form usually associated with Russia. However, after hearing Russian guitarist Alexei Zimakov on the (TCGS)'s recent program, it's an association that should be a lasting one."

The evening was a memorable one for several members of the Tidewater and Richmond guitar societies for other reasons as well, but that's another story.

William Kanengiser   Jan 29, 1993, Williamsurg Regional Library Theater; Jan 30, 1993, Chrysler Museum Theater, Norfolk

First Prize winner of the Concert Artists Guild New York Competition and the Toronto International Guitar Competition, as well as the highest prize winner of the Radio-France International Guitar Competition, William Kanengiser is recognized as one of America's premier young classical guitarists. Praised by the Los Angeles Times for his playing of "exceeding vitality and warmth", Mr. Kanengiser has been the recipient of a Solo Recitalist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and most recently was chosen as one of Musical America's Outstanding Young Artists.

Mr. Kanengiser has performed in recital in virtually every major city in the U.S. as well as in Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary in Canada, in Tokyo, Takamatsu, Nagoya, and Osaka in Japan, and in Spain. He has appeared as a soloist with the Southwest Texas Symphony, the Fox Valley (Wisconsin) Symphony and Billings (Montana) Symphony, as well as the Cullowhee (North Carolina) Music Festival Orchestra. Highlights of the 1992-93 season include recitals in Dallas, Kansas City, Williamsburg, Norfolk, Portland (Oregon), Tempe and Corpus Christi. The Virginia Gazette wrote of this concert, "His witty, thoughtful narrative combined with his tastefully played music to provide another in a continuing series of intimate evenings with the Tidewater Classical Guitar Society."

Paul O'Dette   Feb 19, 1993, Williamsurg Regional LIbrary Theater Feb 20, 1993, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach

Paul O'Dette became a lutenist in an indirect and unexpected way. As a child, he began in music by first playing piano, then the violin. "But my violin teacher thought a nine year old should do nothing but etudes, so that didn't last very long", he recalls. After a couple of years, he rebelled with rock guitar, teaching himself to play by putting the record needle down, ten seconds at a time on Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton records, then trying to pick out the notes. After three or four years, a family friend suggested that studying classical guitar would improve his rock technique. O'Dette took the advice and taught himself to play, again by listening to records. "I eventually found classical guitar more interesting than rock. There was more variety in styles and techniques, and it was enough to keep my interest." And in all of the classical guitar repertoire, the works which intrigued him the most were transcriptions of Renaissance lute pieces.

The tone color of the lute is what Paul feels attracted him to the instrument, along with the variety of the repertoire. "I feel it is best able to express my own musical feelings... The repertoire is vast. It is one of the largest literatures for solo instrument in all of music, and encompasses an enormous number of styles from the simplest amateur arrangement of folk tunes to more complex polyphonic works." The flexibility of the instrument opens a wide range of expressive possibilities, and, says O'Dette, "the music has a great deal of rhythmic vitality, which is similar to what I lliked about rock music." All these aspects provide an exciting and never ending world of music to explore."

Roberto Aussel   March 27, 1993, Chrysler Museum Theater, Norfolk

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Roberto Aussel began studying the guitar with Jorge Martinez Zarate when he was seven, and gave his first concert six years later. In 1975, two years before moving to Paris, he won first prize in Radio France's International Guitar Competition, and first prize in both the Porto Alegre (Brazil) and the Alirio Diaz (Venezuela) competitions.

Performing in the important cities of Europe and Latin America, Aussel has been featured with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio France, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the BBC Orchestra of London and the Buenos Aires Symphony. His recitals include Wigmore Hall of London, the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam and the Festival Estival of Paris. He also performs chamber music with various groups, including Pierre Boulez' Ensemble Intercontemporian.

"Finesse in playing, an elegance of touch, a delicious cultivation of nuance; one doesn't think for a split second, in watching the actions of Aussel's fingers, of a merely technical performance, although Aussel's technique is clearly superb. Aussel has transcended the stage of any form of 'expressionism' to the end of presenting only purely musical feeling."

9eme Festival de Cordes de Mirecourt 1989

The Annual Members' Concert   April 17, 1993, St. Andrews Episcopal Church, Norfolk (Ghent)

I remember this concert (dimly) as being one of the best Members' Concerts the TCGS ever presented. But I might be wrong. I'm writing this seven years later, and apparently no photos were taken, no audio recorded and no review of the affair was issued at the time. All I found was the program, which (as I've mentioned elsewhere) is probably only approximately correct. In particular, I specifically deny any clear memory of the last presentation. Of course, as it was the very last presentation, this might just mean that I had already had one glass too many. Pairing me with Sam Dorsey I regard as intrinsically unfair (to Sam) anyway ;-) If anyone out there can turn up more memories, please let me know. -Ed.

Sam Dorsey & Friends   May 9, 1993,Virginia Beach Center for the Arts

Sam Dorsey says, "Not all the good preludes, sonatas and tangos were written before we were born!", or so proclaims the flyer. 'Friends' in this case refers to Jorge Aguirre (violin) and Laurie Baefsky (flute), both members of the Virginia Symphony. I have been privileged to hear Sam perform with each of the above (though not both in the same evening, as I missed this concert), and know all three to be impressive musicians. Little information beyond the concert program is available, but I would be pleased to include additional details if someone 'Out There' could provide them.