Monday, March 24, 2003

By: Stephanie Kirby, PR Intern

WILMINGTON – The UNCW Department of Music is sponsoring a Guitar Week festival Thursday, April 3, through Saturday, April 5, as part of its Artist Recital Series. Performances will feature international artists, university faculty guitar ensembles and the UNCW Chamber Singers.

Guitar Week will kick off with composer David Kechley at 8 p.m., Thursday, April 3, in Kenan Auditorium. He will give a lecture and demonstration illustrating elements of composing for the guitar. Kechley has twice received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 1979 was awarded a Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Spain’s Cuypers/Lop Duo and Helmut Jasbar from Austria will perform at 8 p.m., Friday, April 4, in Kenan Auditorium. Carola Cuypers on the soprano saxophone and Enrique Lop on the guitar comprise the Cuypers/Lop duo, which has played throughout Europe and the United States. Jasbar, a Viennese guitarist and composer, teaches at the Mozarteum in Innsbruck.



The final concert of the Guitar Week festival features the UNCW’s guitar ensembles Ryoanji Duo and Duo Sureno. The UNCW Chamber Singers, under the direction of Joe Hickman, will accompany them. This performance is scheduled for 8 p.m., Saturday, April 5, in Kenan Auditorium. Guitarist Robert Nathanson and saxophonist Frank Bongiorno, faculty in UNCW’s Music Department, make up the Ryoanji Duo. They have performed together since their appearance at the 10th World Saxophone Congress in Pesaro, Italy. Duo Sureno features a unique combination of voice and guitar. The duo is comprised of soprano Nancy King, a voice instructor at UNCW, and Nathanson.

Tickets for individual performances $5; $2.50 for UNCW faculty/staff, senior citizens and children under 12. UNCW students admitted free with a valid student ID. Contact the Kenan Auditorium Box Office at 910/962-3500 or 800/732-3643 to purchase tickets. Proceeds from the ticket sales benefit UNCW and are used to support the Department of Music.



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For more information, call 910/962-3390 or visit the Department of Music calendar Web site www.uncwil.edu/music or www.uncwil.edu/music/CONCERTS/.