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Angel Romero & Eliot Fisk
An exciting evening of solos and duets shared by two world-renowned artists!
Concert - Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 8 PM
Master Class – Friday, January 9th 2009 at 3 PM
*Please note the Angel Romero Elliot Fisk
performance will be held at the Beautiful Historic First Congregational Church held dowtown near the Arlene Schnitzer concert hall at 1126 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205. For tickets click here . Advance tickets are highly recommended. Only a limited amount of tickets will be available at the door. see map
Eliot Fisk Biography
on of the past, guitarist Eliot Fisk is one of the most exciting and unique artists
before the public today. Known world wide for his adventurous repertoire and willingness to take art music into unusual venues (including schools, senior centers and even prisons!) he
belongs, as his great mentor Andrés Segovia once wrote, “at the top line of our artistic world.”
In June of 2006, by order of King Juan Carlos of Spain, Eliot Fisk was awarded the Cruz
of Isabel la Catótlica for his service to the cause of Spanish music. Earlier recipients of this rarely bestowed honor include Andrés Segovia and Yehudi Menuhin.
Eliot Fisk has performed to dazzling critical and public acclaim in recital, as soloist with major orchestras and in
a wide variety of chamber music combinations in most of the great concert halls of the world and in 1996 in a command performance in the Palacio de los Cordova in Granada, Spain, for then U.S. President Bill Clinton and King Juan Carlos of Spain and their families.
Eliot Fisk has expanded the repertoire for the guitar enormously through countless ground breaking
transcriptions of works by Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Mozart, Paganini, and others as well as through commissions from leading composers as varied as Luciano Berio, Leonardo Balada, Robert
Beaser, Wiliam Bolcom, Xavier Montsalvatge, Nicholas Maw, George Rochberg and Kurt Schwertsik. His numerous transcriptions and editions are published by Universal, Presser, Ricordi and Guitar
Solo Publications.
Eliot Fisk’s numerous recordings for the Musical Heritage Society, DGG, Arabesque, and EMI have elicited unqualified praise and even entered the Billboard charts as
bestsellers. Most of these recordings include repertoire never before performed on the guitar such as his legendary reading of the 24 solo violin Capricci, Op. 1 of Paganini (“Has to be
heard to be believed!” — Ruggiero Ricci), his recordings of contemporary works by Berio and Rochberg or his recording with Paula Robison of Robert Beaser’s Mountain Songs, which was
nominated for a Grammy. Guitar Review wrote that his versions of the complete Bach unaccompanied violin Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001-1006 “place him alongside Casals and Gould as one of
this century's greatest interpreters of Bach.” On a lighter note, Gramophon Magazine described his transcriptions for violin, cello and guitar of Bach's Violin Sonatas BWV 1014 – 1019: “If
exploring the instrumental potential of the continuo is Baroque music's equivalent of exploring Star Trek’s final frontier, then guitarist Eliot Fisk may be its Captain Kirk and his
transcription of Bach’s Six Violin Sonatas its Starship Enterprise”.
Eliot Fisk's forays into unconventional territory have included collaborations with chanteuse, Ute Lemper; Turkish
music master, Burhan Öçal; jazz guitar legend, Joe Pass; flamenco great, Paco Pena; and master of castanets, Lucero Tena.
Eliot's 2006 - 2007 season included four major
premieres: Leonardo Balada's "Caprichos" (seven movements after songs of Federico Garcia Lorca for guitar and string quartet), Kurt Schwertsik's 25 minute "Ein Kleines
Requiem" for solo guitar; Daniel Bernard Romain's concerto for guitar and chamber orchestra (“We March”); and Eliot Fisk's transcription of Mark O' Connor's violin concerto movement
entitled, "Winter" for guitar and orchestra. A highlight of this transcription was Eliot’s cadenza which, in addition to modulating through an astonishing variety of remote
keys, managed to quote Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” and the Beegees’ “Stayin’ Alive” before concluding in a series of left hand trills accompanied by right hand artificial harmonics.
In the 2008 - 2009 season Eliot Fisk premieres Robert Beaser’s long awaited concerto for guitar and orchestra, commissioned by a consortium including the Albany Symphony, the American
Composers Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Bruckner Haus of Linz, Austria. Following the premiere in Albany, further performances are scheduled at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall in New
York and Bruckner Haus in Linz both under the baton of Dennis Russell Davies.
In addition to his performing career Eliot Fisk is founder and director of Boston Guitar Fest, an annual cross
disciplinary musical extravaganza co-sponsored by the New England Conservatory and Northeastern University and featuring a wide variety of performances, classes, seminars and even a guitar
competition. The Festival has enjoyed phenomenal growth since its inception in 2006 receiving warm encouragement from Massachusetts Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry as well as from
reknowned Massachusetts congressional representative, Barney Frank.
In 2008 Eliot Fisk began a highly anticipated collaboration with guitar legend Angel Romero. Only in its first
season, this extraordinary collaboration is already booked in major venues from coast to coast and will headline Boston Guitar Fest 2008 in Jordan Hall on June 14th.
Eliot Fisk was the
last direct pupil of Andrés Segovia and also studied interpretation under the legendary harpsichordist, Ralph Kirkpatrick, at Yale University from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1976.
Called by one New York Times headline “A Fiery Missionary to the Unconverted,” Eliot Fisk devotes considerable energy to teaching. He is Professor at the Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where he teaches in 5 different languages, and in Boston at the New England Conservatory. His
students have come from all corners of the earth. Many have gone on to become important performers and teachers in their own right.
Eliot Fisk lives in Boston, Salzburg, and (whenever
possible) in his beloved Granada, Spain, with his wife, acclaimed guitarist Zaira Meneses, and their seven year old daughter, Raquel. His website is www.eliotfisk.com.
Angel Romero Biography
Hailed for his superior artistry as the Spanish maestro of the guitar, Angel
Romero’s eminence in the music world as soloist and conductor is heralded by audiences and critics alike. One of the most sought-after musicians of his generation, Angel Romero has appeared
in the major cultural centers throughout the world including those of London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Madrid, Munich, Zurich, Chicago, Los Angles and New York among others. He has appeared as
soloist with such leading orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the New World Symphony, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. As
conductor, he has led numerous orchestras worldwide including the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Royal Philharmonic, Germany’s NDR Symphony Orchestra and
the Berlin Symphoniker, the Beijing Philharmonic, the Euro-Asia Philharmonic, the Shanghai Symphony, the Bogotá Philharmonic, the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Orquesta de Baja California, the
Santa Barbara Symphony, the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Chamber Orchestra among others. Regardless of his role on stage, his driving intensity and flawless control mark him as a true
master of the arts.
Angel Romero’s extensive discography includes highly acclaimed recordings for Delos International, RCA Victor Red Seal and RCA Victor Worldwide, Telarc and
Angel/EMI. In 2001, Delos released “Bella,” which includes monumental pieces such as Bach's Air on the G String to Romero's own father's Tango Angelita - a composition dedicated to his late
mother. In 1999, “Romero Plays Rodrigo” was released featuring works written for and dedicated to Angel Romero through his long and close relationship with the Spanish composer. In 1998, he
was featured as soloist and conductor in an acclaimed recording of Vivaldi’s guitar concertos with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. In 1995, RCA released a crossover recording of
flamenco and pop music, featuring Angel Romero playing a diverse repertoire spanning works from Pachelbel to Bill Conti. This particular recording features Mr. Romero’s world-premiere
transcriptions for one guitar.
In February 2000 he was presented with the highest honor that the country of Spain has to offer, the Grand Cross of Isabel la Catolica and was knighted
Sir Angel Romero in reverence of his astounding musical accomplishments. In 2007, Angel Romero was honored by the Recording Academy, producer of the Grammy Awards, with the Recording Academy
President’s Merit Award for his significant contributions to the music world and for his professional career achievements.
Angel Romero is noted for his activities in the film
industry. In 1989, he performed the entire score for “The Milagro Bean Field War” directed by Robert Redford. In 1994, he composed and directed the musical score for the Gabriele Retes film
“Bienvenido-Welcome,” which opened at the Muestra del Cine film festival in Guadalajara. For his work on this film, Mr. Romero won the 1995 ARIEL (the “Academy Award” of Mexico) in the
category of music written originally for film. He also performed and recorded the entire score for the film “By The Sword” composed by Bill Conti, and played a cameo role in the major motion
picture “Bound by Honor,” a Taylor Hackford film.
Born in Malaga, Spain, Angel Romero made his professional debut at the age of six and his United States debut at the Hollywood Bowl
when he was 16 giving the West Coast premiere of the famed Rodrigo’s “Aranjuez Concerto.” This occasion also marked the first time a guitarist was featured as soloist with the Los Angeles
Philharmonic. In 1991, he gave the world premiere of Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Rincones de España” at New York’s Lincoln Center. Mr. Romero studied conducting privately with Eugene Ormandy, the
legendary conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Angel Romero has played for numerous world leaders including his globally telecast 1992 appearance in the United Nations General Assembly
Hall with the National Orchestra of Spain under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. The performance was by invitation of then Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to promote world
peace and to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.
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