Worcester Classical Guitar Society
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.
New members are very welcome - just follow the rehearsals link below and join us at St. George's
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.
September 9th
Swan Theatre
Artof Andalucia
Daniel Martinez
Daniel Martinez returns to Worcester in September with his Flamenco Troupe and a new production called “Art of Andalucia”. The Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company is based in Edinburgh and was formed after Spanish flamenco guitarist Daniel moved to the UK in 2017.
The concert will showcase two flamenco dancers, Gabriela Pouso and Angel Reyes, " whose artistry and passion are set to ignite the stage, taking the audience on a sensory journey through the heart of Andalucia". Daniel has composed and created original music specifically for each dancer's choreography, choreographed exclusively for this production and can only be seen on this tour. The intention is a celebration of the profound connection between flamenco music and dance.
Tickets available from the Worcester Theatres website, link below. Seats are selling quickly, so act now to grab your tickets.
Worcester Theatres Box Office HERE
Invierno Porteño
Stephanie Jones
Plays Piazzolla
We recently featured Stephanie Jones and Alexandra Whittingham touring as a duo. This time we have Stephanie with a powerful solo perormance of Invierno Porteño by Astor Piazzolla. This is a great interpretation and gets right to the spirit of Piazzolla’s music.
Well worth a listen!
Stephanie plays “Invierno Porteño" HERE
Concert in Brum
Mela Guitar Quartet
Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
October 2nd 6:30 pm
Winners of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Ensemble Competition 2023, the Mela Guitar Quartet is known for its imaginative, engaging programming, ingenious arrangements and commissioning celebrated original works.
The quartet recently completed an eight-week tour of America and Canada as part of their GFA winners prize, including a USA premiere performance of Anthony Burgess's Concerto Grosso for four guitars and orchestra with Stanford Philharmonic at the Bing Concert Hall, California.
So here is an opportunity to see and hear this innovative quartet in action close to home in the Recital Hall of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
Concert Tickets HERE
Mela Website HERE
Tribute to Agustin Barrios
El Bohemio
Thibaut Garcia
Thibaut Garcia is a gifted Franco-Spanish guitarist, born in Toulouse in 1994, who began playing the guitar at just seven years old. He has won many international guitar competitions, was a BBC New Generation Artist in 2017, making his Wigmore Hall debut the same year.
Thibaut Garcia pays tribute with El Bohemio to the Paraguayan guitar virtuoso and composer Agustín Barrios (1885-1944). El Bohemio duly complements 16 varied works by Barrios himself with three of his transcriptions of famous pieces by Chopin, Schumann, and Beethoven. In addition, the album includes readings of two of Barrios’s poems: ‘Bohemio’, which lends the album its name, portrays the composer as a wandering troubadour; ‘Profesión de fé’ (Profession of faith) honours the Guarani, the indigenous people of Paraquay.
Presto Music Website HERE
Chapeau Satie
Xufei Yang
Music From Erik Satie
Xufei Yang has now released her new album, featuring the music of Erik Satie, celebrating the centenary of his death in 1825. Satie, born Eric Alfred Leslie Satie, to a British mother and French father was something of an enigma. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire but was an undistinguished student and did not obtain a diploma. His later studies at the Schola Cantorum were much more successful and he became very influential, during his lifetime he influenced Maurice Ravel, Calude debussy and Francois Poulenc.
The “Chapeau” refers to Satie’s life in Montmartre when he was renowned for wearing a bowler hat, with one of his 12 identical velvet corduroy suits…….!!
Satie’s music was mainly written for solo piano and in Xufei Yang’s album his Gnossiennes and Gymnopédies are well represented. Amongst Satie’s other compositions are arrangements for voice and guitar, featuring the French soprano Heloise Werner and also transcriptions for guitar and flute with flautist Sharon Bezaly .
Below is a link to the Presto Music website where you can hear samples of all pieces on the album, the following is a quotation from Xufie Yang’s own website:
"To mark the centenary of Satie, Xuefei Yang has reimagined his music for guitar. The album is a chocolate box packed with familiar favourites and rarer truffles, tied together with a beautiful new piece by Werner (Mélancolie)"
Presto Music HERE
Lulo Reinhardt
and
Yuliya Lonskaya
Lulo Reinhardt
With Yuliya Lonskaya
Alexandra Whittingham has recently been on tour in the US and Canada as part of International Guitar Night, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at one of the artists accompanying her on this tour.
Lulo Reinhardt was born in Koblenz on the 12.10.1961 and, like his Uncles Dawelie Reinhardt and Schnuckenack Reinhardt, comes from the famous Reinhardt family.
Lulo Reinhardt was raised in the Sinti tradition where Django Reinhardt’s music played a massive part.
As well as several solo and ensemble projects in the gypsy jazz vein, Lulo has collaborated with Yuliya Lonskaya in a “Gypsy meets Classic” album. They have also played many live concerts together. We attach a YouTube video of the duo playing “Keep Up” , recorded at the Loster Eberbach, a former Cistercian monastery - also known for the filming of some of the interior scenes of “The Name of The Rose"
“Keep Up" Video HERE
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