Guitarist Jason Vieaux Performs at Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival Tonight

Celebrated guitarist Jason Vieaux will join flautist Marya Martin, violinists Frank Huang and Ani Kavafian, violist Ettore Causa, cellist Clive Greensmith, pianist Shai Wosner, percussionist Ayono Kataoka, and mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway for an evening of chamber music tonight, August 14 at 7:30 p.m., part of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival.

Vieaux, described as "among the elite of today's classical guitarists." (Gramophone), will be opening the concert with selections from Robert Beaser's Grammy-nominated Mountain Sounds for Flute and Guitar. The piece consists of eight songs based on traditional Appalachian folk melodies, modifying their modal-tonal structures and rhythms but never varying too far from the original source.

The performance will take place at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church and tickets will cost $35-50, available at www.bcmf.org or by calling 212-741-9403.

The rest of the program will include Prokofiev's Sonata for Two Violins, a modernist work that explores interweaving melodies, Fauré's Piano Quartet No. 1, and two works of vocal chamber music: Brahms's Zwei Gesänge for mezzo-soprano with viola and piano, and George Crumb's Night of the Four Moons, inspired by the Apollo 11 moon expedition in 1969.

Guitarist Jason Vieaux is expanding the definition of what it means to be a classical guitarist and changing the face of guitar repertoire, building a devoted audience and fan base along the way. Vieaux is a musician noted for virtuosic and stirring performances, imaginative programming, and uncommon communicative gifts. He has performed as concerto soloist with over 50 orchestras, including Cleveland, San Diego, Ft. Worth, Santa Fe, Charlotte, Buffalo, Grand Rapids, Kitchener-Waterloo, Richmond, Chautauqua Festival, and Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. His solo recitals have been featured at every major guitar series in North America, as well as many of the important guitar festivals in Asia, Australia, Europe, and Mexico. Vieaux's appearances for Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Music@Menlo, Strings Music Festival, Grand Teton Festival, and the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players have forged his reputation as a first-rate chamber musician and programmer. And his passion for new music has fostered premieres of works by Dan Visconti, David Ludwig, Jerod Tate, Eric Sessler, José Luis Merlin and Gary Schocker.

In the fall of 2011, Jason Vieaux inaugurated The Curtis Institute of Music Guitar Department with guitarist David Starobin, and he has been Head of the Guitar Department of the Cleveland Institute of Music since 2001, a position he continues to hold. He is also affiliated with Philadelphia's Astral Artists, with which he gives annual outreach concerts. In June 2012, Jason Vieaux launched the Jason Vieaux Classical Guitar School from ArtistWorks. This revolutionary online school, the first of its kind for classical guitar, gives students of any age, ability, or location an unprecedented level of access to studies with Vieaux through ArtistWorks' Video ExchangeTM accelerated learning platform. For more information, visit www.jasonvieauxschool.com.

Jason Vieaux continues to bring important repertoire alive in the recording studio. A new Azica Records album of solo guitar encores is planned for a 2013 release. Among his 11 commercial albums is an Azica disc of Astor Piazzolla's music with Julien Labro and A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra. BACH: WORKS FOR LUTE, VOL 1 hit No. 13 on Billboard's Classical Chart after its first week and received rave reviews by Gramophone, The Absolute Sound,and Soundboard. IMAGES OF METHENY features music by American jazz legend Pat Metheny, who, after hearing this landmark recording, declared: "I am flattered to be included in Jason's musical world." SEVILLA: THE MUSIC OF ISAAC ALBENIZ made several Top Ten lists the year of its release. Vieaux's albums and live performances are regularly heard on radio stations across the country, and his work is the subject of feature articles in print and online around the world every year, including in such magazines as Acoustic Guitar, MUSO, and Gramophone, and on NPR's "Deceptive Cadence" music blog.

Vieaux is a member of the Advisory Board of the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA). His primary teachers were Jeremy Sparks and John Holmquist. In 1992 he was awarded the prestigious GFA International Guitar Competition 1st Prize, the event's youngest winner ever. He is also honored with a Naumburg Foundation top prize, a Cleveland Institute of Music Alumni Achievement Award, and a Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant. In 1995, Vieaux was an Artistic Ambassador of the US to Southeast Asia, concertizing in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, India, Bangladesh, Myannmar, and Nepal. Jason Vieaux is represented by Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd. For more information, visit www.jasonvieaux.com.

ABOUT BRIDGEHAMPTON CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL:
The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival was started by New Zealand-born flutist Marya Martin and Manhattan businessman Ken Davidson. From two concerts featuring five artists in 1984, the Festival now presents thirteen concerts and some 40 renowned musicians. The Festival still maintains its special sense of community where good friends share their love of music-making in the beautiful setting of Bridgehampton in the summertime. While most performers spend most of their time performing alone as soloists or in the practice room, chamber music offers them the opportunity to collaborate with others on the highest level. Musicians often seek to get together with their colleagues at their leisure to play chamber music for their own delight. Bridgehampton Chamber Music sets up this intimate experience between some of the world's finest artists, and opens it up to a small audience of listeners.

The graceful sanctuary of the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church is modest in size so each member of the audience, seated in a cushioned pew, feels close to the performers on the altar that forms the stage. The acoustics are so pure that the softest note is audible from every seat, and the comfortably air-conditioned room makes the experience even more enjoyable during the summer.

The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival has a devoted core audience-many have attended every concert since the Festival's start. As weekend visitors flock to this beautiful seaside resort town, they join the ranks of summer residents and year-round East Enders who have already discovered that the Festival is a perfect end to a summer's day. Artistic Director Marya Martin brings a personal touch to her programs, introducing rarely heard works and new works by composers of our time in the reassuring company of favorites of the standard repertoire. Sustained by the generosity of a distinguished Board of Directors, by our special Benefit evening and general contributions from Festival supporters, tickets to the Festival remain affordable to everyone. Each concert is recorded for later airing on Public Radio's Performance Today, and Festival recordings and commissions extend the Festival's contribution to a wider public-and to the future of music.

Photo by: Tyler Boyle