2022 New Jersey Guitar Ensemble Jayson Martinez NJMEA Chair for Guitar Education jmarti37[at]webmail.essex.edu
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic brought a new definition to the phrase “The day the music died.” Originally sung by Don McLean in the song “American Pie,” that lyric accurately describes life in the times of the pandemic. Live music had tragically died while we were socially distant. But to quote another lyric by the Village People, “you can’t stop the music, nobody can stop the music.” Now that the COVID-19 crisis is waning, concerts and music festivals are thriving once again. We are excited to announce that our NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble and the New Jersey Guitar Orchestra (NJGO) will perform four joint concerts throughout the spring and summer months. These concerts will also feature a world premiere commission work entitled, “Air and Lamentations”, by Kean University’s Dr. Matthew Halper. Save these dates in your calendar:
The NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble, alongside the New Jersey Guitar Orchestra, are honored to perform with the United States Guitar Orchestra at the Kaufman Center. The USGO is led by Professors Kami Rowan and Ethan Lodics of Guilford College. The group is comprised of nearly 50 guitarists , ranging from elite high school students to full-time tenured professors, as well as professional recording guitarists. They range from twenty different states and seven countries. Lastly, our NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble extends their gratitude to NJCU MDT Dept Chair Dr. Desamparados Fabra, guitar professors Dr. Michael Newman, and Dr. Celil Refik Kaya for hosting our rehearsals at your campus. New Jersey City University continues to be a strong partner in guitar education. Special thanks are also extended to our concert hosts, including William Paterson University’s Professors Seth Himmelhoch and Gabriel Handy; LIGQ GuitarFest Coordinator Harris Becker; Kean University Professor Dr. Matthew Halper, and USGO Director Dr. Kami Rowan. We are looking forward to seeing you all at our concerts! For more information, including concert programs for each performance, visit my website @ jaysonmartinez.com
GuitarFest 2022 Saturday, April 23rd @1:00pm William Paterson University 300 Pompton Road, Wayne, New Jersey 07470 973-720-2000 https://www.wpunj.edu 30th Annual Long Island Guitar Festival Sunday May 15th @1:00pm Setauket Presbyterian Church 5 Caroline Avenue, Setauket, NY 11733 http://www.ligfest.net/ https://www.setauketpresbyterian.org GuitarFest Sunday, June 5th@1:00pm Kean University 1000 Morris Avenue, Union NJ https://www.kean.edu/ United States Guitar Orchestra special guests: NJMEA Honors Guitar Ens and the NJGO Thursday, July 7th@5:00pm Kaufman Center, Merkin Concert Hall 129 W. 67th Street , New York City kaufmanmusiccenter.org TEMPO
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