Brevard Philharmonic presents The Beijing Guitar Duo, Nov. 15

Press release:

For the second concert of Brevard Philharmonic’s six performance season, two former child prodigies joining forces in one skillful and dynamic classical guitar collaboration take the stage at Brevard College’s Porter Center on Sunday, November 15th at 3pm.

Although the two women who make up The Beijing Guitar Duo are celebrated and accomplished,each in her own right, the San Francisco Examiner praises their coming together as playing with “almost uncanny synchronization.”

These prodigious Grammy-nominated guitar virtuosi met at the prestigious Beijing Central Conservatory. They both went on to the United States, studying at the Peabody Conservatory where they were discovered by legendary guitarist, Manuel Barrueco, who championed them and encouraged them to form the Beijing Guitar Duo. Su and Wang have come a long way in the few short years since the Duo’s founding, circling the globe and recording multiple CDs.

Meng Su began her study of the guitar at the age of nine. Even before graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music of China, she was recognized as one of the most outstanding classical guitarists of her generation. By that time she had already won many international music competitions including the Tokyo International Guitar Competition, the Vienna Youth Guitar Competition and the Iserlohn International Guitar Competition. A short 8 weeks ago, it was announced that Su had captured the Gold Medal at the Parkening International Guitar Competition in California where she walked away with the $30,000 prize. In 2006 when she won the very first of the Parkening Competitions, she was the first woman to not only win it, but the first woman to make it to the final round.

Yameng Wang stated playing at the age of 10. She was the youngest guitarist to win the Tokyo International Guitar Competition at the age of 12, and was invited by Radio France to perform at the prestigious Paris International Guitar Art Week at age 14. She has given solo recitals in China and abroad and made several solo recordings before she partnered with Ms Meng in The Beijing Duo.

The Brevard Philharmonic will be playing an all Spanish program on the 15th. La Oracion del Torero (the Bullfighter’s Prayer) by Joaquin Turina is a piece often heard played by a string quartet. Born in Spain, Turina moved to Paris where he studied music and fell under the influence of Debussy and Ravel both of which one can hear in this piece. But there is also the unmistakable influence of the music of the Andalusian Gypsies evident here. This brief, lush tone poem became one of Turina’s most popular pieces.

The next piece, El Amor, Brujo (Love, the Magician), was composed by Manuel de Falla in 1915 as a ballet. The work is distinctively Spanish in character with the songs in the Andalusian dialect of the gypsies. The music contains moments of remarkable beauty and originality.

The final piece to be performed by the Duo, Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto Madrigal, was composed specifically for two guitars. Rodrigo also studied in Paris, but is a more contemporary composer than the other two on the program, having premiered this piece in 1970. Rodrigo almost completely lost his sight to a bout with diphtheria at the age of three, but he tenaciously carried on with the study of music. He wrote his compositions in braille. Amazingly, Rodrigo never mastered the guitar himself, but his compositions written for that instrument earned him Spain’s highest award for composition ( Premio Nacional de Música) and King Juan Carlos I raised him into nobility with the title of Marques. The Concierto Madrigal contains glittering moments that work their way up to a stomping Spanish dance, pushing the soloists close to their limits of technique.

Classical Cleveland.com says of the Beijing Duo, “They have a tone that is unswervingly tasteful and warm combined with a dizzying carousel of strumming, rhythmic guitar slapping and blazing scales, all in perfect time with one another.”

The Brevard Philharmonic is a non profit organization comprised of local and regional musicians, presenting six concerts annually at Brevard College’s Porter Center for the Performing Arts under the baton of Donald Portnoy, its artistic director and conductor. Its mission is to foster in the community and in our schools an appreciation for classical music and the performing arts.

Individual tickets are $25 to $35 per concert. Call the Philharmonic office at 828- 884-4221, stop into our new downtown Brevard box office inside Looking Glass Realty at 66 South Broad Street or order with our new “pick your seat” option at brevardphilharmonic.org.