FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2013
Contact: Paula Mlyn
CLASSICAL GUITARIST ADAM LEVIN WILL MAKE COLORADO RECITAL DEBUT AT UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2013, 3 PM
Program features masterworks by Ysaÿe, Bach, Turina, and the Colorado premieres of three contemporary Spanish works for solo guitar by Ricardo Llorca, Eduardo Morales-Caso, and Leonardo Balada, dedicated to Adam Levin
Levin will serve as preliminary round judge in the first CU International Guitar Competition, and give master classes during residency on Thursday, February 14
NEW YORK, NY –The University of Colorado International Guitar Festival will present the Colorado recital debut of classical guitarist Adam Levin on Saturday, February 16, 2013, 3 pm, in the Old Main Chapel, University of Colorado at Boulder. Levin will also serve as a judge on the preliminary round of the CU International Guitar Competition, and give a master class for participating guitarists on Thursday, February 14, 4:30-6:30 pm. Admission is FREE for Levin’s recital on February 16. Additional artists performing at the inaugural festival include internationally renowned guitarist Paco Peña (Thursday, February 14, 7:30 pm, Macky Auditorium) and the guitar ensemble SoloDuo (Friday, February 15, 7:30 pm, Grusin Music Hall).
On his recital program, Adam Levin will feature three new Spanish works commissioned and dedicated to him while studying and performing in Madrid from 2008-2011. During his three-year Fulbright Scholarship abroad, Mr. Levin commissioned 30 new works from four generations of Spanish composers. He is releasing a four-volume CD series on the Naxos label to document these new pieces. “21st Century Spanish Guitar, Volume 1” (April 2013) will include seven new recordings by Eduardo Morales-Caso, Salvador Brotons, David Del Puerto, Carlos Cruz de Castro, Ricardo Llorca, Leonardo Balada, and Octavio Vazquez.
For his recital, Levin will perform the Prelude Obsession from Sonata No. 5 by Eugéne Ysaÿe; Lute Suite No. 4, BWV 1006a by J.S. Bach; Handeliana (Variations on a theme by G.F. Handel based on the theme “Va godendo” from the opera Xerxes) by Ricardo Llorca; Suite: Il Sogno Delle Streghe by Eduardo Morales-Caso; Caprichos No. 8: Abstractions of Albeniz by Leonardo Balada; and the famous Fandanguillo and Sevilla-Fantasia by Joaquin Turina.
Adam Levin has been praised by renowned American guitarist Eliot Fisk as a “virtuoso guitarist and a true 21st century renaissance man with the élan, intelligence, charm, tenacity and conviction to change the world.” Levin’s debut album, In the Beginning, was praised as “absolutely thrilling…will dazzle and entertain at every possible opportunity” by Minor 7th Acoustic Guitar Music Reviews.
Levin has embarked on expanding the guitar’s repertoire through collaborations with thirty renowned contemporary Spanish composers. His second album, Music from Out of Time featured world premiere recordings by contemporary Spanish composers Eduardo Morales-Caso, Leonardo Balada, Mario Gosalvez-Blanco, David Del Puerto, and José María Sánchez Verdú. His most recent solo recording on Verso Records, Fuego de la Luna, showcased the complete guitar works of Eduardo Morales-Caso. In September 2012, production begins on a four-volume solo CD series on the Naxos label and a companion publication with Brotons y Mercadal Edicions Musicals, presenting the thirty Spanish works commissioned while in residency in Spain from 2008-2011.
Levin has performed across the United States and Europe at renowned venues such as Chicago’s Pick Staiger and Mayne Stage concert halls, at the Palazzo Chigi Saracini in Italy, Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and Jordan Hall, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Berlin Universität für Musik und darstellende Künst, the Barcelona Auditorio Axa, and in Madrid at the Palacio de Godoy, BBVA Palacio del Marqués de Salamanca, and Sala Manuel de Falla.
The recipient of numerous top prizes, Adam Levin has been recognized by the Society of American Musicians, the Lake Forest Concerto Competition, Minnesota’s Schubert Competition, Boston GuitarFest, Concurso Internacional de les Corts para Jóvenes Intérpretes in Barcelona, Concurso Internazionale Di Gargnano, and Certamen Internacional Luys Milan de Guitarra in Valencia. Levin has been guest artist on a variety of music series, including Madrid’s Sociedad Española de Guitarra, Conciertos en Palacios and Festival Clásicos en Verano, Valencia’s Amigos de la Guitarra, Boston GuitarFest, L’Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, and Festival Pro Música e Cultura in St. Moritz.
In 2005, as part of a fundraising effort for Hurricane Katrina victims, Levin directed the Concert for Gulf-Coast Aid, which raised $10,000 for hurricane relief. In 2007-2008, Levin was awarded an Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, encompassing 200 hours of innovative community work in Boston area schools, homeless shelters, rehabilitation centers, halfway houses, and prisons. In 2008, Levin was honored as a Fulbright Scholar in the field of music performance, researching contemporary Spanish guitar repertoire in Madrid. In collaboration with the Spanish and American embassies, Levin has continued outreach performances in Madrid at a number of bilingual school programs, introducing both American and Spanish classical guitar repertoire to students. In 2009, he was awarded the Program for Cultural Cooperation Fellowship, promoting cultural understanding between Spain and the United States. In May 2010, Levin was awarded the Kate Neal Kinley Fellowship, continuing his research and performance of contemporary Spanish music in Madrid.
A native of Chicago’s North Shore, Levin holds BM and BA degrees from Northwestern University in Music Performance, Psychology, and Pre-Med. Under the tutelage of Eliot Fisk, Levin completed a MM at New England Conservatory in Boston. His esteemed teachers have included Oscar Ghiglia, Gabriel Estarellas, Anne Waller, Mark Maxwell, and Paul Henry. Levin was professor of guitar at Amadeus Escuela de Música in Madrid, Spain and is currently the co-director of the music program, Boston Guitar Immersion, which offers comprehensive guitar instruction to independent schools.
OTHER CONCERT EVENTS IN THE INAUGURAL UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO GUITAR FESTIVAL
Paco Peña, guitar
Thursday, February 14, 7:30 pm
Macky Auditorium, $14+, Box Office (303)492-8008
SoloDuo, duo guitars
Friday, February 15, 7:30 pm
Grusin Music Hall, FREE
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