photo by Paul Schraub
DIRECTIONS: Tateuchi Hall, Community School of Music and Art
Mezut Özgen, Guitar Virtuoso in Concert
with a Prelude performance by Lucas Quan
Acclaimed as “stunningly versatile and expressive” by Acoustic Guitar magazine, Mezut Özgen is a concert and recording artist, composer, conductor, and pedagogue.
Prizewinner in several international guitar competitions, Özgen has performed as featured soloist in festivals including the International Paco Peña Guitar Festival in Cordoba, Spain, the Suoni dal legno International Guitar Festival and Milano Classical Guitar Festival in Italy, Thailand International Guitar Festival in Bangkok, Yale Guitar Extravaganza, Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, and Healdsburg Guitar Festival, among others.
Özgen's first solo CD "Troubadour" features classical guitar works inspired by Turkish, Spanish, Argentinean, and American folk traditions and was cited by Guitar Review magazine as "a shining example of this guitarist's great talent." His award-winning multimedia concert DVD "New Dimensions in Classical Guitar" includes premieres of guitar works with visual accompaniments including video, interactive computer images, and particularized lighting design. Classical Guitar magazine's reviewer said this recording was "the finest music DVD ever to have come my way, remarkable achievement." Özgen's latest CD "Anatolian Fantasy" exclusively features his own compositions for solo guitar, two guitars, soprano and guitar, flute-cello-guitar trio, and kemenche-cello-guitar trio.
As a performer, Özgen has collaborated with harpsichordist Anthony Newman, violinist Cihat Aşkın, oboeist Shelley Phillips, flutist Lars Johannesson, and cellist Amy Brodo, among many others. As a composer, Özgen creates works based on or influenced by traditional Turkish music. Among his other influences are Joaquin Rodrigo's use of flamenco music and Turkish composer Yalçın Tura’s harmonization techniques. Many composers have written solo, concerto, and various ensemble music for Özgen including Anthony Gilbert, Pablo Victor Ortiz, Anthony Newman, Benjamin Verdery, Sergio Assad, Stephen Goss, and others.
Özgen joined the faculty of Florida International University in 2013 as coordinator of guitar studies and right away established the FIU Miami Guitar Orchestra. He has performed and taught master classes throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, Cuba, and Turkey and directed guitar studies at the University of California Santa Cruz from 1998 to 2013. Özgen's degrees include a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma from Yale School of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from Arizona State University, as well as an M.D. from Hacettepe University Medical School. At Yale, he was the first guitarist to be awarded the Dean’s Prize, the School of Music's highest honor.
Prelude performer Lucas Quan
Lucas Quan has completed the Suzuki guitar repertoire and is now concentrating on standard concert repertoire including works by Albéniz and Tárrega. Lucas began the guitar at age 8 and currently studies with Patrick O'Connell at Silicon Valley Classical Guitar School in Sunnyvale. His first teacher was Jon Mendle. Outside of music, Lucas is a junior at BASIS Independent Silicon Valley and enjoys tennis as well as participating in science competitions.
Program:
M. Ponce: Sonatina Meridional
I. Campo
II. Copla
III. Fiesta
