(Jason Vieaux | Photo courtesy of Chamber Music Northwest)
For the final performance of its streaming, nine-concert 2020-21 season, Chamber Music Northwest will present the Grammy Award-winning classical guitarist Jason Vieaux. Premiering Saturday, May 15 at 7pm PT, Jason Vieaux: Eloquent & Eclectic will be available to stream through Saturday, May 22 on CMNW.org. This concert was recorded for CMNW at the visually stunning and acoustically superb Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. In connection with this concert, CMNW will livestream a free Musical Conversation with three-time Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis on Tuesday, May 11 at 6pm PT.
Grammy Award-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux makes his CMNW debut in this season finale concert. Considered “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” (Gramophone), Vieaux is highly regarded for his versatility, lyricism, broad musical range and virtuosity. A passionate advocate of new music, Vieaux was chosen to premiere the 20-time Grammy-winning guitarist/composer Pat Metheny’s genre-defying Four Paths of Light, which will be featured in this concert, along with other works by Bach, Scarlatti, Brouwer and Ellington, spanning more than 300 years — an evening brimful of eclectic inspiration.
“…virtuosic, flamboyant, dashing and, sometimes ineffably lyrical.” — The New York Times
From CMNW Artistic Directors Gloria Chien and Soovin Kim: “Jason Vieaux is considered by many to be the pre-eminent classical guitarist of our time. His lush tone, poetic interpretations and virtuosic flair make his performances memorable. It is our great privilege to present Jason in his CMNW debut as he is one of the artists we most admire, not just among guitarists but among all performers in the world!”
KEY LINKS
Jason Vieaux CMNW concert page
TICKETS
Single Concert Passes: $20
Musical Conversation series: Free (cmnw.org/concerts-tickets/2020-21-season)
PROGRAM
DOWLAND: My Lady Hunsdon’s Almain
- S. BACH: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001 (Arr. Jason Vieaux)
SCARLATTI: Piano Sonata in A Major, K. 208
JASON VIEAUX: Home (2020)
PAT METHENY: Four Paths of Light (2021)
LEO BROUWER: El Decameron Negro
ELLINGTON: In a Sentimental Mood (Arr. Jason Vieaux)
BARRIOS: Vals in G Major, Op. 8 No. 4
Program Notes by Frederick Noonan will be posted here prior to the concert
Learn about Pat Metheny’s Road to the Sun (2021) with Jason Vieaux playing Four Paths of Light
ABOUT THE MUSICIAN
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.”
Among his extensive discography is the 2015 Grammy-winning album for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Play.
Recent performance highlights include debuts at the Domaine-Forget Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, as well as returns to San Francisco Performances (part of an annual Artist Residency), Caramoor Festival (as Artist-in-Residence), Ravinia and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Other recent venues include the National Gallery of Art, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the 92Y, Wolf Trap, Curtis Presents, Seoul Arts Center and Shanghai Concert Hall. Vieaux has performed as concerto soloist with over 100 orchestras, including Cleveland, Toronto, Houston, Nashville, San Diego and Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
Vieaux’s multiple appearances over the years with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, Strings Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Caramoor Festival, etc., have forged his reputation as a top-drawer chamber musician. Regular collaborators include the Escher String Quartet, Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro.
On March 5, 2021, Vieaux performed the premiere recording of a new solo guitar suite, Four Points of Light, composed for him by jazz legend (and 20-time Grammy-winner) Pat Metheny for his new album Road To The Sun (BMG Modern). Also released on Naxos is the 2019 recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Guitar Concerto with Nashville Symphony. Vieaux’s passion for new music has also fostered recent premieres from Jeff Beal (House of Cards Symphony, BIS, 2017), Avner Dorman, Vivian Fung, Mark Mancina, Dan Visconti and many more.
MUSICAL CONVERSATION
The Classical Saxophone with Branford Marsalis
Pre-concert talk with three-time Grammy Award-winner, musician, composer and educator Branford Marsalis. The conversation will include a Q&A that invites questions from the audience.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 6pm (PT) | FREE
Livestream Zoom link: us02web.zoom.us/wc/join/84979017134
Conversation available on-demand at CMNW.org today, Wednesday, April 21
CMNW’s Musical Conversations are hosted for each CMNW concert by Co-Artistic Director Soovin Kim the week preceding the concert premiere, the Musical Conversation audience enrichment series is free and can be accessed on the CMNW website.
About Branford Marsalis
After four decades in the international spotlight, the achievements of saxophonist Branford Marsalis continue to grow. From his initial recognition as a young jazz lion, he has expanded his vision as an instrumentalist, composer, bandleader and educator, crossing stylistic boundaries while maintaining an unwavering creative integrity. In the process, he has become a multi award-winning artist with three Grammys, a citation by the National Endowment for the Arts as a Jazz Master and an avatar of contemporary artistic excellence.
Growing up in the rich environment of New Orleans as the oldest son of pianist and educator, the late Ellis Marsalis, Branford was drawn to music along with siblings Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason. The Branford Marsalis Quartet, formed in 1986, remains his primary means of expression. In its virtually uninterrupted three-plus decades of existence, the Quartet has established a rare breadth of stylistic range as demonstrated on the band’s latest release: The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. But Branford has not confined his music to the jazz quartet context. A frequent soloist with classical ensembles, Branford has become increasingly sought after as a featured soloist with acclaimed orchestras around the world, performing works by composers such as Copeland, Debussy, Glazunov, Ibert, Mahler, Milhaud, Rorem, Vaughan Williams and Villa-Lobos. And his legendary guest performances with the Grateful Dead and collaborations with Sting have made him a fan favorite in the pop arena.
His work on Broadway has garnered a Drama Desk Award and Tony nominations for the acclaimed revivals of Children of a Lesser God, Fences, and A Raisin in the Sun. His screen credits include original music composed for: Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks starring Oprah Winfrey and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman. Ma Rainey is the Netflix film adaptation of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play, produced by Denzel Washington and released in December 2020.
Branford has also shared his knowledge as an educator, forming extended teaching relationships at Michigan State, San Francisco State and North Carolina Central Universities and conducting workshops at sites throughout the United States and the world.
After the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, Branford, along with friend Harry Connick, Jr., conceived of “Musicians’ Village,” a residential community in the Upper Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The centerpiece of the Village is the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music, honoring Branford’s father. The Center uses music as the focal point of a holistic strategy to build a healthy community and to deliver a broad range of services to underserved children, youth and musicians from neighborhoods battling poverty and social injustice.
UP NEXT: 2021 SUMMER FESTIVAL
Thursday, July 1 through Sunday, July 25
Details TBA