[369] MTSU To Host Tennessee Guitar Festival March 21-25

March 17, 2010

MTSU TO HOST TENNESSEE GUITAR FESTIVAL MARCH 21-25

MURFREESBORO—Does watching world-renowned musicians, free, appeal to you? How about supporting Middle Tennessee State University student and faculty members in their growth and education through the performing arts?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, then the eighth annual Tennessee Guitar Festival, which will be held at MTSU March 21-25, is your event.
William Yelverton, an MTSU guitar professor who also is overseeing the festival, said the event is the largest of its kind in Tennessee.
Those who attend will see award-winning musicians who will showcase classical guitar music ranging from the Renaissance all the way up to contemporary, along with the Spanish style of music and dance called flamenco.
Attendees will have the opportunity to sit in on master classes hosted by performers at the festival. MTSU students perform in the master classes for the guest instructors, who then critique their pieces. Master classes also are free and open to the public.
On Sunday, the first night of the festival, performances will begin at 8 p.m. in the Hinton Music Hall of the Wright Music Building. Yelverton will perform alongside Andrea Dawson, MTSU assistant professor of violin; then Roger Hudson, adjunct guitar professor, will finish out the night with Bela Musiqua.
On Monday, March 22, the festival will begin with a master class given by Enric Madriguera, guitar studies director from the University of Texas in Dallas. The class will be held in Room 117 of the Saunders Fine Arts Building from 1:40 p.m. to 3:40 p.m.
Madriguera also will perform for the first half of the evening concert, which again begins at 8 in Hinton Hall. The Duo Guitano, composed of Bethel University guitar professor Carlos Castilla and Amanda Virelles, a piano professor from Lane College, will perform for the second half of that evening’s concert.
John Knowles, award-winning composer and arranger, and Nicholas Ciraldo, guitar studies director from the University of Southern Mississippi and a winner of the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, will perform on the festival’s third night on Tuesday, March 23, at 8 p.m. in Hinton Hall.
The fourth day of the festival, Wednesday, March 24, will begin with a master class in Hinton Hall from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. with Ciraldo leading the lesson.
Yelverton said that headliner Jason Vieaux will be the solo performer for Wednesday night’s 8 p.m. concert. After taking first prize in 1992 as the youngest winner of the GFA competition, the virtuoso, with 10 albums to his credit, has played hundreds of concerts across the United States and abroad.
“He’s just played at Lincoln Center, and he has a new CD out with great reviews,” Yelverton said, “He’s become a top American concert guitarist.”
The festival’s last day, March 25, will begin with a master class with Vieaux in SFA Room 207 from 2 to 4 p.m.
MTSU alumnus Silviu Ciulei will kick off the final night’s performances at 8 in Hinton Hall.
The final performance on Thursday, which will also close this year’s festival, will be from the Nashville-based Tequila Flamenco Group, composed of former and current MTSU students Benjamin James Golden, Taylor Lonardo, Tony Hartman, Andrew Haselden and Ciulei.
The group’s technique is inspired by the flamenco musical and dance style that is heavily practiced in Spain. Yelverton said Golden and Ciulei play lively, fervid guitar solos and accompaniments, Hartman brings the Latin percussion to the forefront, Lonardo uses his bass to underlie the harmony, and Haselden adds extra flavor with his piano melodies.
“You get to see all of these concerts for free; it’s a unique opportunity,” Yelverton said. “It’s five nights right in a row. We’re hoping that those who are interested in guitar, even [with] a casual interest, will stop in and see something, quite possibly, they’ve never seen before.”
Yelverton said that the School of Music wants to expand the festival next year to include an international guitar competition where participants could stay in MTSU dorms while participating in the master classes, concerts and competitions.
Funding for the Tennessee Guitar Festival is made possible by grants from the D’Addario Music Foundation, the Arts Builds Communities program, the MTSU Instructional Development Committee, the MTSU Office of Sponsored Programs and the MTSU School of Music.
For more information on the festival or any of the artists, visit www.mtsu.edu/~yelverto/guitfest.html or e-mail Yelverton at yelverto@mtsu.edu.

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