Dear VCGS Patron,
We would like to welcome you back to in person concerts with this exciting Gala concert featuring a variety of local talent. We are still in the process of adding details about our line-up, but we hope that you will save the date.
You will notice that we do not have a “season subscription” this year. Due to the evolving nature of the pandemic, we will be promoting concerts individually. Thank you for your understanding.
Don’t forget to join us for a pre-concert talk at 6:15
Talk title: “Art, Power, and the Cold War” with Joel Thomson (details below)
Thank You for attending!
In Person Ticket
Tickets are by will-call. Please give the name used to purchase the tickets one event day.
Livestream Ticket
Please note that proof of vaccination will be required on the day of event.
• artists line-up may vary slightly on day of.
David Sossa
Acclaimed for his charisma and versatility, guitarist David Sossa has fascinated audiences internationally...
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As a soloist, David has performed in Japan, Italy, France, Spain, England, Canada, USA, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador
Acclaimed for his charisma and versatility, guitarist David Sossa has fascinated audiences internationally. As a soloist, David has performed in Japan, Italy, France, Spain, England, Canada, USA, Mexico, Cuba, Colombia, Chile and Ecuador.
David was born in Toronto, Canada, and grew up in Colombia. He received his early musical education from his teachers Humberto Montoya, on the bandola and folk guitar and Gerardo Giraldo on the classical guitar. Later, he studied with Jairo Cardona, Jesus Marin, Roberto Fernandez, Dario Echeverri, and Daniel Bolshoy.
David played as first guitar at The Toronto Guitar Society Orchestra during the seasons 2011 to 2013. Among his recordings are a solo CD, which was released in December 2010 on the Salty Road label, getting over 1000 copies sold in just 2 months, his collaboration with various commercial CD recordings locally and internationally such as "The Anechoic Experience", and "Jumblesque" by Canadian composer Unthunk, and the music for two documentaries in Colombia.
Throughout his career, David has been recipient of numerous scholarships, among which are: Marie Elizabeth and William Adolphe Pal Jones (2014), Eleanor and James Wrigle (2014), Faculty of Graduate Award (2014), Faculty of Graduate Award (2013), TD Bank Financial Group Graduate Bursary (2013).
David holds a Bachelor of Music from Universidad de Antioquia and a Master of Music from the University of British Columbia. David was the co-founder and Artistic Director of "Semana de la Guitarra", a guitar festival in El Retiro, Colombia that features concerts, masterclasses, workshops and lectures by local and international artists. He also worked from 2015 to 2021 as Head of the Guitar Department at the British Columbia Conservatory of Music.
During his teaching career many of his students have participated in festivals and have won competitions in Canada, USA, and Colombia.
David speaks and teaches in English, Spanish, and Italian, and is frequently invited to give lectures, workshops, and masterclasses overseas.
David´s solo career has been featured in different interviews at some radio stations, TV shows and newspapers in five different countries. Currently, David plays on a 2013 Joshia de Jonge guitar and on a 2019 David Villegas guitar.
Vancouver Guitar Orchestra
The Vancouver Guitar Orchestra (VGO) was formed out of a desire to create a professional guitar ensemble, that would unveil the beauty and richness of the classical guitar...
https://vancouverguitarorchestra.com
The VGO members
Tyler Belding, Galina Jitlina, Vinícius Linhares da Silva, Rodrigo Cesario Oliveira, Kevin O’Neill, Izabella Rychlińska-Sailor, Peter Zaenker, Anna Pietrzak with Alan Liu
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Our mission is to present guitar music to a larger audience and to use this platform to build a community among lovers of the instrument. In addition, we wish to educate and to raise public awareness and appreciation for the guitar. The idea for this ensemble was conceived in May of 2020, in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, which restricted our initial interactions to online only.
The VGO performs transcriptions of iconic symphonic works, movie and world music as well as original music written specially for us.
The Capilano Guitar Trio
The Capilano Guitar Trio was formed in 2013 and comprises of Miri Kim, Matthew Silverman and Stephen Boswell.
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Born in South Korea, Miri Kim began to play the guitar at age 12 and went on to become a surgical and psychiatric nurse. She came to Canada eleven years ago to study Classical Guitar and graduated from Capilano University with a diploma in music. Miri continued with her studies at UBC where she received a BMus and teaching certification diploma. She now teaches high school in Vancouver.
Matthew Silverman is from Burnaby, BC, and holds a Music diploma from Capilano University and a Bachelor of Music in Performance specializing in classical guitar from the University of Victoria. He started playing bass at the age of thirteen and gradually switched to the guitar. Matthew performs solo at public and private events all around the lower mainland, while travelling as far as Boston for competitions. Matt is also a full time private music instructor in the city of New Westminster where he has fifty students.
Born in Northampton, England. Stephen began to play the guitar at age eight and pursued his formal musical studies at the Royal College of Music in London. Stephen has played many concert tours in the Pacific North West. He is on the faculty of Capilano University in North Vancouver and has released six solo guitar recordings of music. He continues to study, compose, teach and concertize.
Luis Medina
Founder of the Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival, Luis Angel Medina is an avid performer and teacher across North America...
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He is the recipient of the Silver Medal from the 2017 Vancouver International Music Competition and holds a Masters degree from the University of Georgia in Athens. Luis’s career has taken him to perform in various cities in Europe, China and all over North America.
Luis was born in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico and began his formal studies in music theory and ear training at the age of fourteen when he enrolled in the Music Diploma at the University of Guadalajara. He then moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he began another Diploma at the Capilano University and won numerous awards and scholarships. He concluded his Bachelors of Music in Guitar performance at the University of British Columbia where he was part of the Dean’s List every year during his studies.
He has now graduated from the Masters degree at the University of Georgia in Athens under the mentorship and guidance of acclaimed Canadian guitarist Dr. Daniel Bolshoy where he functioned as Guitar Teacher Assistant. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Director's Excellence Award which recognizes students for excellence in musicianship, scholarship, leadership, and service, also passing his
final oral examinations with distinctions. Among his roles at the University are teaching Guitar classes for non-music university students and individual guidance to other students pursuing a Bachelors in Guitar Performance at UGA.
Now that Luis is back in the Lower Mainland, he continues to promote the guitar through public events that lead to the spread of music in the larger community with the aid of the Vancouver Classic Guitar Society. He was featured in the International City Music Talents concert held at the prestigious Playhouse Theatre in Vancouver. He has made appearances as a soloist, performing Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s first guitar concerto with A Little Night Music Orchestra and other occasions and also been invited to play for the Tri-Cities Guitar Society in Washington, USA with his duet partner Alec Pearson, head of the guitar department at the University of British Columbia. Luis is also very active across Canada directing guitar ensembles, at various festivals teaching and performing. Luis’s aims are to inspire others by sharing his love for music, and to bring the classical guitar to the larger community.
Luis's teaching style and strategy allows students to learn at a faster rate with some of his students performing RCM level 4 pieces within 6 months. Luis's students regularly achieve prizes at local festivals and have been selected to participate in the Provincial Festival.
Anna Pietrzak
Anna Pietrzak is the founder of the Vancouver Guitar Orchestra...
https://annapietrzak.com/en/anna-pietrzak
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She is a versatile guitarist, recording artist, pedagogue, and adjudicator, and she is the artistic director of the GITAROMANIA Festival in Poland. Anna is a laureate of over a dozen guitar competitions in Europe. She has performed as a soloist as well as with chamber music ensembles and orchestras in Europe, Asia and North America. Anna received her PhD from the Academy of Music in Wrocław Poland and graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Piraeus, Greece. She has over 20 years of experience teaching every level of music education.
Exhibit Artist: Vilio Celli
About Vilio:
I am an artist (BFA 1994 UVIC) living and working in Vancouver, BC for over 30 years. I am interested in creating 3-D environmental paintings with my artwork using ordinary construction materials such as gypsum board, wood, plaster and paint.
I also make sculptures in concrete and rebar.
I also draw images/portraits in charcoal.
More/Contact Vilio at: www.viliocelli.com
Pre-Concert Talk - “Art, Power and the Cold War”
Talk description:
An exploration into who has been buying art and music over the centuries, with a particular emphasis on the 20th. An inquiry into the motivations of the creation and distribution of ideology through art.
About Joel
Joel Thomson began playing the guitar as a teenager. In those early times, he played electric guitar in bands with friends, and while he had an instructor at the time, his studies quickly became self directed, as the amount of music he consumed during those times was far greater than an instructor could keep up with. After reaching what was something of a plateau, he discovered a new challenge in classical guitar. After surpassing what his teacher could teach him, as a teenager still in high school, he was sent to the now chair of the faculty of music at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Don Hlus. After high school, he attended Kwantlen polytechnic for two years, before transferring to UVIC to complete his undergraduate degree with internationally renowned guitarist, Dr. Alexander Dunn, protegé of Pepé Romero, one of the worlds foremost classical guitarists.
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After finishing his BMus, Joel took some time away from the classical guitar to rekindle his love for popular music. With the knowledge he had gained studying music theory, and exposure to the world of modern classical music firmly in mind, he set out to create rock with a twist(s). After finding like minded individuals, he assisted in forming an experimental rock outfit, and was a major force in all the instrumental parts of the song writing therein. In this time, the group made many recordings of their music as a sort of DIY project in a home recording studio, where Joel learned the basics of audio engineering.
After some time, however, the group dissolved, and Joel had the opportunity to go back to the challenge of his life: the classical guitar. Back in Vancouver at this point, he sought the instruction of the newly arrived Daniel Bolshoy, who had taken over at UBC when Michael Strutt retired. After studying privately with Daniel for close to a year, Joel was convinced to take a Masters at UBC, where he received a generous scholarship based on his musical merit, as well as his academic history.
Around this time, Joel became very active in the Vancouver classical guitar scene, as well as the scene in a more national/international sense. He has been a competitor at the Northwest Guitar festival in Seattle, as well as the Hamilton Guitar festival. He has since formed many associations with local musicians, as well as those from outside the city, province, and country, performing many concerts as a soloist, and chamber musician. Notably, Joel has played for the Vancouver Guitar society, Kwantlen’s Music at Midweek series, as well as being a presenter at a guitar festival in Kaslo B.C. where he has also performed a concert, and given master classes for their local guitar organization. Joel is also a volunteer with the Vancouver Classic Guitar Society, where he heads up their open mic events.
Joel has been teaching guitar for several years, teaching both privately and in groups. He has many longstanding students who enjoy his personable manner, as well as his keen eye for detail, and broad knowledge base. In lessons, Joel places a strong emphasis on proper technique, creating an ease of use for the guitar, and a logical way in which to approach the instrument. In addition, the musical elements that Joel brings out in his students are a product of years of discussions, reading, and listening regarding many styles of music.