- Saturday, March 31 – 7pm
- Trinity United Methodist Church (4001 Speedway; Austin, TX 78751 – very close to UT)
- Information and tickets at www.eventsinaustin.com
Classical guitar virtuoso Iakovos Kolanian and an old friend of our local community is coming back to Austin with a new program for another concert!
Based in Athens, Greece, Iakovos Kolanian is a well-known international guitarist, with numerous performances in Greece and abroad. His interpretations, driven by vision and faith, often form a bridge between classical music and the music traditions of the world. Born to an Armenian father and Greek mother, Kolanian is best known for having expertly transcribed folk songs from both sides of his unique ethnic heritage. Of his recent album “Iakovos Kolanian Plays Mikis Theodorakis” (Legend Classics), Mr. Theodorakis raved that Kolanian “achieves technical and expressive perfection.” In Soundboard Magazine, Albert Kunze proclaims of Kolanian, “his tone is beautiful, his playing sensitive” in describing “Shoror” (Pomegranate Music), a collection of Armenian folk music transcribed for classical guitar. Other recordings include collections by J.S. Bach (Legend Classics) as well as masterworks by Agustin Barrios (Pomegranate Music).
Iakovos Kolanian has performed with every major orchestra in Greece and Armenia, as well as select appearances in Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Mr. Kolanian currently resides in Athens, Greece, where he balances a busy schedule of teaching, transcribing, and teaching along with his various performance engagements around the world. In 2011, he was awarded the Komitas medal in Yerevan, Armenia, for his ongoing contributions to Armenian culture. In his spare time, Mr. Kolanian volunteers his time giving gratis master classes in Armenia to underprivileged youth.
For the last three years, Iakovos Kolanian has been collaborating with the “Philippos Nakas” musical publishing house, recording CDs with works of E. Pujol, J. Sagreras, F. Carulli, M. Carcassi, and F. Sor, and publishing the respective musical books. In parallel with his artistic activity, Kolanian teaches at the “Philippos Nakas” Conservatory, and he also is the Director of the guitar department of the “Contemporary Music Education” Conservatory in Athens, Greece.
During the March 2012 US tour, Iakovos Kolanian will appear in Los Angeles, Boston, and Austin, and he will be performing the works of J.S Bach, Agustin Barrios, Mario Giuliani, Leo Brower, Antonio Lauro, as well as his own transcriptions of Armenian folk music.
Check out these sample clips to see Iakovos’ impressive mastery of the guitar:
- http://youtu.be/ylo3I5ljurg (La Catedral – Agustin Barrios)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfDDzx4EkHs (Noubar, Noubar – Traditional, arr. Iakovos Kolanian)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX2fZZnrulg&feature=related (Asturias – Isaac Albeniz)
The concert will be at the Trinity United Methodist Church at 4001 Speedway; Austin, TX 78751, very close to UT. It is a wonderful space, offering a lot of intimacy with the artist so that you can experience the music as up close and personal as possible!
For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.eventsinaustin.com.