Scott Tennant: 9/22/95 Chrysler Museum Theater; 9/23/95 Williamsburg Regional Library

Guitarist Scott Tennant is undoubtably one of today's leading young American virtuosos. Since becoming the first American ever to be awarded the Tokyo International Guitar Competition in 1989, and his silver-medal performances in both the 1988 Concours International de Guitare of Radio France in Paris, and the 1984 Toronto Competition, his reputation as a brilliant performer has been established world wide.

Regardless of the musical genre, Scott's unique gift of bringing a stylistic freshness to the music has earned him widespread critical acclaim. His powerful interpretations of the great Spanish composers, particularly the music of Joaquin Rodrigo, have made him a concert hall favorite the world over.

Scott Tennant is a founding member of the L. A. Guitar Quartet, with which he concertizes extensively much of the year, while still maintaining his solo concert schedule.

Margarita Escarpa: 9/27/95 Virginia Beach Center for the Arts

Margarita Escarpa began her studies at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Musica de Madrid under the tutelage of some of Spain's most renowned teachers. Here she received the Premio Extradinorio Fin de Casiero, the highest honor possible.

As an active competitor, she has won top honors in several major competitions, such as:

• 1990 Concurso International Alhambra (Spain)
• 1991 Estergom International Competition (Hungary)
• 1992 Concurso International de Guitare (France)
• 1993 Concurso International "Andrés Segovia" (Spain)
• 1994 Gitaman International "Andrés Segovia" (Spain)
• 1994 GFA International Competition (USA)

Margarita presently concertizes throughout Europe and is a Guitar Professor at the Conservatorio Superior de Vigo in Spain. She has recorded two compact discs for Spanish National Radio: "Rne" and "Opera Tres," and also now records for Naxos and GHA.

Ronn McFarlane: 11/17/95 Chrysler Museum Theater; 11/18/95 Williamsburg Regional Library

Born in 1953 in West Virginia and raised in Maryland, Ronn McFarlane developed an interest in plucked string instruments at an early age. In his teens he taught himself to play on what he describes as "a cranky $16 steel string guitar". Mr. McFarlane's initial musical experience was eclectic, combining performance of blues, rock and popular music on electric guitar with classical guitar studies. Leaving popular music, he graduated with honors from Shenandoah Conservatory and continued his study of classical guitar at Peabody Conservatory, before turning his full attention to the lute in 1978. On the lute his principal teachers and musical influences have been Roger Harmon, Paul O'Dette and Pat O'Brien.

In addition to pursuing his solo career, Ronn McFarlane is a member of the early music ensemble Baltimore Consort. He records exclusively for Dorian Recordings and has recorded three discs of solo lute music, three lute-song albums with Julianne Baird and Frederick Urrey, and six ensemble recordings with the Baltimore Consort.

Manuel Barrueco: 01/26/96 Virginia Beach Center for the Arts

Manuel Barrueco's astounding versatility extends from his quietly commanding performances of the works of old Spanish masters, Bach and Mozart, to his work with jazz greats Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett. You may recognize him from his appearance in the Lexus television commercial - a gig he earned from his popular recitals and orchestral engagements

A native of Santiago, Cuba, Manuel immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1967, just before the exits were sealed. He began his musical career by playing Latin-American tunes by ear. His career has spiraled upwards ever since, with accomplishments including being the first guitarist to perform with the Boston Symphony under the baton of Seiji Oszawa, and accolades including "Simply and consistently - awesome" as reported by the Los Angeles Times.

An exclusive recording artist for Angel/EMI, Mr. Barrueco's latest recording features Beatles arrangements performed with the London Symphony. In addition to his performing career, Manuel Barrueco is also on the faculty of the Peabody Conservatory of Music of the Johns Hopkins University. Of his Peabody life he says, "I enjoy teaching tremendously. Teaching keeps me in touch and keeps me learning, I try to give my students what I would like to have them give me: honest feedback and honest appraisal.

Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl: 03/08/96 Chrysler Museum Theater; 03/09/96 Williamsburg Regional Library

During the past 12 years, Julian Gray and Ronald Pearl have established themselves as one of the leading American guitar duos, performing to audience and critical acclaim in London, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C, St. Louis, and on tours throughout the United States and Canada. They have been invited to perform for many of the most prestigious guitar gatherings in the U.S, including the Guitar Foundation of America and the Second American Guitar Congress. The Duo has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today program and on many radio and television broadcasts nationwide.

The Gray and Pearl Duo's recordings on the Dorian label - The Magic Circle and Baroque Inventions - have met with critical acclaim. "A stunning collection ... exquisite, emotionally powerful ... breathtaking" (Guitar Player). "Great classical masters" "Their playing is bright, crisp and ebulliant ... They use their virtuosity to put some serious fun and sparkle back into baroque on the guitar" (American Record Guide).

Each summer, Gray and Pearl perform and direct the Guitar Ensemble Seminar at the National Guitar Summer Workshop in New Milford, Connecticut. Julian Gray is on faculties of the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and Essex Community College, both in Baltimore. Ronald Pearl teaches at Loyola College in Baltimore and Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland.

Badi Assad: 04/05/96 Williamsburg Regional Library; 04/06/96 Chrysler Museum Theater

At 29 years old, Badi has already proven herself to be amongst the most innovative guitarists/musicians today. Born in São Paulo, Brazil, she began to study guitar at the age of 14 under the tutelage of the father, Jorge Assad, and her brothers, Sergio and Odair Assad - the world renown Duo Assad. As a singer, she was inspired by the talent of her mother, Angelina Assad.

In 1984, as a guitar player, Badi won the Concurso Jovens Instrumentistas in Rio de Janeiro. She went on to study guitar at the Conservatory in Rio in 1985. Soon, however, Badi reached an artistic crossroad. For six months, she locked herself in her room and began experimenting with her voice, with mouth percussion, and with the guitar to create a new sound.

Badi went on to write Antagonismus in 1988, a solo work where she performed as guitarist, singer, actress and dancer. In 1989, she recorded her first record, Dança dos Tons. In the next few years, Badi performed in numerous important festivals with artists such as Hermeto Pascoal, Milton Nacimento, Pat Metheny, Françoise-Emmanuelle Denis, Mike Stern, Dori Caymmi, Sergio and Odair Assad and others. In 1994 she released her first CD with Chesky Records, Solo. Her 1995 release of Rhythms has already garnered critical acclaim as one of the most important recordings in classical and jazz this year.

Today, Badi continues to explore new possibilities with her unbounded creative pulse, and with this energy, imagination and artistry, she forever surprises us with another touch from the heart.

Michael Lorimer: 05/10/96 Nauticus Theater, Norfolk; 05/11/96 Williamsburg Regional Library

Michael Lorimer, a favorite protégé of Andrés Segovia, caught the eye of American audiences in the early 1970's through tours arranged by the great impresario Sol Hurok. His popularity soon extended beyond the shores of America. The first American guitarist invited to perform in the USSR, he concertized there in 1975 and 1977 on two extensive tours. He has appeared in Israel, Cuba, throughout Europe, on most North American recital series, with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Orpheus, with Kronos, and with the orchestras of Atlanta, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Louisville, New Orleans and San Francisco.

While an enthusiastic exponent of new music and of traditional classics, Michael is also the first world-class guitarist to regularly feature the baroque guitar in recital. Twenty years ago, long before the present vogue in original instruments, Lorimer was a pioneer bringing attention to the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century predecessor to the modern instrument. By the mid-1970's one London critic said "If Lorimer is not the best baroque guitarist in the world at present, the competition has still to present itself." In 1987, Michael Lorimer brought to light a milestone of the guitar repertoire, the best surviving collection for any instrument of early eighteenth-century Spanish dance music, when he published a detailed study and facsimile of the Saldívar Codex Nº 4, a large, hitherto anonymous manuscript from a private collection in Mexico, and identified it as the companion volume to the British Library manuscript Pasacalles y Obras (1732), a legacy of Santiago de Murcia.

In addition to concerts, Michael Lorimer gives master classes at North American universities and conservatories from coast to coast. He is an engaging spokesman in demand for experimental programs in arts presentation. During the academic years 1980-1982, he was Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. His most recently released recording Remembranza (distributed by Windham Hill) is a tribute to Andrés Segovia.

Orquesta de Guitarras Universidad de Costa Rica:

06/13/96 Virginia Beach Center for the Arts; 06/14/96 VCU Performing Arts Center, Richmond

The Orquesta de Guitarras was founded in 1982 by Professor Luis Zumbado. The orchestra is composed of the best professional players, students and professors, who gather rich European and Hispanic-American music to celebrate the tradition of the guitar. The orchestra performs music ranging from Arcangelo Corelli to Bela Bartok, and Carlos Payes to Daniel Pisarro.

Acclaimed for its numerous performances in national and international arenas, the Orquesta de Guitarras has been the inspiration for the founding of other guitar orchestras from Tidewater, Virginia to Paris, France. The cohesive playing and outstanding technique of the players, in combination with a diverse and exciting repertoire, offer a feast for the ears. It is ensemble playing at its best.

Artistic Director Luis Zumbado is professor at the School of Music at the University of Costa Rica. He is a graduate of the Costella Conservatory of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid, Spain, and has performed in Europe, the Americas and Asia. He is the founder and artistic director of the annual International Guitar Festival in Costa Rica.