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.
