Multi-award winners, Canadian originals, international innovators: VCGS announces a 2023-24 concert season that has it all.
The Vancouver Classic Guitar Society is delighted to announce a series of five superb classical guitar concerts for the 2023-24 season. This line-up of top talent from Europe and Canada includes multi-award winners, Canadian superstars, and international innovators. Tickets are on sale now and subscriptions are available at www.vancouverguitar.org
Lovro Peretić, September 22, 2023, Pyatt Hall. The 2022 GFA winner Lovro Peretić is from Zagreb in Croatia, where he started studying guitar at a very young age. Now just 28, Lovro has gone on to win an incredible 30 plus prizes in international competitions, including the International Concert Artist competition of Guitar Foundation of America, Eurostrings guitar competition, and the Andres Segovia guitar competition. He tours extensively around the world, gives masterclasses and regularly performs as a soloist, with symphonies and in chamber music groups.
A made-in-Vancouver double bill: Michael Kolk, Anna Pietrzak, November 4, 2023, Vancouver Academy of Music. Vancouver’s own Michael Kolk is one of Canada's most accomplished classical guitarists. Hailed as ‘brilliant and expressive’, he has starred at festivals and concert halls throughout North America and Europe both as a soloist and as the hugely popular HK Guitar Duo with Drew Henderson. Michael has released nine CDs including solo recordings and with the HK Guitar Duo, including many original transcriptions.
Anna Pietrzak is an amazing guitarist, teacher, recording artist, adjudicator and founder of the Vancouver Guitar Orchestra. Laureate of over a dozen guitar competitions in Europe, she has performed as a soloist and with chamber music ensembles all over Europe and Canada. Anna received her PhD from the Academy of Music in Wroclaw in Poland. She has released three albums including a duo with her brother Łukasz Pietrzak.
Pavel Steidl, February 10, 2024, Pyatt Hall. Pavel Steidl, born in Rakovnik, Czech Republic, is one of the most widely celebrated soloists of his generation. After years of study in Prague and the Netherlands, Pavel went on to develop his own unique approach to guitar where classical meets fresh, new ideas in an innovative style that has been called ‘delightful and magical’. Pavel is also a composer and prolific recording artist who has performed in more then 40 countries.
Dale Kavanagh, March 23, 2024, Pyatt Hall. Canadian Dale Kavanagh has given over 1,000 recitals in more than 40 countries, and is a regular recitalist and teacher in music festivals worldwide. Born in Halifax, she studied at Dalhousie University, the University of Toronto, and the Banff Centre before going on to earn the top prize in Spain’s Segovia competition, Italy’s Gargnano competition, Switzerland’s Neuchatel competition and many more. Now, the highly acclaimed guitarist composes, records and performs internationally as a soloist, in concertos with orchestra and as part of the Amadeus Guitar Duo.
Co-presented with Musewest Concerts: Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo, April 27, 2024, Vancouver Academy of Music, 7:30 pm*. Classical Guitar Magazine calls Adam Cicchilllitti a “superb Canadian guitarist” and Steve Cowan “one of Canada’s top contemporary classical guitarists.” Together, they form the dynamic Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo, a guitar partnership that just took 2nd prize in the 2023 GFA International Ensembles Competition. The long-time friends present intriguing programs with a mix of new music, their own compositions and 20th century impressionists. Their two CD’s, Analekta and Focus, have been called “brilliant and forward thinking.”
All concerts start at 7 pm, with a pre-concert performance of up-and-coming guitarists at 6:15 pm. (*Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo starts at 7:30 pm.) Concerts are at Pyatt Hall, 843 Seymour Street, Vancouver or the Vancouver Academy of Music, 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver.
Tickets are $42 General Admission, $35 Senior/Student, $15 Youth. Members enjoy a 15% discount on single tickets and save 25% on subscriptions. Four-concert subscriptions are available for members only until September 22nd at $126 – Member General Admission, $105 - Member Senior/Student, $45 – Member Youth (18 & under). Please note our Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo concert April 27th, 2024, is co-presented with Musewest Concerts and tickets will be sold separately.
Visit our website and become a VCGS member to enjoy savings, exclusive access to concerts and guitar events and other benefits. Interested in playing with others? Join our VCGS Guitar Ensemble. Want to stay in touch? Sign up for our newsletter. You’ll find it all at www.vancouverguitar.org or email us at info@vancouverguitar.org