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Artist Information
Lorena Garay, a native of Puerto Rico, loves to perform music with a strong Spanish guitar flavor, both as a soloist and a multi-instrumentalist, in various groups including "SURCARI". Coming from a Latin music background, she is also trained in classical guitar with a Master of Music degree from The Hartt School of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico.
"Lorena's guitar arrangements and compositions beautifully blend the classical guitar with Latin rhythms. This is a unique feature of her style. She plays a range of solo styles from traditional classical guitar, to a beautiful blend of Spanish guitar and lively Latin rhythms." www.lorenagaray.com
Judy Handler has given concerts & workshops at numerous venues throughout the United States including the University of Arizona, Commons Theater in Chicago, the Boston Classical Guitar Society and the Guitar Salon in New York. Her solo playing features classical music as well as Latin American, Brazilian, and jazz arrangements. She has had the pleasure of performing with many talented guitarists such as Charlie Byrd and Oscar Ghiglia. Judy regularly performs concerts of international music for guitar & mandolin with her husband, Mark Levesque. They have produced two critically acclaimed CDs.
Judy’s studies began in her hometown, Chicago and she went on to earn a Bachelor of Music from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and a Master of Music from the Hartt School of Music. She also studied and performed in programs at the Aspen Music Festival, the Vila-Seca i Salou Conservatory in Spain and the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy. She has taught at the University of Connecticut, The Hartford Conservatory and presently teaches at a private studio in Vernon, Connecticut. Judy is Co-Founder of the Connecticut Guitar Society.
www.judyandmark.com
Marija Temo, described as a “triple threat”, is widely recognized as a virtuoso classical/flamenco guitarist, flamenco vocalist/dancer, and conductor. Her unique specialty is to combine all her talents into a single performance. The guitar she plays is a “Marija Temo” Model flamenco/classical hybrid TM, which she designed with luthier Tom Rodriguez. Ms. Temo has also received the endorsement of D’Addario Strings.
Symphony orchestra highlights include: Chobanian’s “Concierto del Fuego”, a guitar concerto written for Ms. Temo in the flamenco style; Lecuona’s “Malaguena”, which she performed and arranged (for orchestra, flamenco guitar, voice, and dance); “Multi-Talented Marija”, a Spanish program that she devised for Children’s Series, showcasing all her talents, including conducting, and involving elaborate audience participation; Falla’s “El Amor Brujo”, which she has frequently performed (as a featured flamenco vocalist and/or dancer); Falla’s “Canciones Populares”, which she performed and arranged (for orchestra, flamenco guitar, and voice); and several performances of Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez”. Ms. Temo has appeared in Pops, Children’s, and/or Main Series programs with the Baltimore Symphony (with whom she has been a regular performer for their Youth Series, having appeared in more than 16 concerts), and orchestras such as the Calgary, Edmonton, Florida, Alexandria, and Ocean City Pops Symphonies.
Ms. Temo is a former faculty member of the Preparatory of the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, where she founded the Flamenco Guitar Program. She received her Masters degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, studying under Manuel Barrueco, and her Bachelors degree from the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, studying under Loris Chobanian. Ms. Temo’s mentors in flamenco are Teo Morca and Manolo Leiva.
Award highlights include: a Citation from the Governor of the State of Maryland in honor of her being selected for the 2000 Maryland State Arts Council’s “Individual Artist Award in Solo Instrumental Performance”; an “Alumni - Achievement Award” from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music; an induction into the Revere High School “Hall of Fame”, together with a music award named after her and entitled, “The Marija Temo Award”.
She has performed for dignitaries such as: the former Spanish Ambassador, Don Jaime de Ojeda; the Crown Prince of Spain; former Vice President Al Gore; the Russian Ambassador to the US; the Princess of Thailand; and eminent dancer Jose Greco. She has performed with artists such as: Lola Greco, Teo Morca (with whom she has worked extensively and was invited to represent the US in the first Flamenco Festival in Tateyama, Japan), Manolo Leiva, Sara de Luis, Juan Serrano, Paco Peña, Oscar López, Antonio Vargas, Manolo Segura, Jose Fernandez, La Conja, and Carlota Santana. www.marijatemo.com
Janet Marlow takes center stage with her mastery on the classical guitar as a composer, performer, recording artist and educator for over twenty five years. Born in London, Janet Marlow is the fifth generation of the noted Russian Spivakowsky family of musicians. Classically trained as a violinist and pianist, she discovered the classical guitar as a teenager and has been dedicated to this instrument ever since. After graduating with honors from the Mannes College of Music in New York she continued her studies with Maestro Andres Segovia, Julian Bream, Abel Carlevaro and Leo Brouwer. In 1973, Ms. Marlow became the protégé of Maestro Narciso Yepes for five years, (1927-1997). Maestro Yepes is the innovator of the modern ten-string guitar. Today, Janet Marlow is considered one of the leading masters of the ten-string guitar in the world and as a performer, composer and as an educator. She has recorded ten CD’s and two DVD’s of her original compositions, classical transcriptions and jazz arrangements. She also holds a Masters of Arts Degree from Sacred Heart University.
Her performances have taken her around the world, which include venues such as the Lincoln Center, the Texaco Jazz Festival, Festival Estival De Paris, Quick Center for the Arts, The Apollo, Carnegie Hall and the Blue Note. Her virtuosity has been heard as a soloist with orchestras, solo concert performances and with her contemporary music quintet. She has composed for television documentaries and stage premieres in Asia and Europe. Recently, her playing on the ten-string guitar is featured on the score of the internationally award winning film ”Swimmers" directed by Doug Sadler.
In 2005, Ms. Marlow published the first Method Book for the ten-string guitar with DVD instruction, entitled Playing the Ten-String Guitar: An Approach Guide for Guitarists. She is the Founder and Director of the First International Ten-String Guitar Society and annual Festival as well as TenStringGuitar Publications. (www.tenstringguitar.com) Mel Bay Publications has published her book The Joy of Flute and Guitar works of Bach, Gluck, Telemann and Faure. She is presently writing the book entitled What Every Great Guitarist Knows About Practicing scheduled for release in 2007. www.janetmarlowmusic.com
Young Performers Showcase
Julia Szafman, age 16, has been taking classical guitar lessons for 10 years with David Madsen of the Hartt School of Music. Over this period Julia has performed in many honors recitals and has participated in Master Classes with the Romeros and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. She recently spent the summer in Spain where she took lessons in Spanish guitar. Julia also takes jazz guitar lessons with Rich Goldstein and performs with the Hall High School Concert Jazz Band.
Sarah Neale, 15, has been playing the classical guitar with the Suzuki method at The Hartt School of Music since she was five. Her private instructor is Jim Rickevicius. She has also received group instruction from David Madsen. She has had master classes with David Leisner, Marylou Roberts, and Edward Cummings. Sarah played for several years with the Suzuki Guitar Orchestra and currently is playing with a quartet under David Madsen’s direction. Sarah also plays the oboe and recently joined the Greater Hartford Youth Wind Ensemble. She is a sophomore at the Watkinson School where she is in her second year of the Creative Arts Program for Music. She is also in the second year of the Performers’ Certificate Program at the Hartt School. In her spare time she does crew and plays varsity tennis.
Alexina Aron was born February 23, 1992. At age fourteen, Alexina was a first prize winner at the Rosaro Guitar Competition (Youth Division). In March of 2007, Alexina was a finalist and prize winner in the prestigious Rantucci International Classical Guitar Competition. Alexina was also the recipient of two full scholarships to the Connecticut National Classical Guitar Workshop. Alexina received her early classical guitar education from her parents. Both her parents are classical guitarist: her mother was a graduate of the New England Conservatory and her father Stephen Aron is Chairman of Guitar Studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of music.
Alex has performed in Master Classes with Manuel Barrueco, Ana Vidovic, Benjamin Verdery, Andrew York, Lily Afshar, Bruce Holzman, Denis Azabagic, Jason Vieaux, Nicolas Goluses, Martha Masters, Bill Kanengeiser, Julian Gray, Nat Gunod, and Bruce Holzman. Currently, and for the past four years, Alexina studies with Richard Provost at the Hartt School of Music. She also completed one year of the Hartt School of Music Performance Certificate Class where she studied music theory and history. In addition to her music studies, Alex is a highest honors student at the Norwich Free Academy.
Yovianna García Alvarado was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Surrounded by her musical family, she formally began her musical studies when she was 8 at the Escuela Libre de Música Juan Morel Campos on violin. She enrolled at the Instituto de Música Juan Morel Campos in 2000 to develop her skills as a classical guitarist. In 2007 she received her Bachelor of Music with specialty on Classical Guitar from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Leonardo Egúrbida.
On October 2006 Yovianna became part of the committee of the First Classical Guitar Festival at Ponce, PR. She also performed solo and with the García Guadalupe Guitar Duo on the inaugural concert of the Festival, which took place at the prestigious Sanromá Hall of the Museo de Arte de Ponce. That November she won Second Place in the first National Classical Guitar Competition in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
She is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in guitar performance at the Hartt School of Music of the University of Hartford, where she studies with Prof. Richard Provost.
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