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HomeEventsAPSU GuitarFest begins February 11th

APSU GuitarFest begins February 11th

GuitarFest features Grammy Award-winning Jason Vieaux in concert

Austin Peay State University - APSUClarksville, TN – This February, Austin Peay State University and the APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts will present the annual APSU GuitarFest, featuring guest artist concerts, lectures and workshops.

This year’s festival will feature performances by 2015 Grammy Awards winner, Jason Vieaux, as well as the AronBerkner Duo of guitarist Stephen Aron and flutist Jane Berkner. The festival will conclude with a recital by current Austin Peay students from the University’s guitar program.

APSU Professor of Music Stanley Yates playing at GuitarFest.
APSU Professor of Music Stanley Yates playing at GuitarFest.

The concert schedule begins Monday, February 13th with the AronBerkner Duo, followed by Vieaux on Tuesday, February 14th and the APSU recital on Wednesday, February 15th. All three concerts take place at 7:30pm in the Music/Mass Communication Building’s Mabry Concert Hall.

The AronBerkner Duo and the APSU recital are free and open to the public, while tickets for the Vieaux concert, sponsored by the Clarksville Community Concert Association, may be purchased online at www.clarksvillemusic.org

A Buffalo, New York native, Vieaux has been described by National Public Radio as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation,” while Gramophone magazine put him “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists.” His most recent solo album, “Play,” won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. In June 2014, NPR named the track “Zapateado” from the album as one of its “50 Favorite Songs of 2014 (So Far).”

For more than a decade, Aron and Berkner have collaborated on numerous projects as the AronBerkner Duo, and have performed across the U.S. and Europe. Their first CD, “Tropicale” was released on the Clear Note label in 2012. Soundboard Magazine says “both…are gifted with lovely tone, exceptional technique and a sense of unanimity that bespeaks much experience playing together.” Together, they have presented concerts and classes at the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory, Ithaca College Conservatory and the Crane School of Music in New York, as well as for the National Flute Association.

As a part of the festival, the APSU Guitar Department and Community School of the Arts will be offering a one-day fingerstyle guitar workshop for students grades 4-12 on February 11th.

The workshop will focus on music literacy and group ensemble performance based on the research and curriculum developed by the Austin Classical Guitar Society. Acoustic guitars are required along with a recommendation from a teacher.

Workshop participants will perform a culminating concert in the Kimbrough building at 4:00pm. The concert is free and open to the public. The workshop is taught by Vanessa Green, adjunct professor of guitar and owner of Vanessa Green Guitar Studio in Clarksville. Green will be assisted in teaching the camp by Austin Peay music education and guitar students René Villarreal and Ashantia Mitchell. Student registration for the workshop is $70.00.

For more information about APSU GuitarFest, please contact APSU professor of music Dr. Stanley Yates by email at YatesS@apsu.edu, or the APSU Department of Music by phone at 931.221.7351.

For more information regarding the fingerstyle guitar workshop, contact Vanessa Green at greenv@apsu.edu or call 931.802.5005.

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