Northwestern’s Segovia series celebrates classical guitar
By DOROTHY ANDRIES February 1, 2012 5:28PM
Irina Kulkiova of Russia opens the NU Segovia Classical Guitar Series on Feb. 4. | Photo by Arnold Fellendans
Segovia
Classical Guitar Series
† 7:30 p.m. Feb. 4-April 14
† Northwestern University Henry Leigh Bienen School of Music and the Chicago Classical Guitar Society, Lutkin Hall, 700 University Place, or Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Dr., Evanston
† Tickets, $10-$26; subscription prices for the five-concert series are $100; $45 for students.
† (847) 467-4000; pickstaiger.org
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Updated: March 4, 2012 8:07AM
An international array of guitar players will star in Northwestern University’s 2012 Segovia Classical Guitar Series, the 19th annual set of programs running periodically through winter and spring on the university’s Evanston campus.
Guitarists include including Irina Kulikova from Russia, Johannes Moller from Sweden, British/Indian sitarist Anoushka Shankar, multi-Grammy Award-winning American Sharon Isbin and Eduardo Fernandez of Uruguay.
“This year Sharon Isbin is collaborating with a Brazilian percussionist,” said Richard Van Kleeck, director of concert activities for the Bienen School of Music. “Anoushka is the daughter of Ravi Shankar and her new recording ‘Traveler’ is exploring links between flamenco guitar and the music of India.
“It’s the most interesting and international that Northwestern has ever offered,” he said, adding that all the artists on the series have won major competitions.
The series, presented by Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music and the Chicago Classical Guitar Society, will use NU’s 400-seat Lutkin Hall and the nearly 1,000-seat Pick-Staiger Concert Hall,, both in Evanston. All programs begin at 7:30 p.m.
The series lineup features:
— Russia’s Irina Kulikova launches the series Feb. 4. She has won major guitar competitions in Europe and has two highly praised albums on Naxos. Her program in Lutkin includes music by Bach, Mertz and Barrios. “She is one of our up and coming guitar artists,” Van Kleeck declared.
— Sweden’s Johannes Moller will play March 3, in Lutkin, and his music includes some of his own work, as well as pieces by Albeniz, Barrios and Gougeon. He is the winner of the 2010 Guitar Foundation of America’s International Concert Arts Competition. He also will present a masterclass for NU’s student guitarists at 1 p.m. Sunday March 4 in Pick-Staiger’s rehearsal room. Admission is free.
— Anoushka Shankar and her guests will play March 28, in Pick-Staiger. She is a two-time Grammy nominee, and for her “Travelers” recording on Deutsche Grammophone, she wrote works combining traditional sitar, table and bansuri flute with flamenco guitar, voice and percussion.
— Sharon Isbin will perform March 31, in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall. One of the best known American guitarists, she will collaborate with Thiago de Mello from Brazil in excerpts from her album “Journey to the Amazon.” She has appeared with more than 160 orchestras in Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Kennedy Center in Washintong, D.C., as well as at Pick-Staiger with the Chicago Philharmonic, then known as Symphony II. Among her honors are two Grammy awards and she has commissioned work from John Corigliano, Christopher Rouse, Joan Tower and others.
— Uruguay’s Eduardo Fernandez will play April 14, in Pick-Staiger. The award-winning musician has made 18 albums for Decca, including some of the first recordings of classical guitar masterworks. He is also an educator, composer, author and researcher.
“South American music is incredibly rich,” said Van Kleeck, in reference to the series’ final performance, “and it is under-appreciated. It’s so easy to fall into the Western European trap, as if there was nothing else out there. I think Fernandez and the other performers in this series will change some of that.”
Dorothy Andries is a local free-lance writer.
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