Adam Cicchillitti & Steve Cowan Guitar Duo at St. Andrew's Episcopal, Sunday April 16th

Location: 1833 Regent St, Madison, WI 53726, USA


PLEASE NOTE THE START TIME IS AT 6pm FOR THIS SHOW.  

Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan have set a benchmark in the world of classical guitar with their award-winning recordings, commissions of major orchestral works, and competition performances. On their debut release, FOCUS, Tracy Anne Smith (American Record Guide) states that “with sensitive, authoritative, au courant playing, Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan retain their individuality while communicating like old friends.” FOCUS was awarded Classical Recording of the Year at the East Coast Music Awards in 2021. Also in 2021, the duo released it’s third album with Analekta Records, INTIMATE IMPRESSIONS, featuring original arrangements of piano, harp, and guitar music written in 20th century Paris. The album has been streamed over 1.5 million times worldwide. Cowan and Cicchillitti toured Canada under the auspices of Prairie Debut in 2020-2022 and with Debut Atlantic in 2018. They were awarded third prize at the 2021 international ensemble competition of the Guitar Foundation of America, arguably the most prestigious guitar ensemble competition in the world.

The duo has established its identity at the forefront of new music for guitar. At the inaugural 21st Century Guitar Conference in Ottawa, Steve and Adam commissioned and premiered nine new electroacoustic works by the New York-based composer collective, ICEBERG New Music. In 2022/23, the duo undertook their most ambitious project with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts: to premiere and record six new commissions for two guitars and orchestra with Ottawa-based chamber ensemble 13 Strings. Cicchillitti and Cowan are sponsored by Augustine Strings and play guitars by Sergei de Jonge and Bruno Boutin.

Raphaël Feuillâtre at First Unitarian Atrium on April 7th

Location: 900 University Bay Dr, Madison, WI 53705, USA




Admired by audiences for his world class virtuosity, Raphaël Feuillâtre brings fresh, inspired interpretations to the classical guitar. Born in 1996, Raphaël Feuillâtre began classical guitar lessons at the age of nine with Hacène Addadi at Cholet Conservatory. In 2012, he entered Michel Grizard’s class at the Conservatory of Nantes and, three years later, he was accepted to Paris National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance (CNSMDP) into the class of Roland Dyens where he obtained his Bachelor of Performing Arts degree in 2017 with highest honors. Raphaël completed his Master’s in Classical Guitar Performance with Tristan Manoukian in 2019, again with highest honors. Raphaël is also mentored by internationally renowned guitarist and pedagogue Judicaël Perroy, who played a very important role in his artistic development.

As a result of his 2018 win of classical guitar’s most prestigious competition, Guitar Foundation of America (GFA), Raphaël completed the recording of his second opus for the Naxos Label in 2019 (Barrios, Granados, Llobet, Rachmaninoff, Rameau, Ramirez, Scriabin, Villa-Lobos). He was a featured soloist at the 2019 GFA conference in Miami, and embarked on his North American tour.

Prior to winning the 2018 GFA, Raphaël Feuillâtre participated in various other international guitar competitions, obtaining several major awards. In 2017, he won 1st prize in the International Guitar Competition Jose Tomas – Villa Petrer (Spain), which awarded him the opportunity to record his first album with JSM Guitar Records in 2018 (Bach, Granados, Tansman, Assad, Dyens). In 2015, Raphaël won 1st prize in the Concours & Festival de guitare de Fontenay sous Bois (France). He is also a laureate of the Festival International de Guitarra Ciudad de Coria in Coria (Spain) (2nd prize, 2014); Festival Internacional de Musica da Primavera de Viseu in Viseu (Portugal) (3rd prize, 2016); and the International Guitar Festival of Kutna Hora (Czech Republic) (3rd prize, 2017).

Raphaël Feuillâtre has appeared at several other classical guitar festivals and venues across the world, including the International Guitar Festival, Budapest ( Hungary) ; Festival of Guitar, Ciutat d’Elx (Spain) ; Guitar Art Festival, Subotica (Serbia) ; Guitarras del Mundo Festival (Argentina) where he toured across the country performing concerts; Changsha International Guitar Festival, Changsha (China) ; a seven-concert tour across Brazil (Brazil) as well as festivals and venues in Denmark, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Holland, and Montenegro. In France, he has been invited to perform chamber music at the Folle Journée de Nantes Festival, and the concerto d’Aranjuez on a five concert tour with the Orchestral Ensemble of Pau (France) . He has held residencies at 6 Cordes au Fil de l’Allier Festival and Guitare en France, and, as a soloist, he performed in the Paris International Guitar Festival, Sul Tasto Festival, Festival de Baume-les-Messieurs and Guitars in Picardy Festival.

Raphael is an endorsee of Savarez guitar strings, one of the world’s leading string manufacturers (founded in 1770).


Raphaël divides his time between performing and teaching. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses during his numerous engagements and holds a permanent teaching position at the Music School of Villeneuve-la-Garenne in Paris region.

Bokyung Byun at St John's Lutheran on March 9th

Location: 322 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703, USA

 


Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine as “confident and quite extraordinary,” Korean guitarist, Bokyung Byun? enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Notably, she is the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition. This win is among many wherein Ms. Byun excelled in the competitive circuit, including first-prize finishes at the Frances Walton Competition, the Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition, and the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Competition. A bevy of orchestras, festivals, workshops, and guitar societies look to Ms. Byun for solo performances and masterclasses. In recent seasons, Ms. Byun has performed as a soloist with orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, West Los Angeles Symphony, among others. Ms. Byun’s debut recording has been praised as “a very beautiful disc. From the first notes of the “Gallarda” from Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Escarraman, we are treated to extraordinary musicianship, technical assurance, and beauty of sound” (Soundboard Magazine). Ms. Byun holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California.

Moacyr Teixeira Neto at Cafe Coda September 29th

Madison Classical Guitar Society is happy to sponsor a special guest for Cafe Coda's monthly classical guitar concerts.

One of the best Brazilian guitar talents, Moacyr Teixeira Neto accumulates prizes of better interpreter in the Villa-Lobos and Souza Lima Competitions (Brazil), besides finalist at Augustin Barrios International Competition (Paraguay) and awarder a lot of cultural projects in Brazil and other countries. Master in Music for the Superior High School of Rio de Janeiro State, with classical guitar specialization, the guitarist has performed in several Brazilian cities, as well as Spain, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Mexico, USA and Italy.

Teacher invited for important events as the International Festival of Domingos Martins, Souza Lima Festival, Fred Schneiter Competition, Vital Medeiros Seminary (Brazil), Eduardo Fabini Festival (Uruguay), SIU Guitar Festival (USA), Festival Música de las Américas (México) and International Festival of Contemporary Music of Lima (Peru). He’s idealizer of the FIVES – Festival Internacional de Violão do Espírito Santo and Concurso Latino-Americano de Violão Maurício de Oliveira (Brazil) and already it was performed with diverse orchestras, playing concerts as the “2nd Concert for Guitar Op. 160” by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, “From Yesterday to Penny Lane” of the cuban composer Leo Brouwer, “Trio Op. 9” by Ferdinando Carulli and “Claude Bolling Guitar and Piano Jazz Trio Concert”.

For him, many composers had dedicated pieces like Carlos Cruz, Maurício de Oliveira, Ricardo Tacuchian, Marcos Vinícius, Luis Carlos Barbieri and others. He has 4 Cds recorded by the universe of brazilian guitar music and more 4 CDs about guitar music in general. The first solo CD “Gravuras do Violão” (Engravings of Guitar) got enormous success being awarded with a tour Concert in Brazil. He also has several publications on the guitar repertoire and in 2022 he is releasing “Evolving in The Instrumental Guitar”, his first technique book.members/students showcase!

These free events are in collaboration with MCGS and supported by Dane County Arts with additional funds from the Endres Mfg. Company Foundation, The Evjue Foundation, Inc., charitable arm of The Capital Times, the W. Jerome Frautschi Foundation, and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation. This project is also funded in part by a grant from the Madison Arts Commission, with additional funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board." This event is sponsored by the Madison Classical Guitar Society. Special thanks to Wisconsin Public Radio for promotion as a Media Sponsor for this event!

https://www.madisoncgs.org/

Free event. Donations are appreciated!

Sondre Hoymer in Concert

Location: 322 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703, USA

MCGS welcomes another dynamic performer to Madison as part of our summer series. Sondre is a world-class performer. You should check out some of his videos on YouTube if you need proof. We'll be hosting him at St. John's Lutheran on East Washington - an intimate chapel with some of the best acoustics for solo guitar.

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Sondre Hoymer is a Norwegian classical guitarist. He obtained his education at the Norwegian Academy of Music and Akademia Muzcyzna w Katowicach under Prof. Marcin Dylla. Graham Devine writes about Sondre ''...it was wonderful to hear you play with such compelling musical vision, beautiful sound and domination of your instrument. (...) easely amongst the very best players of the younger generation I have heard recently, and I have heard and worked with a lot.''

Sondre has appeared in several major international competitions, being ranked as a finalist in Guitar Masters 2016 in Wroclaw, semifinalist in the GFA International Concert Artist Competition both in 2017 and 2018, where he also was included in the five top performances of the day by the Paris Guitar Foundation (preliminary round 2017). He was also awarded 2. prize in the Sierra Nevada International Guitar Competition 2014.

The autumn 2017 Sondre made his official debut in the University Aula in Oslo, one of Norway's most prestigious concert halls. Half a year later he was a soloist playing Concierto de Aranjuez with conductor Eivind Aadland, one of Norway's most respected conductors. January 2018 Vea/Hoymer Guitar Duo published the recording Neuralgia were Sondre plays terz-guitar. Memoirs Classical Guitar Magazine writes: ''This young guitar duo is offering a truly passionate and brilliant recording for the music, and the classical guitar world (...) every pluck and legato create the sense of a musical dream.''

As an international concert artist Sondre regularly gives concerts and performances in several countries world wide. Amongst them Spain, United States of America, Finland and of course Norway. He continues to perform internationally after finishing his Artist Diploma at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

''Sondre has a strong determination to increase his knowledge and understanding of interpretation complexety. His way of playing could be described as very elegant, smooth and colorful’’

Miles McConnell back in Madison at St. John's

Location: 322 E Washington Ave, Madison, WI 53703, USA

Miles McConnell returns for a visit to Madison from his new home in Nashville for a program featuring music of Beethoven, Bach, Lauro, Tarrega, and Turina, plus Miles' arrangements of film music and popular songs for classical guitar.

Suggested donation: $20 for non-MCGS members, $10 for MCGS members.

Brandon Acker - Lecture Recital August 20th at 2:00

Location: 1055 E Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703, USA

MCGS is very excited to be able to bring Brandon to Madison in our first collaboration with Madison Youth Arts Center (MYArts) in their beautiful new facility on East Mifflin! This building boasts several performance spaces and we're looking forward to more collaborations with them, and Brandon, in the future.

Brandon Acker is a classical guitarist and specialist on early plucked instruments such as the theorbo, baroque guitar, and lute. His latest passion has been running his successful Youtube channel which now has over 380,000 subscribers and 26 million views. His channel provides educational content about early plucked instruments as well as guitar tips and artistic performance videos. In 2020, he and his wife started an online school for "all things that go pluck!" called Arpeggiato. The school offers lessons from professional musicians from around the world on lute, baroque guitar, vihuela, mandolin, oud, classical guitar, and more. Within the first year of opening, this online school has taught over 2000 lessons to students in over 20 countries.

Brandon’s performance career has varied from starting out playing electric guitar in metal bands to his current main focus researching and performing on early plucked instruments from the Renaissance, Baroque periods. He has toured extensively through England, Canada, Scotland, and Wales, and performed with notable groups such as the Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Piffaro, the Joffrey Ballet, the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra, the Newberry Consort, Haymarket Opera Company, Music of the Baroque, Third Coast Baroque, Opera Lafayette, and Bella Voce. Recently, he was selected as one of five international laureates to compete in an concerto competition with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.

For more information, please visit www.brandonackerguitar.com or check out his YouTube channel.

Brandon's YouTube Channel

Madison Youth Arts