Tuesday

FEB10

7:30 pm

Please be mindful of the following in the auditorium:

• Pleasesilencecellularphonesandelectronicdevices• Nofoodordrink• Nocamerasorrecordingdevices

This event is sponsored, in part, by the Lied Performance FundThis event is made possible through the generous support of Richard L. and Jeanette Sias.

A seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works

Brasil Guitar Duo

February 10, 2015

20-minute intermission

Brasil Guitar DuoJean-Philippe Rameau, Pièces de Clavecin* Allemande L’ Egyptienne Les Cyclopes

David Leisner, Ghosting**

Leo Brouwer, Sonata de los Viajeros

Leo Brouwer, Tríptico Allegro Andantino Toccata

Egberto Gismonti, Selected Pieces* A Fala da Paixão Forró Don Quixote Karatê Agua & Vinho Strawa no Sertão

*arranged by João Luiz ** dedicated to the Brasil Guitar Duo

Brasil Guitar Duo

JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU (1683-1764)Pièces de Clavecin

Among the most important composers and music theorists of the Baroque era, Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the 18th century’s greatest masters of harpsichord (clavecin) writing in the French school. His modern and sophisticated style took the harpsichord to a new level of prominence by giving the instrument equal attention with others in chamber compositions (the trio sonatas, for example) and developing keyboard technique through virtuosic solo works.

These selections, arranged for two guitars by João Luiz, reflect the composer’s deep musical knowledge. The arrangements bring a new perspective to the compositions by exposing the music’s complexity as two independent instruments are played as one.

DAVID LEISNER (b. 1953)Ghosting

Ghosting was commissioned for Brasil Guitar Duo by Symphony Space — a multi-disciplinary performing arts center located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City —through the Isaiah Sheffer Fund for New Initiatives. Its compositional seed was sprouted with some spare musical ideas and a little haiku-like poem of my devising:

the air holds uspresence intoabsence, ghostingafterimage

The work begins and ends with freely floating harmonics, as if tossed about by a capricious wind. A simple tune in subtly shifting meters becomes the ground for variations that begin quietly and become increasingly lively. This leads to a brief but spacious chordal passage that evokes a distant carillon, followed by a fragmented version of the original tune. Then comes a little chorale leading to a return of the opening material, now a bit more spectral.

– David Leisner, New York, 2014

February 10, 2015

LEO BROUWER (b. 1939)Sonata de los Viajeros/Tríptico

Cuban composer and guitarist Leo Brouwer is acknowledged as one of the most important contributors to the modern classical guitar repertoire. His compositions range from solo guitar pieces to symphonic works and allow him to develop a unique voice through various styles. His prolific output as a composer embraces different aesthetics, from avant-garde experimentalism to neo-romantic simplicity. In all of Brouwer’s works there are clear references to the traditional dance rhythms and folks songs of Cuba.

The Tríptico, originally written for guitar and string quartet in 1958, is performed here in the composer’s own adaptation for two guitars. Brasil Guitar Duo recorded the four-movement Sonata de los Viajeros (Sonata of Travelers) for the first time in Toronto in June 2014, and presented its concert premiere in fall 2014.

EGBERTO GISMONTI (b. 1947)Selected Pieces

Brazil’s Egberto Gismonti is considered an important composer as well as a renowned virtuoso on piano and ten-stringed guitar. His compositions capture the essential Brazilian spirit by connecting academic and popular aesthetics with brilliant, powerful melodies. Various Brazilian rhythms, including those of that country’s native cultures and the Frevo, Baião, Maracatu, Maxixe, and Samba, are a constant element in his work.

This collection of pieces, reflecting a vast range of Brazilian music, was arranged for two guitars by João Luiz under the composer’s supervision.

Brasil Guitar Duo

A B O U T

Brasil Guitar DuoDuo members João Luiz and Douglas Lora met in São Paulo as teenage guitar students and have been performing together for more than fifteen years. The duo’s primary studies were with Henrique Pinto along with Fabio Zanon, Paulo Martelli, Sergio Abreu and Alice Artz. Douglas Lora earned his Master’s degree at the University of Miami, and João Luiz at New York’s Mannes College the New School for Music. Luiz is head of the guitar department at the State University of New York-Purchase, and also teaches guitar at New Jersey City University.

Brasil Guitar Duo, winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, and hailed by Classical Guitar magazine for its “maturity of musicianship and technical virtuosity,” is equally at home on a classical or a world-music series. Its innovative programming features a seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works, resulting in a global touring schedule and a growing catalogue of critically acclaimed recordings.

An eager advocate for both traditional and new concerti for two guitars and orchestra, the duo premiered Concerto for Two Guitars and Orchestra by Brazilian composer Paulo Bellinati in 2012 with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra under Giancarlo Guerrero. Recent engagements include concerts with the Dallas and Houston symphony orchestras, Ohio’s Dayton Philharmonic and Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas.

Brasil Guitar Duo strives to expand the repertoire for two guitars, with Lora contributing works of his own and Luiz arranging both classical and Brazilian music. The duo performs a broad repertoire of classical guitar duos (Bach, Sor, Scarlatti, Debussy, etc.) combined with the traditional music of its native land (choro, samba, maxixe, and baião).

The duo’s first CD, in 2007, was Bom Partido, a CAG Records release featuring all Brazilian repertoire. Two critically acclaimed Naxos CDs, released in 2008 and 2009, contain the complete works for two guitars by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Its latest CD, on the Avie label, is a collaboration with flutist Marina Piccinini that features all of J.S. Bach’s sonatas for flute and harpsichord, as arranged by the Brasil Guitar Duo for flute and two guitars.

Tuesday

FEB24

7:30 pm

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