Worcester Classical Guitar Society
Rehearsals are at St. George’s Church Hall in Barbourne
New members welcome
Follow Rehearsals Link Below and Join In
The Guitar Society promotes ensemble playing for guitarists of all ages and abilities. We have a Guitar Orchestra, a Youth Guitar Orchestra (WYGO) and the long-standing Worcester Guitar Quartet. We also encourage other ensembles and solo playing.
Read on for all the news on artists, concerts and other random ramblings that may be of interest.
We also have some guitar music videos for you to enjoy.
New Aquarelle Line-up
Aquarelle Guitar Quartet
Change of Members
Rory Russell has decided to step back from playing with the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet after 17 years. He has been a member of the quartet since 2006 and is of course very sad to be stepping down.
Rory Russell’s place will be taken by the Australian born virtuoso guitarist Craig Ogden. The quartet was originally formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 1999 under the Guidance of Craig Ogden and Gordon Crosskey. Naturally Craig Ogden has taken a great interest in the Quartet since its inception and is now delighted to be joining this world-class ensemble.
We will look forward to seeing how the Quartet develops in the future and will bring news of any concerts in the region or any new recordings. In the meantime, below is a link to a promotional video for the quartet’s last Album, Aspects, recorded in 2016.
"Aspects” Promo Video HERE
New on Pentatone
Sean Shibe
Music of Barrios, Ginastera & Villa-Lobos
Sean Shibe earns a scond entry here with his newly released album “Profesión”. The album derives its name from Barrios's "Profesion de fe" (profession of faith), a poetic, mythological text praising the divine power of music, often used as a preface to his concerts.
The music is South American - Barrios’ La Catedral and Julia Florida, the 12 Villa-Lobos etudes and finally Ginastera’s Guitar Sonata.
Presto Music has an interview about the album, the composers and the European/South American influences of the music. The following extract illustrates Sean Shibe’s thoughtful approach to the music and ultimately its interpretation:
"Overall, what I'm trying to do with the album is set out that there is a trajectory, or an ascent, towards a kind of South American destiny. Beginning with some of the most conservative South American language that really does use the most revered Western names as a genesis, and then towards using them as hallucinatory, ghostly aspects as in the Ginastera."
Follow the link below to read the full interview.
Sean Shibe Interview HERE
Sean plays Ginastera Esordio HERE
Hereford
April 25th 2024
Remi Harris Hot Club Trio
Courtyard Theatre, Hereford
Local guitarist Remi Harris brings his Hot Club Trio to Hereford’s Courtyard Theatre next April. Many of us have been lucky to see Remi at local venues in Worcester and know how talented he is. Now we have the opportunity to see him in Hereford with double bass player Tom Moore and rhythm guitarist Chris Nesbitt, performing as the Hot Club Trio.
The name suggests we can expect some music from Django Reinhardt and in fact they present an evening of music ranging from the acoustic jazz of the 30s and 40s to the electric blues of the 60s and 70s. Influences from Peter Green, Wes Montgomery, Jimi Hendrix and others, blues and jazz as well as the Gypsy Jazz of Django Reinhardt..
Remi Harris goes from strength to strength and has developed an international reputation and following. Great chance to see him in action at Hereford’s excellent Courtyard Theatre.
Tickets available HERE
ECHO Rising Stars
Sean Shibe in Brum
Sunday March 24th 2024, 11:00 am
Sean Shibe will be bringing his exceptional talent to the B:Music Jennifer Blackwell performance space in Birmingham in March 2024. This is part of his ECHO Rising Stars European Tour. Each year the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) selects a group of outstanding artists to become its Rising Stars. The selected Rising Stars receive professional development support and perform a concert tour across the halls of the ECHO network.
Sean Shibe does not restrict himself to the Classical Guitar, playing electric guitar also. His most recent solo release is a second album for Pentatone titled Lost & Found, recorded on electric guitar and featuring repertoire by Hildegard von Bingen, Olivier Messiaen, Moondog, Julius Eastman, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, Meredith Monk, Shiva Feshareki, Oliver Leith and Daniel Kidane.
The info on the B:Music website suggests that this performance will feature music from his recent classical guitar album, Camino. In any case, as one of our members said “The guy’s a genius”. So go and see him!
B:Music Website & Info HERE
New on Decca Records
PlÍnio Fernandes
Music inspired by Bach
Plínio Fernandes has a new album entitled Bacheando, released on September 22nd. This post is updated accordingly.
The album is a homage to his favourite composer Johan Sebastian Bach. It contains music by the German master and by Brazilian composers who were inspired by him. So we have Bach’s Prelude, Fugue and Allegro from his Lute Suite BWV998. Also by Bach is the Concerto in D Minor, BWV 974: II. Adagio, transcribed for guitar by Sergio Assad.
In fact Sergio Assad features significantly in this album, with his guitar transcriptions and compositions accounting for a large part of the album. This gives a strong link to the Brazilian flavour of the music that Plinio is trying to create.
With the album now released it is available in CD and Digital Download version - we can recommend the lossless FLAC recordings for those who keep their music on a media server on their home network. There is a link below to the Presto Music website where you can hear samples of all the tracks, buy the CD or digital downloads in MP3 or FLAC formats.
We also have a link to Plínio’s own website and a video of him playing Sergio Assad’s Preludio, Fuga e Vivace
Presto Music HERE
Plinio Preludio Fuga & Vivace Video HERE
¡Flamenco!
Daniel Martinez Flamenco
New Production “Andalucia"
2024 Tour Dates
Daniel Martinez has a new production, Andalucia, which is a musical representation of the eight regions that make up the autonomous community of Andalucia in the South of Spain, the birthplace of flamenco; Cordoba, Sevilla, Cadiz, Malaga, Jaen, Granada, Huelva and Almeria.
Each region has its own distinct take on the very many diverse styles that make up flamenco and these will be presented to the audience through Daniel’s guitar, and accompanied by an array of flamenco musicians, singers, a chamber orchestra ensemble and flamenco dance.
All of the music for Andalucia, including the full chamber orchestra, has been written and composed by Daniel himself.
The production visits the Town Hall in Birmingham on March 15th 2024, with tickets now available from B Music, link below. Dates have now been released showing the show coming here to Worcester’s Swan Theatre on Friday, September 27th. Although this doesn’t feature in any brochures yet, we have a link to this production below and tickets are available now.
Birmingham Show HERE
Worcester Show HERE
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