WOLFGANG LENDLE ON YOU TUBE

I am once again reminding you of the great German Virtuoso WOLFGANG LENDLE! I have him playing as I write this post and implore you to jump on to YouTube and feast on this truly phenomenal Artist. Such great musicality and perfection of execution! What a treat to be here at 5:06 am in the morning having a great concert by one of our truly great artists who you probably no nothing about! TRUST ME! LISTEN TO WOLFGANG LENDLE AND FEAST ON THE BEST THAT THE CLASSICAL GUITAR HAS TO OFFER!
He recently downloaded about 14 or so videos produced in his home and MAN OH MAN what a Guitar MONSTER!!!!!! He plays his ass off! THANKS WOLFGANG!!!!!

Rupert Boyd - GREAT YOUNG VIRTUOSO

I JUST RECEIVED AN E-MAIL FROM MY YOUNG COLLEAGUE RUBERT BOYD informing me that he will be giving a concert at TRINITY CHURCH tomorrow Thursday at 1pm.I have followed this great young artist for several years now and he never fails to present the finest in The Art of the Classical Guitar. He has just uploaded several performances to YouTube and once you get a taste of the "BOYD MAN", you will remain a life long fan! Check him out:

Thursday December 8th, 1pm
Trinity Church
Wall St & Broadway
(The nexus of the subway system: 2, 3, 4 & 5 to Wall Street; J & M to Broad Street; A & C to Broadway-Nassau; E, C & PATH to World Trade Center; 1, R & N, to Rector Street).


December 8th also marks the 31st anniversary of the death of one of my biggest idols John Lennon, and so is a special and reflective day for music in New York City.


Happy Holidays,
Rupert


ps. for anyone who cannot make it or would like a preview, here is a recently uploaded YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjC21S4COoI&feature=g-upl


http://www.rupertboyd.com

Don MCLEAN and the beauty of song

I have been going back to my upbringing to secure a new repertoire of song arrangements from the 60s' 70's and have had my heart melted by a couple of songs of Don Mc Clean. ON youtube you can find both very early "Live" performances by Don and also the great PERRY COMO who had a successful Hit with the same song. I just found a version by ELVIS PRESLEY and was surprised by how lovely he sang it also. Of course,as a Guitarist there is a lovely rendition of "MR. GUITAR - CHET ATKINS in both solo and in Duo with DON MCLEAN singing it- again on youtube! What a treasure to experience these great songs and give me room to make a fine tuning of my solo guitar arrngements/improvisations of these masterpieces! Every time I play "VINCENT",I get so many possitive comments. In a few hours (1pm) I will be giveing a concert in Staten Island at the South Beach Public Library and will be playing that gorgeous "VINCENT" for the audience! What a treasure!

THE BRAZIL GUITAR DUO

YOU TUBE AND THE BRAZIL GUITAR DUO! MY BUDDIES ARE FANTASTIC AND WILL BOWL YOU OVER!@

The Magnificent JORGE CABALLERO

JUMP ON TO YOU TUBE AND GET THE GUITAR STUN GUN POINTED AT YOU WITH THE MAGNIFICENT ARTISTRY OF MY DEAR COLLEAGUE JORGE CABALLERO! w h e w ! ! ! ! ! !

Part 2 CELIL REFIK KAYA IN CONCERT AT MANNES - OCTOBER 27TH

CELIL REFIK KAYA,a 20 year young student under the brilliant tutelage of my dear friend,Michael Newman is an International competition winner and just finished a recording of which this Concert was representative of. From the 1st note, I knew I was in for an evening of superior music making.I was familiar with every piece on the program but one small piece by Dilermando Reis (Promessa Waltz). The night was a rainy one and true to form the audience was skimpy and embarrassing with just about 30folks on site to witness someone who will and should ascend the heights of our concert world.Not a word was uttered by this be speckled genius all evening and he had such a gentle and timid bow for the audience but what a mind blowing concert of the highest level on all fronts!

I came in with all my gig gear from a 3 hour gig at the Staten Island Ferry and took my regular seat front row center and was treated to a gourmet musical meal of works by Piazzolla,Reis,Lauro,Ponce,Mangore,Sojo,Brouwer and Morel! Only one encore was offered and I stated from the audience "YOU BETTER GIVE AN ENCORE"!.This young,gentle musical giant reaffirms why I also have spent my life in music since 1954. I was very deeply moved by the total mastery CELIL shared with us.His incredible command of the smallest note articulation was "Breath Taking". His tone was incredibly beautiful and his instrument was a perfect match to his effortless technique. His slightest musical utterance was totally achieved in this wonderful concert. When he attacked the Antonio Lauro Waltzes ( 8 of them ! ),it was as though Alirio Diaz was on stage! I was fortunate to have heard Diaz in concert in 1975 at the Toronto International Guitar Festival! Those of you who have never seen Diaz can catch several of his live performance videos on You Tube and you will witness one of the supreme virtuosos of our time, still active and still kicking monstrous Guitar Butt!. One of the original Guitar "Speed Demons" who simply amazes all who witness his craft. Now getting back to this ferocious TIGER known as CELIL REFIK KAYA,I found every single note of every piece performed to be perfectly weighed and articulated from one of the most fluid technical and musical wonders I have heard on any ANY instrument. The audience contained the cream of the young crop of excellent
MANNES Guitar students in a fine supportive role. I was surprised at all who were NOT in attendance but that was their great loss! This young Artist is in the realm of the "OUT OF SIGHT GENIUS- JORGE CABALLERO". It takes a lot for me to say that because I believe my Sweet Peruvian colleague,JORGE CABALLERO is on another planet of our Classical Guitar World. Again I state that you should break you necks to catch this great young man whenever you can because he is already high in the realm of the "GREAT" performing artists at the tender age of 20!!!!! MARK MY WORDS! THIS KID IS EXCEPTIONALLY SPECIAL!

P.S. He has yet to set up a web site and doesn't have a You Tube Video downloaded but I hope he quickly sets both in motion because he is really someone precious and special. I also appreciated the fact that the audience also knew they were in the concert hall with a GENIUS of great magnitude and kept the hall as quiet as a Church.

Check this Kid out too! CAMILO VERGA 31 Videos

I am listening now to one of the 31 videos of another fine young player - CAMILO VERGA! Of course another one of many fine talents all over the world that vie for our attention.As I find out more about this new find, I will let you know. Checking for a website now....WHEW! check out his site for his lengthy background : CAMILOVERGA.COM.AR . I was going to copy it over to the blogg but it is too much plus you should do some finger walking yourself! Still listening to him playing and it is extremely musical and his tone and technique are top notch.Nicely sensitive playing! I'm listening to the You Tube video of him playing for Angelo Gilardino.

These Kids Keep Coming/Matt Palmer/GOHAR and Other things!

I am once again proud to let you know about another great young kid who makes us proud to play this great instrument. His name is MATT PALMER and you should
check out You Tube for his great videos! I've got my hand in several pies right now, trying to give you only the best. It is 2:53 am Friday morning and IO am taping a documentary on THE SEX PISTOLS on Ovation so I can learn about this ground breaking group and I am on the you tube channel once again looking for life on 6 strings! I have more excellent news on GOHAR VARDANYAN to Share with you:

If you go to the MEL BAY Guitar SESSIONS, this young virtuoso has several topics online : June 2011 - Even Tremolo,July 2010- The Importance of Sound, Aug 2010- Performance Preparation, Oct 2010-Practicing Scales and Jan 2010-Arpeggios.

When checking out the above mentioned MATT PALMER, I traced an interview with him (on his website) to a site that is new to me : GUITAR INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE and they had an interview with GOHAR~! I didn't read it yet but know that some juicy tidbits will be waiting for me from this brilliant artist. I have to complete part 2 of my review by that young 20 year whipper snapper CELIL REFIK KAYA who sent me to heaven one week ago - October 27th at The Mannes School of Music!Let me try to finish that for you today if I can wisely divide my time between the projects I have going on- Plus I have a concert in a week that I'm sharpening up my tools for in the Bronx next Saturday - DON WITTER,JR - CLASSICAL GUITAR
When Sat, November 12, 2pm – 3pm

Where MELROSE PUBLIC LIBRARY (map)

Description:Melrose Public Library
910 Morris Avenue (at E. 162ND St.), Bronx, NY 10451
Saturday, November 12, 2011
2:00 PM / 718-588-0110
SPANISH AND LATIN AMERICAN GUITAR
GRANADOS,TARREG​A,BONFA,JOBIM,R​IERA.

It feels great to be back in the Guitar world after my operation in March and I had a nice visit to LUTHIER MUSIC CORP (341 west 44Th Street) and my friend TONY ACOSTA! That used to be my great hang out over the decades it has existed. For my visit, I had the place all to myself! If anyone is visiting New York and needs great Guitars,Music,Cd's etc in the Classical,Flamenco and a few other styles- THIS IS THE PLACE! It is a beautiful shop lovingly cared for by Tony and his staff!

I am still working on an all inclusive interview with the fabulous German Virtuoso PIA GAZAREK-OFFERMANN.I have a couple of fine interviews with her but must check my files for some work I did on her when we 1st met over 6 or 7 years ago.When I find it,I will be so happy to complete my work on this very important artist so enough said or now. Hope you check out the above greats and I will keep searching for you all. I'm kind of spread thinly as I still out and about at least 5 days a week performing while trying to keep up on what is happening in the Guitar World. Always taking lessons from several sources and hope you are doing the same! See ya!

Don

UNDERCOVER NEW YORK-ME ONLINE

CHECK ME OUT IN UNDERCOVER NEW YORK.

November CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE

Just received my "PAGES OF GUITAR JOY" the November issue of Classical Guitar Magazine and you see the smiling face of SHARON ISBIN as the review of her new CD is covered by LAWRENCE DEL CASALE on pages 11 thru 16. Superb "LETTER FROM NEW YORK" Chronicler's JULIA CROWE, returns to the pages with her report on the MANNES GUITAR SEMINAR which I attended as a full participant this year and will be reporting my personal spin on here in this blog. Julias' report is on pages 52 to 54 and is her usual excellent coverage of this great festival.I think there is a very interesting writeup by THERESE WASSILY SABA on pages 22 thru 29 on WALTER AARON CLARKE, the Biographer of ALBENIZ and GRANADOS.Let me tell you that Classical Guitar Magazine does a great service to our instrument each and every month! There is a MASTERS DEGREE of information contained in these pages every month.I must also point to a most worthwhile series by Guitarist NEIL SMITH "PROGRESSIVE PROGRESSIONS" which is up to entry #13 this month of Novemeber 2011. It deals with the nuts and bolts of music construction and is in itself so powerfull a tool for grasping many aspects of music thery and function. I will be posting some thoughts on this excellent series by Neil hopefully in November because there is so much meat on these bones.I have to share it with you! THAT MAURICE SUMMERFIELD IS A GREAT ONE TO CONSISTENTLY PUBLISH THIS GREAT MAGAZINE!THANKS MAURICE.

GOHAR VARDANYAN IN CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE

As I mentioned in my October 18th post,GOHAR VARDANYAN deserves to be better known and my trip to the mailbox backs up my statements of that post. I just received my monthly joyful pages of CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE, and after seeing the smiling face of the QUEEN OF PUBLICITY-SHARON ISBIN, in the top left corner is the name of this great young artist. I sat down with a cup of coffee at the local McDonalds to check out installment 19 of the "Making a Living as a Classical Guitarist" series by LAWRENCE DEL CASALE on pages 32/33. He opens up that he was directed to one of her You Tube videos (of which there are several!). For me,there should have been more about this fabulous artist although the aims of this series is to keep it short and pointed. Anyway, I suggest you download all of her You Tube Videos and just enjoy one of the greats of our current or any crop of Classical Guitar Greats.man oh MAN YOU WILL BE ASTONISHED BY THIS ARTIST! I also direct you to check the MEL BAY GUITARSESSIONS for the many fine articles she has authored on vsarious aspects of Guitar Technique and Musicianship over the last few years. ENJOY the DONNIE TIP!

You Tube is A treasure trove!!!!

I just need to sing the praises of You Tube! There is so much there to feast on! Lessons and Master Classes Galore! There is a wonderful video of JULIAN BREAM and STEPHAN GRAPELLI Playing "NUAGES"! For those of you who don't know it, Bream cut his Guitar teeh on the music of Django Reinhart through his first lessons with his father and Breams favorite companion dog is named "DJANGO". I miss Julians' fantastic playing. On the guitar mailing list which I used to be a member of, I mentioned that Breams' great interpretations lent some to his expertise in Jazz Guitar Playing and someone responded that I was "Full of it". I then told that person to check out that great documentary on Breams life where Bream proudly states that he owes his ability to keep his interpretations fresh because of his Jazz Background! Well, as you know in the Internet world, anyone can spread lies about you and people will believe it. Well I did not mean to get off point. Just thought that I would mention the fact that You Tube has an endless amount of lessons for every type of Guitar you may want to study! I am 61 and still learning tons of stuff from all musical Genres! At this time I am devoting my studies to Chet Atkins,Jerry Reed,Buster B.Jones and Muriel Anderson with some Tommy Emmanuel thrown in! I have always told anyone who would listen that you can augment your Classical Playing by studying other guitar styles! I still believe in this and am proof of the pudding!So jump on You Tube and learn something new today!!!

Check out the current issue of FRETBOARD JOURNAL! It has a great writeup of the fantastic JOHN PIZZARELLI, MURIEL ANDERSON and CHARLIE HUNTER! The overview of Johns' career is excellent! I grew up with Bucky Pizzarelli on the New York Guitar scene when he was in duo with the great GEORGE BARNES. There was the DAVID FROST Interview show that had the duo perform weekly and eventually Bucky had his soon JOHN join him around gigs and I caught them often. JOHN and I (with my dear friend GENE BERTONCINI) share the same birth date APRIL 6th!! Again I say go to YOU TUBE for some great lessons from John and watch his legendary father Bucky burn up the frets! Another fantastic Jazz Artist who lives here in New York is HOWARD ALDEN! Howard is a walking encyclopedia of the Great American Songbook and JAZZ STANDARDS! ON You Tube, he plays with several great artists and you can also get several tastes of his excellent teaching. You should also check out a few of my great teachers on YouTube for both performances and lessons: RICK STONE,JOE DIORIO,PAT MARTINO,RONI BEN HUR,JIM HALL,ROMERO LUBAMBO.I can go on and on about you tube and will in future posts as I am collecting a list of all the people I spend time checking out for hours.I will share names with you which I believe will make your playing hum with greatness. The only hold back will be your inability to spend the time needed to secure that playing prize! You have got to put the time in to achieve the goals you want! There is NO MAGIC PILL!!!!! Also, Don't cry that you don't have time! Concentrate on one topic for ten or so minutes! BUILD THOSE BLOCKS OF KNOWLEDGE! TAKE BITE SIZE CHUNKS AND SWALLOW SLOWLY!!! Have fun with our great instrument! Enjoy the Journey! Speak to you soon!

WOLFGANG LENDLE ON YOU TUBE

You must make it a point to check out the excellent You Tube Videos of the Fantastic German Virtuoso WOLFGANG LENDLE!!!!! I heard and saw him here in New York for a couple of concerts over 15 years ago and still remember how fantastic he playing was! At that time he was using a superb ROBERT RUCK Classical that was out of this world outragiously fine!! On the current You Tube Videos, I believe he his using a FLETA, which sounds exactly like his RUCK! He is one of our greatest players and it is a shame not enough people know of his greatness! His technique and Musicianship is lawless! Check out those YOU TUBE VIDEOS! Your heads will snap back and his fantastic note articulation and outstanding musicianship! GO WOLFGANG!!!!!!

stunning concert by Celil Rafik Kaya at Mannes - Part One

Last night, I committed myself to traveling with all my gear after performing at the Staten Island Ferry for 3 1/2 hours and it proved to be a most wise investment in time and attention because I attended a concert at Mannes College of Music by one of the finest young interpreters of music on the Classical Guitar in History - CELIL RAFIK KAYA! This stunning artist grabbed me from the first note! His instrument was magnificent and all evening it expressed exactly what he requested of it! A cedar topped wonder that had me in that front seat center swimming in such an array of magical sounds! This concert was my first step back into my usual concert hopping reporting and as usual, I came from a gig to catch magic on the concert floor! Below I have a transcript from a concert this young genius did In 2009 and as you see, this man doesn't fool around when he comes to play!

Program:
J.S. Bach Prelude, Fugue, Allegro
F. Sor Grand Solo
A. B. Mangore La Catedral (lento,andante religioso,allegro)
Aire de Zamba (from süite andina)
El Ultimo Tremolo (Una Limosnita por Amor de Dios)

Ara

D. Aguado Rondo
M.C. Tedesco Tarantella
Sonate Hommage a Boccherini
(vivo ed energico)
J. Morel Danza Brasilera
A. Lauro Angostura
El Marabino
Seis Por Derecho
M. Theodorakis Epitafios 3 (one day in May)
Epitafios 4 (you have set, my star)
Epitafios 5 (you were standing in front of the window)

Last night's concert was a kind of "Cd Release Party" because it was a duplicate of his recent CD release and it was stunning from beginning to end.What also made this concert so close to my heart was I have worked on all of these pieces a few decades ago and knew all but one waltz by Delirmando Reis (I have the music).I am foaming at the mouth as I relive the great moments of last night's festivities in my mind. This post is just a teaser for you because this great young artist deserves my best foot forward as I try to fully convey just how important the arrival of this young master is for our cherished instrument. The cream of the young Classical Guitarists from Mannes was in attendance to support their colleague in spite of a day and evening full of rain.When I realized that this young kid was playing after my money making gig and knowing how people tend to miss great moments like this because of weather conditions, I decided that I needed to support this kid and follow up my support with the DONNIE SUPPORT SYSTEM=my thoughts as a player and artist myself so here is part one of a two part tribute to a magnificent young artist!

And so I beg forgiveness!

Life is having a field day with my spirit as I try to get back to some normal frame of living. I have been giving concerts in the Library System here in New York and doing my daily gigs around the City as part of Music Under New York but I have not been attending any concerts nor writing any reviews. Two woefully neglected interviews/reviews is of Pia Gazarek Offermann and Romero Lubambo.I just wanted those of you who check my blog to keep these great artists in front of your minds as they are top notch greats of our instrument and you should rush to catch their performances. So far Pia is not on youtube but I hope that will be rectified soon. Romero has several posts on youtube so you can jump on the site and swim in his great artistry.Put a search in to find out about Pia Gazarek-Offermann as you will find only positive statements about this great artist. Her visit to us here in New York in April was a total triumph as far as snapping heads back and grabbing positive attention for her poetic artistry.I yet have to give her the backing that she deserves and to her dismay,I have been "missing in action". Here I am up at 5:40 and spilling my guts out to you and I have a 4 hour gig in a couple of hours!I'm trying to climb out of a terrible rut and get back to reporting about the Guitar scene here and there and I hope my friends and colleagues can send some positive thoughts my way.I used to be the most optimistic person around but life has been kicking my butt good over the last couple of years and I must say that the thing that keeps me going is the great love my wife gives me and my love of playing this instrument.

Fantastic GOHAR VARDANYAN on YOUTUBE

Have another great young mind blowing artist to rave about! I met GOHAR VARDANYAN several years ago at LUTHIER MUSIC CORP ( 341 West 44th Street ) when she stopped by the store with her father in order to select a concert guitar. I was checking out the music and from the first notes I hear her play, I loved her Strong round tone and complete mastery of the music and fingerboard W O W !!!!! She played several pieces all with extreme musicality and technical ease! I finally took the time to introduce myself to her and her father and complemented her on her great artistry. I took her name down in one of my pads and vowed to myself to keep an eye out for her. Over the last few years, I saw that great name on some excellent articles detailing several aspects of Classical Guitar technique on the monthly MEL BAY SESSIONS! Got her email and heavily complemented her on her great articles and asked her if she remembered me from the Luthier Music meeting and she did! The last couple of days had me checking out YOUTUBE and her great and A W E S O M E videos! This Woman is even more incredible as the years have honed an already great artist into the S C A R Y category! Her beautiful tone and superlative execution is a great joy to behold and she must be experienced by all who love our great instrument. Please do yourself a great favor and go to YOUTUBE and experience what a supreme virtuoso Artist is! As always, I only hook you up to the best of the best. Sorry I've been out of sight due to heavy work being done on our apartment ( which is still in progress ), but I am so happy that there is such a wealth of great artistry on youtube. It is the new age of self promotion and I will be uploading some of my own playing this winter and hope you will enjoy it. But make sure you check out GOHAR VARDANYAN!!!!!

Another pleasing Guitar on youtube-IGOR PRESNYAKOV

Go to youtube and check out another excellent Fingerstyle guitarist who has a ton of videos online : IGOR PRESNYAKOV. I just found his videos as I was looking for technical lessons. Very nice arrangements of popular songs! Check him out!

PIA GAZAREK-OFFERMANN COMING THIS WEEK

My dear German virtuoso friend PIA GAZAREK-OFFERMAN is in line for the Donnie OVERVIEW this week. This brilliant Classical Guitarist is one of the greats and I want to introduce to her head on with only the most current info.Within the last week we have communicated via e-mail. I have so much to say about her because she deserves recognition for her deep poetic artistry and other than her brilliant husband, I feel it my duty to share this great talent with you all in the Guitar world,so hang in there as I slowy get the job done!

Chops are growing! DONNIE PLAYS!~

I will be giving and afternoon concert this coming Saturday at the Harlem Branch of the Public Library System. It will be an afternoon of Jazz Standards. The time is 3pm and the location is : 9 West 124th Street. Phone # is 212-348-5620. Hope to see you there. You will get a chance to meet the picture and I always leave my best on the concert floor!

ANIELLO DESIDERIO - A MUST SEE AND HEAR

YOU must tune into YOUTUBE and check out ANIELLO DESIDERIO, the Italian STallion. This man can play a MEAN GEEETAR! W H E W ! He is one bad dude so clim aboiard the Desiderio Train and take an awesome ride into Guitar Virtuosity land!!!!

Burning up the frets-YAMANDU COSTA

I had a chance to experience one of the current Guitar Wiz kids YAMANDU COSTA a couple of years ago at the 92nd street "Y" at the Brazilian Guitar Marathon and must admit that the kid is a GUITAR TIGER! Go to you tube and check his videos out!I'm looking at a couple right now.

The Amazing Guitar of Pia Gazarek-Offermann = Part 1

Over the last few years, I have followed with interest the fantastic rise of an exceptionally gifted artist in the world of the Classical Guitar. Her name is PIA GAZAREK-OFFERMANN and she deserves to be held close to the top of the list of outstanding artists in the world of the Classical Guitar. Her website is : www.piaoffermann.com. I would suggest you type her name into your search engine and feast on all that has been reported on this oustanding virtuoso so far! She has left an extremely positive trail of magnificent performances at every turn in her travels and needs to be celebrated and cherished with open arms by the Classical Music commnunity.
This is meant to be an opening introduction to you of my experience with this great artist since we first met several years ago so hang on to your information hats. This opening post was meant to be typed and presented to you after I spent time with Pia on her last visit to New York in which she played two fabulous concerts : One for the New York City Classical Guitar Society and another for the Long Island Guitar Festival. Both concerts exposed the audiences to and exceptional artist of both technical facility and musical genius. At this writing, I must apologize to my readers and Pia for the tardiness of this post but I have had to deal with several curves from the game of life most upsetting being quadruple bypass surgery this past March 21st. Before that were a few other "nasties" that derailed all my positive intentions and of course, time waits for no one. I also believe so much in Pia,that I wanted to put the best and most complete representation of her in print so here I am having just received an e-mail from her.

My first meeting of Pia was at The Yale Guitar Extravaganza in 2006 where she demonstrated aspects of her husbands' excellent lecture on THE INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO GUITAR TECHNIQUE .Our next meeting was in 2007 here in Brooklyn, New York at Brooklyn College thanks to The Excellent Classical Guitar Department led by LARS FRANDSEN. At that meeting she both demonstrated aspects of her husbands' lecture and gave a concert afterwards! As I mentioned at the top of this post, this is just a little background for you to tell you how and when I hooked up with this great artist and I hope I don't make her blush too much as I shower her with praise. She deserves it and you know I'm not the bashful type. With the financial suffering around the world and shortage of funds, I still hope that this quality artist can draw the financial support of smart people who want only the best artists for their concert series,to the door of PIA GAZAREK-OFFERMANN! She is a W I N N E R !!! End of part 1! More to follow!

THE FABULOUS ANA VIDOVIC

I was just sniffing around youtube and caught Pepe Romero talking about the Carcassi studies and somehow caught myself wondering how many videos my special friend ANA VIDOVIC had at the site and see that she has quite a few! I have known Ana for quite a few years now and she is one of the greatest virtuosos in musical history possessed of a stunning technique,warm and wonderful tone and superior musicianship. On top of that, you must add a sweet and charming personality coupled with a generous and open heart. I suggest you rush to the youtube and feast on her fantastic artistry and you will see that DONNIE tells the truth. She has earned her top place in the world of music and the Classical Guitar world through a lifetime of hard work and loving devotion to her noble instrument! LONG LIVE ANA VIDOVIC!!!!!

JASON VIEAUX - CATCH HIM

Jump on YOUTUBE and catch the playing and lectures of my colleague and buddy, the great young virtuoso JASON VIEAUX!!!! One of the most articulate young talents of our generation! His recordings and live performances are not to be missed! If he is in your neighborhood, you must scurry to catch him! Beatiful tone and musicianship plus a winning softness of heart!

Virtuoso to be better known! GOHAR VARDANYAN

A great young virtuoso by the name of GOHAR VARDANYAN has been on the scene for a few years and should be better known. I first net her here in New York at LUTHIER MUSIC CORPORATION ( 344 West 44th Street ) as she stopped by with her father in order to select a concert instrument. I stood right accross from the " High End Guitar room" and heard some of the most beautiful sounds coming from any guitar she tried out! Beautiful tone,exceptional clarity of articulation and technique to burn! I finally introduced myself and had a ton of praise to heap on her. Since I get my monthly issue of CLASSICAL GUITAR MAGAZINE from England, I was hoping to keep abreast of her progress.Over the last couple of years, GOHAR has been writing some very useful articles in the Online Mel BAY Guitar Sessions. Creating good sound,Tremolo Technique and other aspects of playing well! I would again lead you to that great source of live performances YOUTUBE and check out her magnificent playing! W O W !!!!!!!

YOUTUBE AND YOUR NEW LESSONS

I am a subscriber to CHAMBER MUSIC MAGAZINE and in the recent issue, they tutor us on working with our career in the New Internet Age and talk about the Masterclasses that can be found on the Internet-Specifically YOUTUBE- so I have been spending more time the last few nights, on this noble pursuit and have been rewarded with some great stuff! What I particularly enjoy is the old videos of the great masters of the past! Alirio Diaz,Jorge Cardoso,Athualpa Yupanqui, Eduardo Falu and so many. As far as Masterclasses, You should jump at the chance to experience the JULIAN BREAM MASTERCLASSES! What a treasure trove of great info from my SUPREME BREAM! You should not forget the playing of the great ABEL CARLEVARRO! Another treasure to behold! Well,this is just meant to be a prod for you to take advantage of all the great information available on the web. As I am preparing several concerts for the Fall, it is great to get the performances of the actual composers playing their works for me to deliver the most accurate portrayal of their works in concert! I particularly treasure the performances of the Great Argentine Virtuoso ATAHUALPA YUPANQUI. I was at Carnegie Hall when this great genius made his American debut and what a virtuosic performance he gave at the age of 75! The complicated rasgueados and tender renditions were"OFF THE HOOK"! So go and mine the treasure troves of the net! You will be rewarded with a ton of jewels!

The Magnificent JORGE CABALLERO

I have been fortunate to be based here in New York because we get a chance to witness greatness every day as celebrated artist feel it necessary to have that great "NEW YORK DEBUT" on their resumes. JORGE CABALLERO should be at the top of the greatest list of Classical Guitarists in History because it is a fact! I first met JORGE in a masterclass of the equally fabulous ASSAD BROTHERS, the foremost Classical Guitar Duo in the world! JORGE played a composition by Bach I I wrote down in my notes: "There is nothing negative the brothers could say about him! He has a great tone, excellent technique and even his ornaments in the repeats are crisp and firm! THIS KID CAN PLAY!!!! When the ASSAD brothers delivered their comments to the lucky audience in the small room, They repeated my above comments ending in stating that they are honored if he would mention that he played in their Masterclass. JORGE continues to draw waves of admirers around the world! I most recently caught him in Masterclass mode at the beginning of July at the Mannes Guitar Seminar and was lucky that the day I caught his masterclass, he gave an exceptionally crisp and detailed exposition on the basis of attaining a clean guitar technique. I know that some of the young guns in attendance,wanted to get down to playing their pieces but I hope they understood that they were given the "keys to the kingdom" of how to execute music on the Classical Guitar. Quite a few year ago, I was in heaven at the LUTHIER MUSIC CORPORATION ( 341 West 44th Street ) when one afternoon, I got a chance to experience this fantastic artist for over one half hour, as he played on and on on a Magnificent JOHN PRICE Guitar. JORGE was in the process of celecting a new instrument for his concert work and he just "TORE IT UP"! It was a shame that no one else was there except for me and the slight staff! Another thing that continues to strike me is the wonderful sweetness of this Great Peruvian Giant of our great instrument! He is so damn modest and unassuming! He continues to throw off the most difficult repertoire with the ease of a stroll through the park! I would press you extremely to run to any concert JORGE CABALLERO gives . You will never be disappointed and will witness one of the greatest musicians in Music History! MARK MY WORDS!!!!!!

The Mannes Guitar Seminar July 5-10 2011

I will be reporting on the fabulous 2011 Mannes Guitar Seminar over the next few weeks on my blogg here and various sites on the internet. As an active artist on the New York Classical and Jazz Guitar Scene since 1963, these reports will mark my return to my craft of reporting since my open heart surgery this past March 21st. The seminar had some of my dearest friends from the Classical Guitar scene in New York including one of the greatest Guitarists on the planet : FREDERIC HAND. Fred and I attended Mannes in 1968 and we were able to spend some quality moments reliving special events in that year including a visit from legendary Virtuoso ARTHUR RUBENSTEIN!

The artistic directors,MICHAEL NEWMAN and LAURA OLTMAN, delivered another flawless series of Concerts and workshops in the most positive setting and I will take my time in reporting on the wonderful events. This year I came in as a full participant only side stepping my 2 master classes as I am preparing for some non Classical Gigs and needed my head clear of a Master Class Head! I did participate in a guitar ensemble with some outstanding young kids who should go far in the Classical Guitar world. It contained an exceptional Guitar Duo who I will report on soon! We actually had a great time in our sessions together and I wish we had more to play.

I look forward to sharing this great festival with you as it was TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!

Back in the Saddle again.

My recovery has been going ok and I returned to performances on Monday June 6 by performing at "THE TASTE OF TIMES SQUARE" Celebration.I performed from 5 to 9 pm right at the beginning of the event. The following week I returned to my regular job at "MUSIC UNDER NEW YORK",limiting myself to every other day in short traveling distance. I will be attending and reporting on the MANNES GUITAR SEMINAR both here on my blogg and hopefully for one of the Guitar Periodicals. I'm trying to give a day by day overview and hope I have enough energy to do a fine job. I have covered several seminars in the past and know that it will take all of my guts and energy to write my report in the way that I want to, so let's hope for the best. I would hope that the readers get a chance to attend some of the events because there are great classes and concerts by some great players.Go to the Seminar website for more information (www.mannes.edu/guitar or call 212.580.0210 x4883).There are 3 artists who I highly recommend you run to their concerts: JORGE CABALLERRO,RENE IZQUIERDA & SONIA HERNANDEZ. These 3 kids are really SUPER! JORGE is one of the greats even at his young age. He is in a class by himself! RENE is no slouch either! His name should be better known because he is great. SONIA HERNANDEZ is another young genius. At least a decade ago I actually attended her New York Debut at Weill Recital Hall and interviewed her on tape. I know I have that tape here somewhere! I have to get up to speed on some of the other artists. The professors MICHAEL NEWMAN and LAURA OLTMAN I have known for most of their life! I was at Michaels first public performance when he was 13 held at a Church on 13th Street off of 6th avenue! At that time, he was the most advanced student of the Great ALBERT VALDES-BLAIN ( and so was I for a couple of lessons!). Because of his slight build and massive virtuoso chops, he scared the crap out of the Classical Guitar crowd! I also Attended the 1st Masterclass Given by JACK DUARTE,Guitarst and better known as composer. That year - I believe 1973, at the now defunct GUITAR WORKSHOP in Oyster Bay Long Island, Michael stunned all in attendance with his Masterful performances. His sharp wit was mistaken for some as Smart alec arrogance! I knew better because there was Mike with pad and pencil, taking down every single comment made by both Duarte and I believe Jerry Willard. I even met his sweet wife LAURA OLTMAN when they 1st started dating before getting married! I would direct you to their website to find out more about this great performance and organizing team - WWW.GUITARDUO.COM ! They are both gems of Artistry and humanity as witnessed by me last year when I covered the Guitar Festival of the CLASSICAL GUITAR SOCIETY OF UPSTATE NEW YORK! They were on hand to support three of their sudents who were in a special "HONORS STUDENT RECITAL"! I was seated in my usual front row seat when they came in and uttered "DON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE"! I repeated the same words to which they replied" We came to support our students"! That loving care made my heart melt.At the end of that concert, we all hung out on main street at a nice Chinese Restaurant and walked their students to the bus stop and hugged them good bye! I love these two extraordinary people and the quality of this Seminar is the highest you can achieve because of these superlative human beings. Their supporting staff is also excellent in each and every way and has always given their all to do one hell of a great job so I hope you can get to some of the concerts or workshops. This years' topic is "HANDS ON" which will concentrate on how to get those hands of yours in top shape for playing out great instrument. Speak to you soon. By the way, if you see any misprints in this post, blame it on my opthamologist. I just came back from a series of Dye Injected eye pictures so my sight is not all there but I wanted to let you know I'm up and around.Hope this isn't rambling too much as I am having fun assembling these random thoughts as I look forward to reporting on more guitar topics. Hope you keep learning out there and I want to thank all of you how have sent wonderfull cards, called and e-mailed me during this recovery period PLUS ABOVE ALL- My great wife has really nutured me in every way especially with her totally outrageously fine culinary expertise! I really hit the jackpot finding this woman to be my mate in life. I can never really repay her for all she has done for me and with me.THANK YOU HONEY!

Quadruple bypass and Me

A few weeks ago I underwent Quadruple Bypass Surgery and am now in recovery. The operation went well and per my Cardiologist and Surgeon, my progress is great. It's so wierd not to be able to run around town to my gigs and having to walk so slowly during this recovery period only around the neighborhood but I see this as a new lease on life. My wife Heidi has been outstanding in helping me cope with the ups and downs of this ordeal and I owe her a tremendous dept of gratitude and I tell her every day- especially when I have a depressed period and snap at her. I should be back in the playing gigs form in another 2 or so months. Until then I have to walk and get this body used to the new veins pumping that blood around the body. I thank my dear friends Sue Wall,Dennis Koster, Jerry Willard and Gene Bertoncini plus my dear 1st Guitar teacher Dennis Turecheck for staying in touch with me plus all my dear comrades at MUSIC UNDER NEW YORK for some special get well cards. I want to get back to some posting of Guitar thoughts as I must take it easy so I hope that will get underway to lift my spirits!