Bloomingdale School Of Music Presents 11th Annual Guitar Festival

Bloomingdale School of Music announces their 11th Annual Guitar Festival on Friday, April 29, 2023 at 3:30pm at Kosciuszko Foundation, 15 E. 56th Street, NYC.

The festival will feature a masterclass and performance by classical guitarist Koh Kazama, and additional performances by the exquisitely talented Bloomingdale Guitar faculty and their students. The festival will also be livestreamed.

To RSVP, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/guitar-festival-tickets-590341606637. Visit bsmny.org/events/ for more information.

Guitar Festival at Kosciuszko Foundation

Saturday, April 29, 2023

3:30pm - 4:30pm: Masterclass

5pm - 6:30pm: Student/Faculty Concert

6:30pm - 7:30pm: Community Mixer hosted by Bloomingdale

7:30pm- 8:30pm: Faculty / Guest Artist Concert

Musicians

Koh Kazama

José Maldonado, (Artistic Director)

Alejandro Cote

Jamie Fox

Eduardo Guetterres

Satchel Henneman

Max Kutner

Mark Mollica

Bloomingdale Guitar Students

About the Bloomingdale Faculty Concert Series

The 2022/23 Faculty Concert Series will feature rarely heard classical and jazz music for various instruments and voices performed by Bloomingdale's outstanding faculty and guest artists. Concerts will be presented in Bloomingdale's state-of-the-art concert hall and will spotlight music from around the world including Italy, Puerto Rico, Hungary, Russia, and our very own New York City.

For over 20 years Bloomingdale has presented its faculty, as well as guest artists, in concerts including classical music, jazz, and world music. Bloomingdale's Free Faculty Concert Series has established itself a vital part of the musical life of the Upper West Side, taking place most Fridays at 7pm in Bloomingdale's David Greer Concert Hall. These events are free and open to the public.

Additional upcoming concerts in the series include:

Kaleidoscope of Moods

Friday, May 5, 2023 at 7pm

Violist Aundrey Mitchell joins faculty pianist Judith Olson in a program of evocative character pieces by Robert Schumann, Rebecca Clarke, Nino Rota, and Astor Piazzolla.

Into the Future! A Modern Jazz Odyssey of Woodwind Music

Friday, May 19, 2023 at 7pm

Saxophonist Daniel Bennett presents a concert of Modern Jazz for all ages including music by Daniel Bennett, Lennon and McCartney, Gustav Holst, Harold Arlen and Joni Mitchell.

The Piano Music of Bartok

Thursday, June 2, 2023 at 7pm

Judith Olson and her students perform solos and duets by 20th century Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, whose 400-plus works for piano include two landmark educational collections: For Children and Mikrokosmos. The centerpiece of the concert, Musiques nocturnes, is an impressionistic and magical evocation of a Hungarian landscape at night.

Masks are required for everyone when entering performance and event spaces in the BSM building.

About the Artists

Gabriele Leite was the first classical guitarist listed in the Forbes magazine under 30 edition 2021. She currently resides in New York (USA), where she is pursuing a DMA in Music Performance at the prestigious Stony Brook University as a TA under the guidance of João Luiz. Gabriele holds a bachelor's in music from the UNESP Institute of Arts in São Paulo and a Master's in music performance with honors from the Manhattan School of Music. Gabriele was the first guitarist to win the prestigious Magda Tagliaferro Scholarship, promoted by Sociedade Cultura Artística. She has excelled at several festivals and competitions in Brazil and abroad. Recent highlights include her performance of the Villa-Lobos guitar Concerto at Sala São Paulo conducted by Luiz de Godoy with the São Paulo University Orchestra and the chamber music competition "Lillian Fuchs Competition" with guitarist Eduardo Gutterres. Gabriele Leite is an international fellow of the Sociedade Cultura Artística and, since April 2020 she has been sponsored by Augustine Strings, using the Augustine Regal/Blue (High Tension) model.

José Maldonado Suárez, Doctor of Musical Arts, started studying the guitar at a young age in the Programa de Cuerdas at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico (CMPR) from where he later graduated with a Bachelor's degree in classical guitar performance. José moved to New York to pursue a Master of Music degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at SUNY Stony Brook University (SBU). He concentrated his graduate studies on early music performance and on music by Puerto Rican composers from the 19th and 20th centuries. Dr. Maldonado's doctoral research focused on the Puerto Rican Danza, tracing the genre's origins, socio-political impact, and its role in the Puerto Rican decolonization struggle.

As a performer and arranger, José is equally at home with classical and Puerto Rican music; his solo guitar and chamber music repertoire cover guitar literature works from the renaissance to contemporary music as well as genres and rhythms from Latin America and the Caribbean.

As an educator, Dr. Maldonado has presented lectures and master classes at John Jay College, Baruch College, Marshall University, Columbia University, The Long Island Guitar Festival at Post University, Stony Brook University, Middlebury College, Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, and Bloomingdale School of Music, among others.

Dr. Maldonado resides in Brooklyn NY and is currently completing a Master of Arts in Arts Administration at Baruch College. Dr. Maldonado forms part of the Art & Music faculty at John Jay College (CUNY) where he teaches courses in music appreciation, music history, and guitar performance. Dr. Maldonado is a Resident Teaching Artist at Bloomingdale School of Music (BSM) and has been the Artistic Director of the BSM Guitar Festival since 2012.

Pianist Weiwei Zhai has performed throughout Asia, North America, and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. Critics have praised her "enthusiasm and grace" and described her performance as "absolutely gorgeous throughout as to sonority and especially style" (New York Concert Review). Weiwei has played concerts at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Harvard Club of New York City, Steinway Hall, Trinity Church Wall Street, Yamaha Artist Service, and the Beijing National Library Performing Arts Center. As the first-prize winner of the Concerto Competition at Manhattan School of Music (MSM), she performed the Scriabin Piano Concerto with conductor Philippe Entremont. In addition, she has played with celebrated conductor Christian Vásquez in Italy. Ms. Zhai won top prizes in the Kazakhstan International Piano Competition, and the Five Towns Young Musicians Competition in New York.

An avid chamber musician, Ms. Zhai has collaborated with members of the Grammy-nominated quintet, Imani Winds. Her piano trio has been invited to play for the International Advisory Board at MSM. She has appeared at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the PianoTexas International Festival and Academy, and the InterHarmony International Music Festival.

Born in Chengdu, China, Weiwei began to take piano lessons at an early age. She won top prizes in major national competitions and graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with Manchun Chen. She moved to New York to study at Manhattan School of Music, where she received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, studying with Dr. Solomon Mikowsky and Dr. Inesa Sinkevych. Ms. Zhai is a member of the piano faculty at Bloomingdale School of Music, and a staff pianist at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.

A New York City native, Koh Kazama is a concert guitarist and educator exposing audiences to the endless possibilities of the classical guitar. His diverse repertoire ranges from early music played on period instruments to contemporary music using electronic effects. He has been invited to perform in renowned venues, festivals, and concert series, including Carnegie Hall, Miami International GuitART Festival, Killington Music Festival, Long Island Guitar Festival, and WNYC New Sounds Live series. He has also premiered works by a wide range of prominent composers, including Michael White, David Lang, William Anderson, Paula Matthusen, and Kendall Williams.

Dr. Kazama holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in psychology, Master of Music, and Artist Diploma at Yale University. He received a full scholarship to attend Yale, and he was the recipient of the Eliot Fisk Prize, which was awarded to an outstanding guitarist whose artistic achievements and dedication have contributed greatly to the department. He is currently on the faculty at New World School of the Arts, a partner of Miami Dade College, University of Florida, and Dade County Public Schools in Miami.

Founded in 1964, Bloomingdale School of Music is dedicated to the belief that music changes lives and everyone should have access to high-quality music education regardless of economic status, race, religion, ability level, or gender. Bloomingdale is a music-driven community center where all are welcome to join and learn about music from top faculty. We are dedicated to our mission - to make music education accessible to all who want to learn - and remain focused on supporting this mission through our values.