6/1/2016 Miami International GuitArt Festival 2016 Offered Diverse Program of Modern and Classic Works

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Miami International GuitArt Festival 2016 Offered DiverseProgram of Modern and Classic Works

May 31, 2016

By Sam DesmetThe Florida International University School of Music presented the inaugural edition of Miami InternationalGuitART Festival from February 24-28, 2016. Guitarist and composer Mesut Özgen, director of guitarstudies at FIU, founded the festival as the next step of what he originally started as the FIU GuitART Seriesback in 2013 with separate concerts and master classes throughout the season.

A welcoming reception set the mood right for the opening concert of the evening, featuring Özgen joined byPeruvian guitarist Celso Cano and soprano Rebecca Benitez. The exquisite performances of Turkish,Latin, and Spanish music clearly reflected the multicultural environment of Miami.

For many, Grammy-winner John Schneider‘s appearance at the festival’s Thursday-morning sessionserved as an introduction to the concept of “just intonation”—a tuning approach based on the intervals ofharmonic series. Schneider’s National resonator guitar, “switchboard” guitar, and guitars with adjustablefrets or fixed tunings create interesting possibilities beyond traditional guitar music, as reflected in works byLou Harrison, Terry Riley, and Peter Yates. Many of these seem to be based on one scale and one key orare rather simple in form and material. The program concluded with Harry Partch’s song cycle Barstow, inwhich Schneider demonstrated himself to be an excellent singer, as well. (Schneider is featured in the

6/1/2016 Miami International GuitArt Festival 2016 Offered Diverse Program of Modern and Classic Works

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Summer 2016 issue of Classical Guitar.)

On Thursday evening, we heard a selection of Felix Mendelsohn’s contrapuntal “Music Without Words,”which seemed to fit the guitar quite well. These excellent transcriptions, combined with originalcompositions by performer Stephen Aron, formed a balanced, well thought-through program. The masterclass the following day once more confirmed the musical skills of this refined artist.

You know you’re in for a spectacle if Ben Verdery is on the program, and this concert was no different. Theimprovisational and minimalistic piece “Prelude and Wedding Dance,” written by the performer, openeddoors to an anything-but-standard-repertoire concert, including new music by Ezra Laderman and IngramMarshall (whose work is featured on Verdery’s latest CD release, On Vineyard Sound). The use of looppedals, pop music arrangements, and pre-recorded voice might not appeal to every listener, but an artistexploring different approaches to represent the guitar deserves some credit. Perhaps it’s best to listen to itall in an unprejudiced way and take it in… or not. (Verdery, too, is spotlighted in the Summer 2016 ofClassical Guitar.

Earlier on Friday, in complete juxtaposition to the Verdery concert, Carlos Molina decided to program rathertraditional repertoire, with music from Leo Brouwer, Astor Piazzolla, Manuel Ponce, and Abel Carlevaro.The second half of the concert featured soprano Marisa Molina, with arrangements of Enrique Granados’Tonadillas and La Maja Dolorosa being the musical focal points of the concert.

On Saturday afternoon, many strings were onstage for the FIU Miami Guitar Orchestra concert and guitarstudents’ showcase. The percussive opening piece, “Tantra” by Carlos Rafael Rivera, got the audience’sattention from the first down-“beat.” As an unannounced surprise, guest soloist Ben Verdery closed theprogram in Hendrix-style with his Scenes from Ellis Island for guitar ensemble.

Robert Trent brought a variety of historical instruments, such as an original 1803 Fabricatore and aThibouville-Lamy from 1830, and reminded us of the beauty of refined, underperformed, virtuosic 19th-century repertoire. The polished concert of sonatas, fantasias, and other pearls by Ferdinando Carulli,Mauro Giuliani, Fernando Sor, J.K. Mertz and Napoleon Costé surely did these authentic instruments andcompositions justice.

Trio Anka entertained the crowd with new and arranged music for guitar, cello, and tenor, including theworld premiere of “Miamiterranean” by Özgen, which was inspired by the cultural and landscape similaritiesbetween Miami and the Mediterranean. Concerts like this highlight the possibilities and importance ofchamber music for guitarists, as both the audience and performers were very engaged throughout. Notonly did the concert show the Trio’s high performance level, but guitarist Kagan Korad also proved to be anexcellent arranger as well.

The open discussion on the last day of GuitArt 2016, featuring both guitarist-(Özgen, Verdery, Aron,Federico Bonacossa, Carlos Rivera) and non-guitarist composers (Orlando Jacinto Garcia, Gregory Mertl),revealed often-contrasting composition techniques and approaches. Panel members Rivera and Garciaalso presided as judges for the composition competition that preceded the festival. On the last day of thefestival, members of the Miami Guitar Trio premiered the winning pieces by Young Composers winnerMallory Strom, Emerging Composers winner Samuel Wells, and Honorable Mention Nathan Bredeson.

Throughout the festival, the luthier expo exhibited guitars by Manuel Contreras, Manuel Bernabe, and JoséRamirez from local guitar dealer and sponsor Savino Music. Amalia Ramirez spoke about her family’sguitar-building history and the significance of the collaboration with Segovia on instruments from the pastand present. Luthier Kenny Hill modeled the latest innovations for his Signature and Performance Seriesguitars. Master classes conducted by the festival artists provided invaluable learning opportunities forstudents of all ages.

From the folk-inspired opening concert to the vibrant flamenco contributions of Felipe Carvajal and friends,

6/1/2016 Miami International GuitArt Festival 2016 Offered Diverse Program of Modern and Classic Works

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GuitArt 2016 offered a welcome, fresh approach, with its wide variety of styles, new or less-knownrepertoire, and different chamber music settings. All in all, audiences experienced the guitar in its full gloryat the Wertheim Performance Arts Center. And kudos to FIU’s sound engineer Paul Steinsland for doing anexcellent job throughout.

Keep an eye open for updates about the next festival, on their website.

Caption for photo at top, from left: Carlos Rafael Rivera, Stephen Aron, Orlando Jacinto Garcia, BenVerdery, Mesut Özgen, Celso Cano, Rebecca Benitez And here’s a video bonus, not from GuitART of Robert Trent performing two pieces by Johann KasperMertz on a Scherzer 10-string guitar a few years ago.

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6/2/2016 FIU music students exhibit their talent at International Miami GuitART festival

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FIU music students exhibit their talent at InternationalMiami GuitART festival

Jay Vanparia/ Staff Writer

The FIU School of Music and CARTA jointly presented the Miami International guitART festival at theHerbert and Nicole Wertheim Performing Arts Center, Feb.24-28. The festival covered concerts, lectures,master classes from internationally renowned artists like John Schneider, Corey Harvin, Zuleida Suarez,Benjamin Verdery, just to name a few. The festival also incorporated a composition competition whereinaspiring musicians were provided with an opportunity to be recognized for their talents.

The tickets for various events were available to the FIU students at a discounted price of $5 and manystudents took this opportunity to their advantage and came to witness this spectacular festival.

“Although I have zero knowledge about guitars, I am here to experience something new,” said Bhumi Patel,a first year biological science major, “You never know, if I like this event, I might start learning the guitar.”

A remarkable and innovative Luthiers Expo was also a part of the festival where a variety of hand-builtguitars were put on display. The featured luthiers were renowned guitar maker Kenny Hill who received theIndustry Leadership award by the Guitar Foundation of America and Amalia Ramirez, the fourth generationof the legendary Spanish guitar maker Jose Ramirez.

The festival participants had a chance to meet the luthiers, try their guitars and even buy one! The Expowas held in the Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum Café area from February 24th to 28th, 10 am to 5 pm.

The festival saw eminent guitarists from around the world come together and provide a fantastic andeuphoric spectacle which surpassed the audience’s expectations. On Feb. 27, the FIU guitar students weregiven an opportunity to showcase their skills and to sway the audience with their outstanding concert. Theconcert was conducted by Mesut Ozgen, the Artistic Director and Founder of the festival.

“It is honor and privilege to serve as the Artistic Director of the MGIF inaugural edition, which has been adream of mine for a long time”, Osgen said.

The student showcase concert was also aided by Benjamin Verdery, professor of guitar at the YaleUniversity School of Music.

“The students were absolutely flawless in their performance, and it was a great honor for me that I was

6/2/2016 FIU music students exhibit their talent at International Miami GuitART festival

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invited to be a part of this mind blowing festival,” said Verdery.

The students performed modern guitar masterpieces like “Tantra,” “Mountain Mission,” “Aqauarela doBrasil” and “Scenes from Ellis Island.”

Interestingly, composers Carlos Rafael Rivera and Benjamin Verdery  of “Tantra” and “Scenes from EllisIsland,” were present. Rivera was invited by Osgen for an impromptu conduction of the masterpiece.

According to Osgen, “Even though the students did not rehearse with Carlos, they did a fantastic job, giventhe fact that [Rivera] has a really spontaneous style of conducting performances.”

Apart from the orchestra, there were several solo performances by FIU guitar students Carlos Serrano,Roberto Rodriguez and Ari Howard, who brought a fresh perspective to the concert. Moreover, theaudience remained glued to their seats during a duet performance with Thomas Caprara and FelipeCarvajal accompanying him with the guitar.

The star of the show, however, was the final performance of “Scenes from the Ellis Island.” That was theonly orchestral piece of the concert that made use of the organ, played by Dan Hardin. The performancetook a slow tempo in the beginning but it was not long that the players picked up their pace, which gaverise to a spectacular euphoria amongst the audience.

Towards the end, the music stopped dramatically, and that is when Benjamin Verdery himself threw himselfon stage with his electric guitar and started playing fusion with the students. This unexpected twist left theaudience mesmerized from his high energy and effortlessness.

“To be honest, that surprise was a planned one and I had practiced with the students a couple of timesprior to the performance,” admitted Verdery. “However, the students did way better than the practicesessions, and all the credit goes to the enthusiastic and encouraging audience.”

Blown away by the final performance, the audience requested the orchestra to treat them to one morefusion performance. Verdery, Osgen and the students readily agreed and the show ended on a high note!

Such events help the FIU community to be recognized at international levels. The MIGF is yet anotherfeather in the cap of FIU, after the South Beach Wine and Food Festival.