October 07, 2010
NYCCGS Member Event – Scott Jackson Wiley and James Lorusso
7:00 pm
Manhattan Theatre Club Creative Center
311 West 43rd St. between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (map)
New York City
Narciso Yepes: An Appreciation
In this presentation, guitarist/conductor Scott Jackson Wiley will discuss the life and music of the influential Spanish guitarist Narciso Yepes (1927-1997). Afterwards, guitarist James Lorusso will demonstrate the ten-string guitar, which Yepes pioneered. Both Mr. Wiley and Mr. Lorusso studied with Maestro Yepes.
The presentation will be followed by open playing time for members, so bring your guitar and play, or just come and listen. This is a great opportunity to gain experience performing, try out a new piece in front of an audience, or just share music with others in a supportive environment.
NYCCGS Member Events are free and open to all members and first-time guests.
Scott Jackson Wiley is a conductor of wide experience in the symphonic, operatic and contemporary repertoire. The 2009-2010 season is his twelfth as Music Director of the South Shore in Rockville Centre, New York, his fourth as Music Director of the Centre Cymphony Orchestra in New York City and his first as Principal Conductor of Brooklyn’s long-standing Regina Opera.
His career has taken abroad him to Israel, Italy, Spain, Ukraine and Peru and he has guest conducted many orchestras in the New York area. A classical guitarist with a degree and first prize awards from the Conservatory of Barcelona, Mr. Wiley has performed as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist both in the United States and in Europe.
He studied conducting at the Mannes College of Music in New York City under Michael Charry, where he earned a Masters Degree, and at the Pierre Monteux School for Conductors under Charles Bruck as well as under his father, conductor and cellist Jackson Wiley. A specialist in Romance languages, and an opera coach, Mr. Wiley has led many opera productions. Mr. Wiley’s performances are noted for their intensity, warmth and deep musical commitment.
James Lorusso is the president and founder of theFriends of Narciso Yepes. Mr. Lorusso has devoted most of his life to the guitar for the past 40 years, as a performer, teacher, arranger, and composer. He has taught at the Music Conservatory of Westchester since 1973, Manhattanville College since 1976, and Westchester Community College since 1993. He has also taught at Marymount College and the American Institute of Guitar. His love of Renaissance and Baroque music, arranging works from piano, harpsichord, and lute (for the guitar), and his studies with Narciso Yepes led him to play the 10-string guitar in 1978. He still performs on both the traditional 6-string as well as the 10-string guitar. His first formal classical guitar recital was in 1972, at Manhattanville College’s Reid Hall, known as the Castle. After that first Manhattanville concert, Jim’s performances gradually increased throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Spain.
James Lorusso is a graduate of the Music Conservatory of Westchester, through its collaboration with Mercy College, where he was the recipient of a Conservatory scholarship as well as a scholarship from the Epstein Fine Arts Fund. He studied guitar with Leo Brouwer, Alirio Diaz, Angel Romero, Manuel Barrueco, and Alice Artzt, and musical interpretation with renowned pianist Bruce Hungerford. He has also studied in Spain with guitarists Narciso Yepes and Jose-Luis Lopategui. Mr. Lorusso was a prizewinner in the 1983 international guitar competition at the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Puerto Rico, and made his New York debut at CAMI Hall in 1984. He was featured in September 2008 edition of Classical Guitar magazine in the column “Letter From New York” by Julia Crowe, giving an account of his friendship with the late guitar maker, Thomas Humphrey.
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