Guitarists take audience through time
Irvine Valley College’s Four Centuries of Guitar was a musical success at its Performance Arts Center on Nov. 9.
The oldest material used is from the 1500’s of John Dowland and Thomas Campian. The most present material used was from Heitor Villa-Lobos and Arr. Laurindo Almeida.
The first half of the program consisted of director, John Schneiderman, and students presenting a music symphony of classical guitar through various pieces.
Leohard von Call’s Trio Pour Facile Trois and Laurindo Almeida’s Club Quinze was orchestrated wonderfully. These two works of masterpiece truly surprised the audience on how talented the students were and their dedication in striving for excellence.
The first half of the program lasted for an hour and then there was intermission for about 15 minutes.
The second half was comprised of solos from the director himself and seven students.
The audience gave grand applause to each musician but the best performances of the night were saved for last with students Jon Ramage, Bobby Golshahi, and Henri Choi.
When Ramage finished his breathtaking implementation of Fernando Sor’s Etude in D Major, the audience had to take it all in before remembering to applaud after a few seconds.
Next was Golshahi’s interpretation of Dowland’s Mrs. Taylor’s Galliard. It was long piece but exemplary and beautiful.
Last but not least was Choi’s two solo performances which seemed to be many of the audiances favorite.
The last song of the night was Johann Kaspar Mertz’s Nocturne, Op.4 No.2 which was perfect in every way.
The audience gave an explosion of applause and everyone was pleased and several blown away ready to go home for the night.