1. hobbies and interests
2. guitar

Matt Palmer Program
Collectici íntim
La Serenor
La Joia
La Calma
La Guabanca
La Frisanca
Vicente Asencio
(1903-1979)
The Heaven’s Hundred *
Chaconne from Violin Partita in D Minor BWV 1004
* written for Matt Palmer
Olga Amelkina-Vera
(b. 1976)
20th Annual Appalachian GuitarFest
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685-1750)
Appalachian GuitarFest
Guitar Orchestra
Alan Hirsh, director
Gohar Vardanyan, guitar
Matt Palmer, guitar
The one hundred forty-second program of 2014-2015. To
access the Hayes School of Music performance calendar or
join the LISTSERV for concert announcements, visit
www.music.appstate.edu.
Saturday, April 11, 2015
7:00 pm
Rosen Concert Hall
Broyhill Music Center
Appalachian GuitarFest Guitar Orchestra Program
Three Preludes
Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
Andante con moto e poco rubato
Allegro ben ritmato e deciso
Promanade
Gohar Vardanyan Program
George Gershwin
(1898-1937)
All Laid Back
Drifting
Andy McKee
(b. 1979)
In the Clouds
Joey Hirsh
(b. 1993)
Suite in A Minor (in the style of Weiss)
Prelude
Allemande
Sarabande
Gavotte I & II
Gigue
Manuel Maria Ponce
(1882-1948)
Cordoba from Cantos de España, Op. 232
Sevilla from Suite Española, Op. 47
Isaac Albéniz
(1808-1909)
Invocación y Danza
Joaquín Rodrigo
(1901-1999)
Chanson du Feu Follet from El Amor Brujo
Dance No. 1 from La Vida Breve
Manuel de Falla
(1876-1946)
All music arranged for guitar orchestra by Alan Hirsh
Brief Pause
Intermission
Composer, arranger, guitarist, and music educator, Alan Hirsh began a long-time collaboration
with world renown pedagogue, Aaron Shearer back in the 1980’s, writing music for the groundbreaking three-volume method series: Learning the Classic Guitar published with Mel Bay. In
2012, along with Thomas Kikta he worked as composer, co-author, and editor of the three-volume
Alfred Music publication—The Shearer Method:Classical Guitar Foundations, Classical Guitar
Developments, and Learning the Fingerboard, a work representing Shearer’s lifetime culmination
of thought on how the guitar should be taught.
Alan received his Bachelor’s in Composition from the University of Arizona studying with Robert
Muczynski and his Masters and Doctorate from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins
University studying with Vladimir Ussachevsky and Jean Eichelberger Ivey. He currently resides
in North Carolina where he works as Music Director and Fine Arts Department Chair at Bishop
McGuinness High School, teaching Beginning Guitar, Honors Guitar Ensemble Orchestra, Chorus,
AP Music Theory, and Recording Studio/Composition. Alan also teaches guitar at Wake Forest
University, and is the founder and director of the Piedmont Guitar Orchestra. He actively directs
festival guitar orchestras around the country, such as the US/Mexico Guitar Orchestra at GFA
2000 and Southwest Guitar Festivals, the Appalachian Guitarfest Orchestra, UNCG Guitarganza
Orchestra, and the Long Island Guitar Festival Orchestra. Alan serves as Vice president of the
Piedmont Classic Guitar Society and Vice President of Education in the Aaron Shearer
Foundation. He remains active as a composer, having written and arranged extensively for
orchestra, band, chorus, guitar and guitar ensemble. Alan’s most recent guitar commissions
include the Harrisdale Concerto for Guitar Orchestra, Violin, Saw, and Solo Guitar, Nunc
Dimittis and Lullay Carol for Guitar Orchestra and Choir, and November for Guitar and Pipa
(written for virtusoso artist, Liu Fang). Alan’s many other guitar works include publications
of Twenty Etudes in fixed Positions, New Music for Classic Guitar, Trio Concertino, Holiday,
Folk, Sacred, and Renaissance Collections for guitar ensemble, as well as an extensive online
catalogue of guitar ensemble music (guitarensemblemusic.com) which reaches to guitarists around
the world.
Widely admired for her technique and artistry, Armenian guitarist Gohar Vardanyan has
performed throughout the United States for numerous guitar societies, universities, and arts
organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Alice Tully Hall at
Lincoln Center, and guitar societies in Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, Miami, and New York
City to name a few. She has appeared on National Public Radio in the United Stated and Radio
Nacional in Argentina. Ms. Vardanyan has performed with the Juilliard Opera Center and as a
soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Panama National Symphony Orchestra. She
has also been a guest artist at the "Encuentro Internacional de Guitarra" in Panama and the
Hamilton International Guitar Festival in Canada. Guitar International Magazine has described her
as "the complete package," "with a musicality and emotional quality . . . that one would expect
from someone much older than the young wunderkind. Not only is she able to draw you into her
performances with engaging musical interpretations, but she has the technical facility that is
required of any concert level guitarist." Her playing has been described as "passionate,"
"evocative," and "virtuosic."
In addition to her performing career, Ms. Vardanyan is an avid teacher. She frequently teaches
master classes and guitar technique workshops on during her concert stops. Ms. Vardanyan is an
author of two books from Mel Bay Publications with the third one on the way. She's a frequent
writer on Mel Bay's Blog and instructor on Strings by Mail's YouTube Lessonettes, a series of mini
video lessons. Ms. Vardanyan began studying the guitar in her native Armenia at the age of five
under the careful guidance of her father, Vardan Vardanyan. At the age of eight, she gave her first
public performance and also appeared on Armenian National Television. She was the first prize
winner in the Armenian National Music Contest "Amadeus" and was accepted into the prestigious
group, "New Names," for talented young musicians. She performed in numerous concert venues in
Armenia, including Komitas Chamber Music Hall and the Small Philharmonic Hall. She went on
to study with Antigoni Goni at the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School. In 2001, Ms.
Vardanyan studied with John Wunsch at the Interlochen Arts Academy. She was awarded the
Young Artist's Certificate from Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Harold Randolph Prize in
performance from the Peabody Conservatory.
Ms. Vardanyan holds a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with
Sharon Isbin, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music where she
studied with Manuel Barrueco. She is also an alumna of the Aspen Music Festival and School.
Gohar Vardanyan is sponsored by Strings by Mail.
Guitarist Matt Palmer has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico,
Canada, South America, and the Caribbean. A recent recipient of the “Up and Coming Guitarist of
the Year” award by Guitar International Magazine, Matt has been described by critics as “a young
artist about to make a real dent in the world of classical guitar” (Premier Guitar Magazine),
“highly expressive and technically virtuosic” (Modern Guitars Magazine), “a truly accomplished
and refined musician” (Cleveland Classical), and “one of the world’s best guitar players” (The
Royal Gazette). An active performer, winner of numerous guitar competitions, and author of The
Virtuoso Guitarist method, Matt Palmer has gained worldwide recognition as a virtuosic and
soulful concert artist.
His debut CD, Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa, has been applauded by Guitar International
Magazine as “an album of the highest quality…with flawless technique, deep levels of personal
expression, and an artistic integrity that seems far too rare these days.” Classical Voice of North
Carolina proclaims Matt’s “positively nuclear” debut displays “stunning precision and unwavering
accuracy enclosed in a huge dynamic envelope.” In addition, Matt’s pioneering guitar
method, The Virtuoso Guitarist, has been recognized as a valuable addition to guitar pedagogy,
and “indispensable for any advanced guitarist or teacher to include in their library” (Classical
Guitar Review).
Matt Palmer holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Arizona, where he
studied with Thomas Patterson and Artists-in-Residence David Russell, Sergio Assad, and Odair
Assad. In demand as a performer, Matt’s recent concert engagements have taken him to venues
such as Carnegie Hall, Shakespeare Theatre, The Guitar Foundation of America International
Convention, numerous universities, guitar societies, and dozens of international guitar festivals
throughout the world. Matt Palmer is a Strings By Mail sponsored artist and plays D’Addario
strings.