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Virtuoso Concerts

Upcoming events

    • 6 Oct 2023
    • 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
    • St. Francis Episcopal Church 1205 Pine Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
    Register


    DIRECTIONS: St Francis Episcopal Church 

    Please note that this concert occurs on a Friday and not our usual Saturday concert day.

    Guitar Virtuoso Stephanie Jones

    with a Prelude Performance by Kiran Lee

    World-renowned Australian guitarist Stephanie Jones grew up surrounded by music. Playing many instruments including piano, violin, viola, saxophone and flute, she ultimately picked the guitar for its range of sounds and versatility. Now with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, Jones is passionate about sharing her music and is recognized as an innovative and deeply musical artist. She will present a program of personal inspiration that includes picturesque songs from her Australian homeland, mesmerizing South American grooves and new works showing intriguing contrasts, techniques and colors.

    Besides touring and teaching masterclasses around the world, Jones has released three solo albums, including Colours of Spain (2015), Bach, the Fly, and the Microphone (2009) and Open Sky (2020). Jones was a member of the acclaimed Weimar Guitar Quartet, which released its debut album in 2019, and has collaborated with violinist Karen Gomyo on her album, entitled a Piazzolla trilogy, on the BIS Records label.

    Among Jones's awards are prizes in the Hannabach Guitar Competition, the Uppsala International Guitar Festival Competition and the Fine Music Network Young Virtuoso of the Year Competition. Jones received her undergraduate degree with First Class Honors at Australian National University studying under Timothy Kain and Minh Le Hoang and her master's degree and postgraduate Konzertexamen at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimer under Thomas Müller-Pering. She is currently based in Germany and teaching at the University of Augsburg.

    Jones plays a 2012 spruce top guitar by Perth luthier Paul Sheridan, a 2020 crossover guitar by Daniel Zucali, a 2022 lattice guitar by Fernando Mazza and a double-top spruce guitar by Altamira.

    _________________

    Prelude Performer

    Kiran Lee, 15, is a prizewinner in both the high-school and collegiate divisions of the 2023 Chicago Guitar Festival competition and first-prize winner of the 2022 Sierra Nevada Guitar Festival Youth Competition and the 2022 U.S. International Open Music Competition.  She is one of five performers invited to the upcoming Pre-College Guitar Virtuosos masterclass with Manuel Barrueco of the Peabody Conservatory.  Kiran opened for Gaëlle Solal at the South Bay Guitar Society in April 2023 and is a regular performer at the Society’s open mic events. She is a student of Scott Cmiel at the Pre-College Division of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she also plays in a guitar quartet and guitar orchestra.  Her first teacher was Patrick O'Connell of the Silicon Valley Classical Guitar School.  Kiran has played in masterclasses for Sergio Assad, Bokyung Byun, Andrea González Caballero, Domenico Mottola, Laura Snowden, Meng Su, David Tanenbaum, Marc Teicholz, Ben Verdery, and Jason Vieaux. Outside the guitar, Kiran is a sophomore at Palo Alto High School and a volunteer at the local Pets In Need animal shelter.

    Kiran plays a guitar built in 2022 by German luthier Dieter Müller.


    • 4 Nov 2023
    • 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM
    • St. Francis Episcopal Church 1205 Pine Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
    Register


    DIRECTIONS:  St. Francis Episcopal Church 

    Guitar Virtuoso Dragos Ilie in concert

    with a Prelude performance by Zora Kramer

    Originally scheduled for May 2024, Dragos Ilie will now make his South Bay Guitar Society debut on November 4, 2023.

    “Beautiful tone, sensitivity and great musicianship. Dragos has a wonderful command of our instrument!

    A bright present and even brighter future." 
    ​-​René Izquierdo, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

    Romanian guitarist Dragos Ilie has delighted audiences across Europe, Asia and the U.S. with his charismatic and dynamic performances. Ilie has won awards in more than 40 international competitions including more than 20 grand prizes at events including the Koblenz International Festival, Tokyo International Guitar Competition, Culiacán International Competition, Indiana Guitar Festival, Texas A&M Guitar Competition and Florida Guitar Festival. He has performed with the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra and the National Radio Orchestra of Romania.

    As a chamber musician, Ilie in 2021 joined the Austin Guitar Quartet, which performed with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Austin Guitar Quartet and the Conspirare choral ensemble on the 2022 Grammy-nominated recording of The Singing Guitar. Recent appearances by the Austin Guitar Quartet include a performance of Steve Reich’s Electric Counterpoint with the Austin Ballet. In the summer of 2022, Ilie performed on the Stradivarius Tour - Paganini Magic with celebrated Romanian violinist Alexandru Tomescu, with whom he performed Centone di Sonate for violin and guitar in 17 concerts in 13 cities.  

    During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ilie joined the nonprofit organization Ex-Aequo, which launched online workshops, masterclasses, concerts and a competition that drew 200 participants. Ex-Aequo's latest projects include the commission of nine guitar works by eminent Black-American composers and the production of an accompanying album and video series.

    With Romanian National Radio, Ilie has recorded an upcoming album of works by Porumbescu, Bartók and living Romanian composers. Ilie has been awarded grants including the MOL Foundation Scholarship for Young Artists, the Young Talents Grant from the Margareta Principess Foundation with support from the Royal House of Romania, and the Moștenitorii României Muzicale grant from Radio Romania and Rotary Club Pipera. He has been featured in Classical Guitar Magazine, Gendai Magazine and Acoustic Guitar Magazine and has taught online lessons and workshops on Tonebase. 

    A recipient of the prestigious Woodruff Award at Columbus State University, Ilie completed his undergraduate studies at the University's Schwob School of Music under Andrew Zohn. Ilie is currently completing his doctoral studies under Adam Holzman at the University of Texas at Austin, where he serves as a teaching assistant. Ilie is also studying body mapping, body awareness and injury prevention for musicians. Currently, he is training to become a licensed practitioner.

    As a child, Ilie fell in love with the guitar after listening to his father play and enrolled initially at the Popular School of Arts and later the National College of Arts in his native city of Iasi under Marius Timpau. Ilie also studied with Daniel Dragomirescu at the National Music Conservatoire of Iasi.

    Ilie is an Augustine Strings Artist and performs on Augustine's Classic Blue and Paragon Red sets.


    Prelude performer Zora Kramer 

    Zora Kramer is a San Francisco-based classical guitarist and mathematician. She graduated in June 2023 from the University of California Santa Cruz with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics. For Zora, studying abstract mathematics deepened her love of guitar playing and the attention she devotes to it. She is currently expanding her guitar community in the Bay Area through ensembles, open mics and performances.



    • 3 Feb 2024
    • 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
    • Community School of Music and Arts, Tateuchi Hall, 230 San Antonio Cir, Mountain View, CA 94040
    Register


    DIRECTIONS: Tateuchi Hall

    First-place winner of the Guitar Foundation of America's 2022 International Concert Artist Competition, Lovro Peretić has performed and taught masterclasses around the world.  Peretić has won more than 30 prizes in international competitions including the EuroStrings Guitar Competition, Changsha International Guitar Competition, Andres Segovia Guitar Competition, Zagreb Guitar Festival and Sarajevo International Guitar Festival, among many others.

    Born in Zagreb, Peretić has represented Croatia in major events including the Vladimir Spivakov International Foundation’s festival in Moscow and the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth’s Young Hearts for Music tour. He regularly performs in a duo with violinist Katarina Kutnar and with his guitar trio Evocación. Peretić has appeared as a soloist with the Croatian Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and Zagreb Soloists, among other ensembles. 

    Peretić begin guitar study with Xhevdet Sahatxhija and later graduated from the Academy of Music in Zagreb under Darko Petrinjak. He spent a year as an exchange student studying with Judicaël Perroy at L’Ecole Supérieure Musique et Danse Hauts-de-France-Lille.  Peretić also studied under Perroy at the Haute Ecole de Musique Genève. Lovro was awarded the Dean’s and Rector’s prizes at the University of Zagreb.

    This performance marks Peretić's South Bay Guitar Society debut.

    • 2 Mar 2024
    • 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
    • Evergreen Valley High School, 3300 Quimby Rd San Jose, CA 95148
    Register


    DIRECTIONS: Evergreen Valley High School

    “One of the most sought-after guitarists of today.” – Medici TV

    An active soloist and chamber musician, Goran Krivokapić performs throughout the world and has appeared with the New Russian Symphony Orchestra, Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra, Kwazulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra, Chilean Symphony Orchestra, Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, and Shenyang Symphony Orchestra, among many others. 

    Krivokapić has performed as a soloist and with his duo partner Danijel Cerović at festivals including the Koblenz International Guitar Festival, Iserlohn International Guitar Festival, the Guitar Foundation of America's International Guitar Convention, Shenyang Guitar Festival and Daejon Guitar Festival.

    As an educator, Krivokapić has given masterclasses, lectures and workshops at universities and conservatories worldwide. He has been active in the late pianist Lars Vogt's Rhapsody in School project, dedicated to bringing classical music into the classroom.

    Krivokapić won his first international competition in Belgrade at 14 and continued to win another 18 competitions, including the Guitar Foundation of America's International Concert Artist Competition in 2004. He has won two Chittara d’Oro awards at the International Guitar Convention in Alessandria, Italy, citing Krivokapić as best young guitarist of the year in 2005 and recognizing his 2006 debut disc, entitled Goran Krivokapić Guitar Recital, on the Naxos label.   

    As the Montenegrin Guitar Duo, Krivokapić and Cerović have been highly acclaimed by both audiences and critics who praise the duo's live performances as well as their recording of their transcriptions of J.S. Bach’s English Suites on the Naxos label. 

    Born in 1979, Krivokapić began his music education at age eight with Mićo Poznanović at the Music School of Herceg Novi in Montenegro and continued his studies at the Faculty of Music at University of Arts in Belgrade under Srđan Tošić, graduating in 2000. He continued with Hubert Käppel and Roberto Aussel at the Hochschule für Musik Köln in Germany, where he graduated and received his Konzertexamen degree. He pursued graduate study at the Conservatorium Maastricht in the Netherlands under Carlo Marchione and at LUCA School of Arts Campus Lemmensinstituut in Leuven, Belgium, under Raphaella Smits.

    Krivokapić is professor of guitar at Cologne University of Music and teaches guitar at Detmold University of Music. He lives in Cologne with his wife and son.

    • 6 Apr 2024
    • 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
    • St. Francis Episcopal Church 1205 Pine Ave, San Jose, CA 95125
    Register


    DIRECTIONS: St Francis Episcopal Church

    Poláčková’s playing was so technically secure and musically insightful, it was unimaginable that anything she played could possibly be difficult.” -- Cleveland Classical 

    Known for extraordinary musicianship and virtuosity, Petra Poláčková has appeared throughout Europe and the U.S., performing at guitar festivals in Bonn, Hamburg, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Madrid, Geneva, Lucerne, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Cleveland and Portland, among many others. Since 2010 Poláčková has been a co-organizer of the Guitar Festival Mikulov in the Czech Republic. She has released recordings of 20th century sonatas as well as works by Sylvius Leopold Weiss.

    After beginning her guitar studies at age six at the Elementary Art School in Rožnov pod Radhoštem in the Czech Republic under Bohuslav Faltus and Miroslava Pavelkova, Poláčková studied with Zdenek Dvorak at the Elementary Art School Lounskych in Prague. She attended the School of Music in Pardubice in the Czech Republic under Petr Saidl and obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees with Paolo Pegoraro at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Graz in Austria. Poláčková has performed in master classes taught by Leo Brouwer, Nigel North, Thomas Müller-Pering and Judicaël Perroy, among many others. In 2011 she received the Merit Diploma at the Chigiana Academy of Siena in the class of Oscar Ghiglia. 

    Poláčková performs on a Concert Master Double Top guitar built by Petr Matoušek and a 1923 historical guitar by Domingo Esteso, courtesy of Gabriele Lodi. She also plays an eight-string romantic guitar (a reproduction of an 1840 guitar by Nicolaus Georg Ries) and a nine-string romantic guitar, both built by Jan Tuláček.

    • 4 May 2024
    • 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
    • St. Francis Episcopal Church 1205 Pine Ave, San Jose, CA 95125


    DIRECTIONS: St Francis Episcopal Church 

    Guitar Virtuoso Valeria Galimova in concert

    Winner of 10 first-prizes at Russian and international guitar competitions, Valeria Galimova was awarded one of the Prizes of the President of Russia and won the gold medal at the Delphic Games in 2014.  Among her solo appearances are a 2020 performance at the Guitar Virtuosi festival in the Chamber Hall of the Moscow Philharmonic and a 2018 performance of the world premiere of Konstantin Bliokh's suite "The Dance" for guitar and string quartet as part of the Moscow Festival of Guitar Chamber Music. Galimova also performed in the production of the Astor Piazzolla’s tango-opera "María de Buenos Aires" in the Rachmaninov Hall of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.

    As a passionate chamber musician, Galimova has collaborated with performers including harpsichordist Anastasia Antonova, cellist Valeria Rupasova, violinist Asiia Garipova, bayan player Kirill Rusinov andcoloratura soprano Ekaterina Sokolnikova as well as with conductors Jeremy Walker and Tobias Wögerer.

    Born in Russia, Galimova began studying classical guitar at age eight with Dmitry Milovanov in the city of Kamensk-Uralsky, whose mayor named her a scholarship winner five times. At 14, Galimova served as an artist and a jury member at an international children's festival competition in Puebla, Mexico. Galimova studied under Roman Zorkin and Anastasia Bardina at Moscow's Gnessin College and in 2019 graduated from the Russian Academy of Gnessin as a student of Artyom Dervoed. Galimova completed her master’s degree in 2022 at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar, Germany, under the direction of Ricardo Gallén.

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