| A unique
Texas competition designed to showcase outstanding
classical guitar students. Over the three-day
event, students can
compete, attend a master class, a performance
by last year's winners, and a concert by
the San Francisco Guitar Quartet.
Thursday, March 17, 7:30 p.m., free
2004 Winners Concert with
1st Place - David Buck; 2nd Place -
Rade Amanovic; and 3rd Place - Edward Trybek.
Friday, March
18, 8 p.m., $10
Carlos Molina concert and
announcement of finalists.
Cuban guitarist, Carlos Molina organized
the first Cuban national and international
guitar festivals in 1976 and 1978 as a Professor
at the Cuban Institute of Art. Since his
arrival in the U.S., Molina has been involved
in numerous festivals and concerts in Miami,
and has served as a key participant in guitar
festivals all over the world.
Saturday, March
19
The guitar competition begins at 1 p.m.
on Friday, Mar. 18, with finals
open to the public at 2 p.m. (free)
on Saturday, Mar. 19, followed by the announcement
of the winners and a concert at
8 p.m. ($15) by the San
Francisco Guitar Quartet, whose
newest CD was named among the 'Top CDs of
2003!' – Acoustic Guitar Magazine.
About
the artists:
Lauded as founder and
exponent of the Cuban School of Guitar,
Carlos Molina began his
professional career in his native country
after graduating in 1969. The following
year he won First Prize at the National
Competition in Cuba, and his first tour
of Europe followed. Since then, he has been
performing worldwide, acclaimed in the most
prestigious concert halls in more than twenty
countries. Molina has also appeared as soloist
with numerous symphonic orchestras and chamber
groups. Throughout his performing career,
he has been featured in many of the most
important international guitar festivals
worldwide, including those of Córdoba,
Vélez-Málaga, Coria, Bordeaux,
Limousin, Vendome, Esztergom, Bremen, Fribourg,
Stockholm, Bratislava, Quebec, Martinique,
and most recently Potenza, Bisceglie, Rust,
Brno, Hondarribia, and others. Molina has
shared concerts with Leo Brouwer, Turibio
Santos, Alirio Diaz, Benjamin Verdery, Carlos
Barbosa-Lima, and Nikita Koshkin. Notable
composers such as Leo Brouwer and Nikita
Koshkin have dedicated pieces to him.
In 1987, Carlos Molina
founded The Miami Classical Guitar Society,
one of the most active societies in the
country. In November 1991, Molina organized
the Guitar Foundation of America International
Convention and Competition, which took place
in Miami, Florida. Once again, in October
2002, he was director of this event, this
time known as Sun Waves Guitar Fest 2002.
Most recently, he has been organizing annual
International Summer Courses and Competitions
in Miami.
San Francisco
Guitar Quartet
The quartet is four San
Francisco Bay Area guitarists: Mark Simons,
Christopher Hanford, David Dueñas,
and Patrick Francis, each of whom have distinguished
themselves as soloists and chamber musicians.
Their accomplishments include first prizes
in the American String Teachers Association
Competitions and the Baltimore Chamber Music
Awards Competition; a Fulbright Scholarship;
and recordings on labels including SFGQ
Recordings, New Albion Records.
Since its inception in
1997, the San Francisco Guitar Quartet has
distinguished itself as a cutting edge chamber
ensemble committed to precision and excellence
in the performance of contemporary and classic
works. The SFGQ tirelessly seeks out new
music for guitar quartet and has commissioned
or performed works by composers Leo Brouwer,
Celso Machado, Carlo Domeniconi, Eitan Steinberg,
Phillip Houghton, and Dusan Bogdanovic.
First-place winner,
David Buck returned to
compete after taking second prize in last
year’s Texas Guitar Competition. He
has a Bachelor of Music degree from Arizona
State University and a Master of Music degree
from the University of Arizona. Buck, who
has received guitar instruction with Frank
Koonce and Tom Patterson, was a semi-finalist
at the 2001 Guitar Festival America Competition
and was a finalist in the Stevens and Sholin
competition at the University of Arizona.
In addition, unbeknownst to the judges,
Buck celebrated his 30th birthday on March
20, the day he received the award and was
presented with a birthday cake by a UTD
guitar board member during the awards announcement.
Second-place winner,
Rade Amanovic began studying the
guitar in Knjazevac, Yugoslavia, at the
age of nine. He was a student of Uros Dojcinovic
at the Josip Slovenski School of Music in
Belgrade from 1992 until 1996. After winning
3rd prize at the International Guitar Competition
in Voronezh, Russia, in May 1996, Amanovic
began studying with Dr. James Bogle at Texas
Tech University. He finished second in the
guitar competition at Appalachian State
University in the spring of 2000. He is
now a graduate teaching assistant pursuing
his master’s degree at Texas Tech
University.
Third-place winner,
Edward Trybek began his musical
training at the High School for Performing
and Visual Arts in Houston, with a focus
in jazz guitar while studying privately
with Terry Gashen. He received his Bachelor
of Music degree from the University of Southern
California, where he is currently pursuing
his master’s in music and studying
privately with Scott Tennant. Other awards
he has won include first prize in the 2001
ASTA / Aron Gren Guitar competition, grand
prize in the 2002 ASTA California Guitar
competition, semi-finalist in the Lachire
International competition in 2003 and semi-finalist
in the GFA 2003 competition.
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