classical music – Page 24 – Classical Guitar n Stuff

Time to get excited Australian guitarists! Chinese guitarist extraordinaire Xuefei Yang is headed to our southern shores in late September and early October for her Australian debut tour. Very exciting!

She’ll be kicking things off on 28th September at the Sydney Opera House with a solo recital before headed down to Melbourne for a star turn with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on 2nd and 3rd October at the revamped Hamer Hall. Xuefei and the MSO will also be heading to the West Gippsland Arts Centre, Warragul (4th October) and Frankston Arts Centre (6th October).

Xuefei will be making her Australian debut playing what is probably everyone’s favourite classical guitar concerto (it’s certainly a favourite of mine) – Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. She, along with the MSO, will also be playing the Australian premiere of the new classical guitar concerto by Chinese composer Tan Dun, composer of the music to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

And for those of us in Victoria we’re going to be in for an extra special treat. Following her appearances at the Sydney Opera House and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Hamer Hall, Xuefei will be headed to Geelong to present a solo concert of works by Albeniz, Bach, Williams, de Falla, Rodrigo and Brouwer as well as traditional Chinese music.

The concert will be held on Tuesday 7th October at 8pm in Sacred Heart College’s exquisite chapel. A great reason to take the trip down to Geelong if ever there was!!

Tickets are now on sale from the college’s online shop. http://www.shcgeelong.catholic.edu.au/

For tickets to Xuefei’s concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra head to: http://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/whats-on/classical-music/concerto-de-aranjuez

For a bit of a taste of what will be in store, here’s Xuefei playing the Adagio of Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez with the Barcelona Symphony. Enjoy!

Just a wee post this morning folks to introduce to you a brand new initiative by young Melbourne guitarists, Michael MacManus and Evan Hopkins – the Melbourne Guitar Foundation.

The guys have launched this Foundation with mission to promote and cultivate the classical guitar in Australia.

Their vision is of an engaged local community of guitarists contributing towards a culture of learning, support and sharing of ideas to create the best musical and artistic environment in Australia.

Through masterclasses, individual lessons, concerts, competitions, scholarships and festivals, the Melbourne Guitar Foundation is seeking to engage the Australian community with the best classical guitarists throughout the world. By nurturing and developing an Australian wide guitar family made up of professional concert artists, teachers, amateurs and enthusiasts alike they aim to encourage the next generation of Australian classical guitar concert artists.

The Melbourne Guitar Foundation (or MGF for short) will be presenting an exciting concert series program in 2015 among other activities, so stay tuned!

The recent concert in Melbourne of Swedish guitarist Johannes Möller was in fact the very first presentation by the MGF. Check out this live recording taken during Möller’s Melbourne performance.