Just two weeks after winning the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, classical guitarist Jason Vieaux, 41, will perform at the University of Miami Saturday.
As a full-time teacher and performer, Vieaux has dedicated his life to music and musical education. He will bring his talents to the Clarke Recital Hall for an intimate performance. Frederico Musgrove Stetson, a first-year doctoral student in the Frost School of Music, worked with the Florida Guitar Foundation to bring Vieaux to UM.
“We’re trying to expand our audience, and I do tell people if you go to one concert, you’ll come back for another one,” Musgrove Stetson said.
Musgrove Stetson believes Vieaux has great prowess and notes that his winning means a lot for classical guitarists.
“Guitars don’t get nominated too often for that [category] because you go against the piano players, or the violin players, these huge people backed by big companies,” Musgrove Stetson said. “I think this is the third win for solo guitars.”
The concert will take place in the intimate Clarke Recital hall, which holds 137 people, allowing for the audience to hear everything without the need for amplification. It will last between an hour and a half to two hours with an intermission in between. Vieaux be available to sign CDs and take pictures after the concert, meaning that listeners will get the chance to meet him personally.
The set list for the evening includes 12 songs such as Mauro Giuliani’s “Grand Overture,” Vieaux’s arrangements of Pat Metheny’s “Always and Forever,” and Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood.”
Vieaux has released 11 CDs, including “PLAY,” for which he won the 2015 Grammy award. He will play an array of classical genres, from famous composer like Johann Sebastian Bach to contemporary Brazilian composer Paulo Bellinati.
Vieaux tours frequently, but for Musgrove Stetson, one of the most fascinating aspects of Vieaux’s career is his online music school – Online Classical Guitar School with Jason Vieaux. Stetson believes online music schools are the future.
“It’s pretty cool because you submit a video and then he looks at it and then gets back to you,” Musgrove Stetson said. “He’s always one step ahead of everyone else when it comes to [music].”
If You Go
Where: Clarke Recital Hall
When: 8:00P.M. on Saturday, February 21
Cost: Tickets cost $30 for general admission and $15 for students.