CONTENT COURTESY JONATHAN FITZGERALD
After an extensive concert tour of the southwest, accomplished classical guitar students from the University of Western Australia will be in Melbourne to perform an exciting concert of solo and chamber repertoire for the guitar. Among Australia’s most active guitar programs, the concert will feature UWA students ranging from second year undergraduate to Masters candidates and alumni.
The centrepiece is an ensemble performance of Nigel Westlake’s Six Fish, a striking work inspired by Gould’s Book of Fish. Westlake employs a dobro and 12-string guitar in addition to standard classical guitars, using their unusual timbres to create six unique depictions of Australian sea creatures – from the aggression of a sling-jawed wrasse, which traps prey in a mouth that can extend half its body length, to the lazy sunfish catching rays as he leisurely floats along the surface. This is a technically demanding and musically exciting piece, one that is rarely heard performed with the original instrumentation.
The UWA Guitar Studio is performing under the direction of Jonathan Fitzgerald. American classical guitarist Jonathan Fitzgerald is quickly gaining international recognition as a performer and pedagogue. Jonathan is a lecturer at the University of Western Australia, and recently completed a residency at the National Trust of Western Australia, funded by a major grant from the Department of Culture and the Arts. The residency culminated in two sold-out concerts at the historic East Perth Cemeteries, featuring a world premiere performance of a work commissioned by the National Trust. The project won the Museums and Galleries National Award for Interpretation, Learning & Audience Engagement, and was a finalist for the 2017 WA State Heritage Award.
Past highlights have included performances with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Opera, radio performances for ABC Radio National, RTRFM, WXXI and WCNY, and solo concerts for the Classical Guitar Society of Western Australia, Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, the Musicales Concert Series, Valley Manor Concert Series, Great Lakes Guitar Society, Buffalo State University, Syracuse University, and Roberts Wesleyan University. His playing has been recognized through numerous awards, including the Great Lakes International Guitar Competition in which he was a prize-winning finalist and winner of the “Audience Choice” award.
UWA Guitar Studio Concert, presented by the Melbourne Guitar Foundation – 28 October 2017, 7pm
St Mary’s Church, 428 Queensberry St, North Melbourne
Purchase ‘pay what I like’ tickets via the Melbourne Guitar Foundation website.
Image supplied.
