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Join us for a spectacular season of classical guitar!
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in April 2000, Leonela formally began her musical education when she was six years old. During her first years, she studied with various Puerto Rican teachers including Jomel Rivera, Julio Reyes, and Rey Nieves. She later became a student of Maestro Iván Rijos at the Escuela Libre de Música de San Juan and then at the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, where she completed the first two years of her undergraduate studies. In 2018, Leonela transferred to the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee to complete her Bachelor’s degree with Professor René Izquierdo.
Leonela’s powerful performances have captivated audiences worldwide, and she has won prizes in various level categories at festivals including Boston GuitarFest, Le Domaine Forget, Indiana Guitar Festival & Competition, Chicago Guitar Festival & Competition, Louisville Guitar Festival & Competition, and Columbus Guitar Symposium.
Leonela is currently living in Columbus, Georgia where she will be pursuing her graduate studies with Dr. Andrew Zohn at CSU’s Schwob School of Music. Leonela plays a Stephan Connor guitar.
Recognized as one of today’s finest classical guitarists, Gabriel Bianco has won First Prize in some of the most prestigious international competitions, including, the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Guitar Competition (2008) and the Koblenz International Guitar Competition (2007).
In 2011, he was nominated “Révélation Classique” from the ADAMI (Society for the Collective Administration of Performers’ Rights in France). Gabriel has performed in over fifty countries and in many of the most renowned festivals and concert halls. He has been a featured artist in many of the most prestigious venues and festivals worldwide.
As a solo recitalist, Gabriel performs music from the Baroque to contemporary with an emphasis on music from the Romantic period and music of Spain. Many composers have dedicated new works to him. As a soloist with orchestra, Gabriel has performed concerti with orchestras around the globe.
Audience, colleagues and critics have commented that in concert, Gabriel and his guitar become one. They recognize that the elegance and colors of his playing exude a unique approach to all of the repertoire he explores.
Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux, “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” (Gramophone), is described by NPR as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation”.
In appearances from New York’s Lincoln Center to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Seoul Arts Center, Jason Vieaux has cemented his reputation as an artist of brilliance and uncompromised mastery. Cited for his “eloquent and vibrant performances” on disc (Gramophone Magazine) he is hailed as “virtuosic, flamboyant, dashing and, sometimes ineffably lyrical” (New York Times) on stage.
Sought-after for his extensive concerto repertoire, Vieaux has performed with a long list of orchestras including Cleveland, Toronto, St. Louis, Houston, Columbus, and has made premiere recordings with the Nashville Symphony (Leshnoff Concerto) and the Norrköping Symphony (Beal Six Sixteen). He has worked with renowned conductors including Giancarlo Guerrero, Jahja Ling, Gerard Schwarz, and David Robertson. Vieaux’s passion for new music has fostered premieres from Jeff Beal, Avner Dorman, Vivian Fung, Pierre Jalbert, Jonathan Leshnoff, David Ludwig, Mark Mancina, and Dan Visconti, among many others.
Vieaux’s extensive discography includes his “Bach Volume 2: Works for Violin” released on Azica in 2022 to rave reviews for his “eloquent and vibrant performances” (Gramophone). Additional 2022 releases include “Shining Night” featuring his duo with acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers (Avie Records) and Michael Fine’s “Concierto del Luna” with flutist Alexa Still (Sony Classical), both enjoying strong critical acclaim. Vieaux recorded Pat Metheny’s “Four Paths of Light”, a solo work dedicated to him by Pat, for Metheny’s 2021 album “Road to the Sun.” Jason Vieaux won the 2014 Best Instrumental Classical Solo Grammy Award for “Play.” The Huffington Post declared PLAY is “part of the revitalized interest in the classical guitar.”
A busy touring performer, Jason Vieaux enjoys repeated invitations from distinguished series, including San Francisco Performances, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the 92nd Street Y, among others. Festival engagements include Ravinia, Caramoor, Domaine-Forget, Music@Menlo, Round Top, and the Eastern Music Festival. Overseas performance venues include Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Seoul Arts Center, Shanghai Concert Hall, Sala Sao Paolo, and Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.
Jason Vieaux enjoys ongoing performing and recording collaborations with the Escher String Quartet, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro, and saxophone virtuoso Timothy McAllister.
In 2011 Vieaux co-founded the guitar department at the Curtis Institute of Music (with David Starobin). The youngest winner in the history of the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Vieaux has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music for 25 years. Jason’s online Guitar School for Artistworks Inc. has hundreds of subscribers from all over the world. He plays a guitar by Gernot Wagner, 2013, made in Frankfurt.
Hailed by The Boston Globe for his “subtle, graceful virtuosity” and described as a “Vietnamese Guitar Virtuoso” by Austin Classical Guitar, guitarist An Tran continues to impress audiences with his innate musicality and dynamic artistry. In recent seasons, An has been invited to perform recitals at international concert stages such as the Guitar Society of Toronto, Córdoba Guitar Society, Segovia Classical Guitar Series, New Orleans International Guitar Festival, Latin- American International Guitar Festival, Bangkok Guitar Society, and Hanoi International Guitar Festival, among others.
Building on the momentum of his numerous successes, An signed a recording contract with Naxos and released the album “Napoléon Coste: Guitar Works, Vol. 6” in June 2023. His performance received acclaim from the American Record Guide, which praised his “immaculate ornaments and cultivated sense of phrasing”. His debut album, entitled “Stay, My Beloved”, was included in the 2020 “Recordings of the Year” by Chicago Tribune and was praised by Classical Guitar Magazine as “an unforgettable journey to a world you’ve probably never been to” with “highly virtuosic passages that display what a gifted guitarist An Tran truly is.” Released on Frameworks Records (Sony Orchard) in April 2020, the album features all Vietnamese guitar music, portraying different elements of Vietnamese traditional music and original compositions by Vietnamese composers. It was described by the Guitar Foundation of America’s Soundboard Magazine as “deeply moving music at its best” and praised for “Tran’s sense of space, touch, and mood is exquisite.”
An Tran has been featured in many radio, podcast, newspaper and television programs by Performance Today, Classical Guitar Alive!, Tonebase Podcast, Vietnam Airlines’ Heritage Magazine and Vietnam Television (VTV) among numerous others. He has won over a dozen international guitar competitions and music awards, including top prizes from Berlin International Guitar Competition, New Orleans International Guitar Competition, and Society of American Musicians Guitar Competition to name a few.
After leaving the Vietnam National Academy of Music, An Tran received his B.A in Music from North Park University (Chicago), where he studied with Julie Goldberg and Tom Zelle. In 2019, An was presented with the university’s Distinguished Young Alumni Award. An received his Master of Music, along with the Southeast Asia Studies Fellowship from Yale University, studying with Benjamin Verdery. He received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with the Program Honors at Northwestern University, studying with Anne Waller.
An Tran is the guitar professor at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and Northern Illinois University (NIU), where he established the NIU International Guitar Concert Series and serves as a faculty affiliate at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. He is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Chicago Artopia, a nonprofit organization dedicated to making art accessible to everyone on the Southwest side of Chicago. He also serves as a board member of the Chicago Classical Guitar Society. An Tran is a D’Addario Artist and is managed by Jean Schreiber Management. An performs on guitars made by Stephan Connor in Boston, USA.
The International Concert Series takes place at Riverview Performing Arts Center, 1 Ram Way at Lords Ave & Proctor Rd, Sarasota, FL 34231.
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For more information please contact us at info@guitarsarasota.org or call 941-260-3306.
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Guitar Sarasota, Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a not for profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Your donation to Guitar Sarasota is tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Please consult your tax advisor. Guitar Sarasota meets all requirements specified by the Florida Solicitation of Contributions act. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services at www.freshfromflorida.com or by calling toll-free 1-800-435-7352 within the State.
Sign up for our E-newsletter for more about events, artists, updates, and the latest about Guitar Sarasota
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Questions? Comments? We’d love to hear from you
Guitar Sarasota, Inc. is recognized by the IRS as a not for profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. Your donation to Guitar Sarasota is tax deductible to the full extent of the law. Please consult your tax advisor. Guitar Sarasota meets all requirements specified by the Florida Solicitation of Contributions act. A copy of the official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Division of Consumer Services at www.freshfromflorida.com or by calling toll-free 1-800-435-7352 within the State.
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