Joe Gallacher is a full-time guitar maker living in Albury, NSW.   He makes traditional classical/flamenco guitars (as well as mandolins and Irish bouzoukis) and brought one his instruments (a guitar based on the German maker Herman Hauser) to our Society meeting yesterday.  If you would like more information, please visit his website www.gallacherguitars.com.
The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) competition, held in Ithaca, New York, USA on the weekend, has awarded third prize in the XXVII International Concert Artist Competition to Australian classical guitarist Aleksandr Tsiboulski. ANU first-year student Andrey Lebedev also won third prize in the V International Youth Competition in the 15-18 division. Continue reading
On Mother’s Day 2009, Leslie and Kit Spencer performed together at the National Gallery of Australia as part of the 15th Canberra International Music Festival.¬†¬† Kit Spencer is a lovely harpist and her equally lovely mother, Leslie, accompanied her on guitar.¬† They performed a duet by the Catalonian guitarist/composer Feliu Gasull Altisent.
The event was billed as “NGA Promenade Concert”.   It featured groups of musicians performing in various spaces around the gallery.  The music was selected to reflect the mood and style of the artworks displayed.  Leslie and Kit’s piece complemented a painting by the Spanish Catalan artist, Joan Miró titled “Paysage [Landscape] 1927″.
The audience was invited to walk from one performance to the next.  It all worked beautifully.  What a fantastic idea!  Leslie is a member of Canberra Classical Guitar Society and teaches at Cooma School of Music.
This article by Ron Cerabona appeared in the Canberra Times on 19 December 2008.
Canberra guitarist Harold Gretton finished off a distinguished year of competitions with a creditable second place in the Tokyo International Guitar Competition last weekend. One of six finalists from around the world, he came second to Andras Csaki, of Hungary. “Any of the six could’ve been winners: it depends on the taste of the judges on the day,” he said. Gretton played the set piece, Mutsuo Shishido’s Prelude and Toccata and then a program of his own choice, featuring Bach’s Prelude BWV 998, Napoleon Coste’s Concert Rondo, and Antonio Jose’s Sonata in Four Movements. He performed on an Australian instrument made by Greg Smallman. Continue reading
Callum Henshaw, 18, a classical guitar student of Minh Le Hoang, has won the open division of the 2008 Australian National Eisteddfod. He achieved a mark of 94 and was very happy with the $250 prize. Cal played the Prelude form Bach’s lute suite 1006a and Usher Waltz by Nikita Koshkin. Cal is from Lyneham and is a member of Canberra Classical Guitar Society. Congratulations, Cal!
John Couch and Harold Gretton keep hopes high for an ANU music school hat-trick, Ron Cerabona writes. (from Canberra Times 28 November 2008).
If one of the Canberra-trained classical guitarists John Couch or Harold Gretton wins the 51st Tokyo International Guitar Competition next month, it will be a hat-trick of victories there for graduates of the guitar department of the ANU School of Music. In 2006, Aleksandr Tsiboulski came first, and last year Minh Le Hoang won the 50th Tokyo International Guitar Competition. He will be the featured performer on the 13-concert tour of Japan which was part of his prize. Six other countries, including Italy and Finland, will be represented in the second round, and the finals will take place in Tokyo on December 13 and 14. Continue reading
Esa Janara, from Cooma, won a first prize at the Australian National Eisteddfod in Canberra last Saturday.  He took out the 16 and under Classical Guitar section. He was very surprised and delighted with his medal and $150. Esa is a student of Leslie Spencer of Cooma School of Music and a member of Canberra Classical Guitar Society.  He was playing an Alhambra 5P guitar.  Well done, Esa!
The Canberra Times’ writer Philip O’Brien featured Harold Gretton in Times2 on 5 November 2008. Click here to go to the Canberra Times article.
Canberra classical guitarist Harold Gretton recently returned from a summer in Europe where he competed in several international guitar competitions. Not surprisingly, the standard of competition was intense. But what made Gretton stand out from other players was the individuality and freshness of his performance, often flouting current European trends in classical guitar playing. He ended up winning not one but three of the competitions, and his happy dilemma is now what to do with all the guitars he received as prizes. Continue reading
“Australia‚Äôs Olympic gold medallists get ticker tape parades. But some other international champions prefer picking and plucking to fanfares.”
For the original version of this article, click here to read it on the ANU website.
From an article in ANU Reporter – Spring 2008 – by Celeste Ecuyer
After Beijing, returning Olympians were paraded across the capital cities to the cheers and accolades of crowds of people.
But most people would be hard pressed to name an Australian musician who has become a champion on the international stage.
Then again, if the ‘gold medallists’ from the ANU School of Music guitar department are anything to go by, they’re probably not too bothered by the relative anonymity. Continue reading
Multi-talented musician and classical guitar scholar Professor Adrian Walter has been appointed head of The Australian National University’s School of Music beginning in January 2009.  For the full announcement, click here to visit the ANU web page.
An interview in the Canberra Times on 18 October can be viewed by clicking here.
Canberra Classical Guitar Society 