Applauded by critics and audiences for his unique blend of powerful virtuosity, beautiful tone, and natural musicianship, festival director Elliot Frank has appeared as solo recitalist, chamber player, and as concerto soloist throughout the Americas and Europe. This past season he presented performances for the 2010 Mediterranean Guitar Festival in Cervo Italy, the Sea and Guitars Festival in Vrsar, Croatia, the Festival Kras in Farra d’Isonzo, Italy, and the inaugural 2009 Encuentro Internacional de Guitarra Villa Caletas in Herradura, Costa Rica. Other recent highlights include the 2010 Columbus State University Guitar Symposium, the inaugural concert of the 2007 Sauble Beach Festival of the Classical Guitar, the 2006 Guitar Foundation of America Festival, the 2006 and 2009 Classical Minds Guitar Institute in Houston TX, the Alexandria Guitar Festival, Piccolo Spoleto, the 2008 Appalachian Guitar Fest, the Festival Lachine in Montreal, Canada, at the Southwest Guitar Festival in San Antonio, and at the Sixth Guitar Festival of the Dominican Republic. Other international performances include appearances in Colombia, Venezuela, and Vienna, Austria. He has also performed for the Tampa Classical Guitar Festival, the North Carolina Bach Festival, the Appalachian Guitar Fest, and the Columbus State University Guitar Symposium. ACA Digital Recordings recently released his first compact disc, South American Guitar Music, which has been praised as being “eloquent” and “delightful,” and may be purchased at www.elliotfrank.com or on iTunes. He has also appeared in solo recitals for the Tallahassee Guitar Society, the University of Memphis Classical Guitar Society, the Dallas Guitar Society, the Piedmont Guitar Society, the Richmond Classic Guitar Society, and Guitar Houston. An aficionado of guitar music of Hispanic cultures, he has performed lecture/recitals pertaining to the music of Antonio Lauro for the Guitar Foundation of America at international festivals in Pasadena and New Orleans. Elliot Frank has commissioned and performed works for guitar including an important new sonata by Andrew Zohn, E Sonata, which was premiered in 2004 at the New Music at ECU Festival. Elliot Frank is also a prizewinner in national and international competitions including the Concurso Internacional de la Casa de España in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Elliot Frank was selected to initiate the guitar studies program for East Carolina University. He is currently teaching there as a tenured full professor in addition to maintaining an active concert schedule.
Carlos Pérez was born in Santiago in 1976. His interest in guitar playing started at an early age through his father. He studied under Ernesto Quezada at the Arts Faculty of the University of Chile where graduated with top honors. He was awarded top prizes in major international competitions in Europe and America, winning first prize in the “Concurso Internacional Alirio Díaz”, in Caracas, Venezuela; “René Bartoli”, France; “Printemps de La Guitare”, Belgium; “Forum Gitarre”, Austria; “Fundacion Guerrero” Spain and “Joaquín Rodrigo Competition” Spain. Carlos Pérez has released eight CDs, two DVDs, and recorded at several European radios. He has given recitals in more than thirty countries in North, Central, and South America as well as Europe, and has played with orchestras from England, Belgium, the United States, Germany, Lithuania, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Poland and Chile. His international activity have taken him to play at Berlin Philarmonie (Germany), Auditorio Nacional (Spain), Royal Festival Hall (England), Teatro Monumental (Spain), and other prestigious concert halls. Carlos has participated in many Guitar and Chamber Music Festivals around the world and is constantly invited to give master classes and lectures at Universities and Schools of Music in Latin America, Europe and USA. He joins the Arts Faculty of the University of Chile as Professor since 2008. Editions Henry Lemoine of France, Productions d’Oz of Canada and Grenzland-Verlag Theo Hüsgen of Germany have published some of his arrangements and compositions.
“Without a doubt, his musical ability is that of legends… Perez is a marvelous artist, fleet of finger, facile but never shallow. He's at home in a variety of styles and brought them all to vivid musical life.” St. Louis Today, St. Louis- Missouri, USA, 4 de Abril de 2007.
Jan Bartlema was born in Zwolle, The Netherlands in 1959. He grew up in a musical family where both classical and world music were heard. After starting with flute lessons Jan finally choose to focus on the guitar. Jan studied at the music conservatories of Zwolle and Enschede under Pieter van der Staak and Jorge Oraison respectively. During his training he also undertook a number of master classes by John Mills, among others. After the music conservatory he furthered his training with Czech Guitarist Milan Zelenka in Prague, with whom he collaborated on various concerts and radio performances in both The Czech Republic and The Netherlands. Additionally Jan performed as soloist in various other European countries, Canada and the USA. Along with solo recitals and guitar concerts, Jan has frequently performed with Orchestras (like Rodrigo - concierto de Aranjuez , Castelnuovo Tedesco - concerto in D and the premier of the guitar concerto by Annette Kruisbrink) guitar and choir, guitar and organ, guitar and cello, guitar and piano/harpsichord, and as member of the chamber music group Juerga ensemble, consisting of a soprano, flute and two guitars. In his repertoire he prefers originality and his search for new music has lead him to many pieces that have been specifically dedicated to him by composers van der Staak, Kruisbrink, de Marez Oyens and Ourkouzounov. This has resulted in the release of two CDs featuring the works of van der Staak and Kruisbrink, both of which have been highly praised by guitar industry periodicals. Two additional chamber music CDs have also been released by the Juerga ensemble and the Encuentro Guitar Quartet. Jan has also composed and published his own guitar compositions with De Haske Publications in The Netherlands, Les productions d'Oz in Canada and Edition Daminus in Germany. Many of these works are written as educational pieces for solo guitar, duets and ensembles but also include concert level pieces. Other works include a piece for guitar ensemble, “Tango Par Maxima”, a tribute to the Argentine-born Princess Maxima of the Netherlands, as well as compositions for guitar with diverse combinations such as choir, theatrical percussion and flex band (brass, woodwind, guitar, bass, keyboard and percussion). Additionally Jan has supplemented his education with choir directing courses through Kurt Thomas in Utrecht as well as with Klaas van der Woude. Currently Jan teaches music in the Assistant Music Teacher program at ROC Friese Poort in Drachten, The Netherlands. Mary Akerman teaches classical guitar at Kennesaw State University. Her educational credits include Bachelor’s (Cum Laude) and Master’s degrees in Performance from the University of Georgia. She continued her performance studies at Florida State University where she was a graduate teaching assistant. She was the recipient of Atlanta Music Club Scholarships and two scholarships for summer study in Spain with the Jose Tomas. Additionally, she was selected by audition to perform in a masterclass with Andres Segovia. While at Florida State University, Mary Akerman won first prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition and subsequently gave the first winner’s tour. She also won first prize in the Casa de Espana of Puerto Rico competition and was a bronze medalist in the Radio France competition. Mary Akerman is active as both a soloist and chamber musician. She has performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Cobb Symphony, Gainesville Symphony , and Macon Symphony. She has performed on NPR’s ‘Performance Today” and has recorded with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Festival Singers. She also concertizes frequently with duo partner guitarist Robert Teixeira. She has performed, adjudicated, and taught at the following guitar festivals: Guitar Foundation of America, Southwestern Guitar Festival , East Carolina Summer Guitar Workshop, Festival de Guitarra in Paracho Mexico, and Festival Internacional de Guitarra del Noreste, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Since winning the Guitar Foundation of America Competition Mary Akerman has been an active supporter of that organization. She has been elected to three consecutive terms on their Board of Trustees. American guitarist Andrew Zohn is recognized internationally for his work as a performer, instructor, and composer. He has performed concerts on four continents uncluding venues in Beijing, New York, Rotterdam, Vancouver, Honolulu, Buenos Aires, Edmonton, Calgary, Atlanta, Toronto, and Puerto Rico. In addition to his solo performances, Zohn performs as part of Duo Spiritoso with acclaimed Canadian guitarist Jeffrey McFadden. Since 1999, Dr. Zohn has served on the faculty of the Schwob School of Music (Columbus State University) in Georgia, where he directs the annual CSU Guitar Symposium. He has also served as a visiting faculty at the Istituto Musicale Pareggiato della Valle d’Aosta in Italy. Zohn has performed and taught at many of the world’s most prestigious music festivals including the Festival of New Music (Central Conservatory of Music, China) the Ravenna Festival (Italy), the Iserlohn Guitar Symposium (Germany), the National Guitar Workshop (USA), and the Polish Guitar Academy (Poland). Students of Andrew Zohn have won prizes in a multitude of international competitions and have been featured on the American national radio program From the Top. An advocate of new music, Andrew Zohn has been responsible for commissioning new works from such noted composers as Sergio Assad, Atanas Ourkouzounov, and Carlos Raphael Rivera, among others. Zohn regularly receives commissions to compose new works for performing artists and arts institutions. He has been the recipient of a Plus Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). Original compositions and transcriptions by Andrew Zohn are published through Les Productions d’Oz, Canada, Tuscany publications (Theodore Presser), and FJH Publications. His recordings for Clear Note and Centaur Records have received wide acclaim from American Record Guide, Classical Guitar Magazine, GuitArt Magazine, Soundboard, Guitarra Magazine, and Rosewood Review.
2010 ECU Solo Competition Winner You Wang began studying classical guitar at age 13 with world-renowned professor Zhi Chen at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. From 2004 to 2010, You Wang received full- scholarship to study with Maestro Denis Azabagic in Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. During this time, he also took masterclasses with Oscar Ghiglia, David Russell, Sergio Assad, Raphaella Smits, Lorenzo Micheli, Paul Galbraith, Andrew Zohn and Elena Papandreou. Since 2000, You Wang has received first prizes in many major competitions including the 2nd Indiana International Guitar Festival & Competition, the Louisville International Guitar Competition, the Boston International Guitar Competition, the ECU Summer Guitar workshop Competition, and top prizes in the Columbus Guitar Competition and Symposium, the American Society of Musicians” National Competition for all instruments, the Hong Kong 3rd International Guitar Competition and the Chinese Young Artist National Competition.
Robert Teixeira is currently on the faculty at Queens University of Charlotte and at Central Piedmont Community College. In addition to his Charlotte based teaching, he is active as a performer and guest instructor with recent invitations to instruct/perform at East Carolina University, Universities of Texas at Austin and San Antonio, and Southwestern University. In recent years Robert has collaborated with award winning guitarist, Mary Akerman in concert appearances and in the 2010 cd release of “Music for Two Guitars”. Other recordings include “Shade Grown” with his wife, cellist, Tanja Bechtler, and “Passage” with the seven-member world music ensemble, Without Borders. With a continuing commitment to education, Robert recently composed a set of five etudes for right-hand development that are published by Clear Note Publications. A native of Winston-Salem NC, Adam Kossler began his musical studies with his father, William Kossler, and continued his musical training through college, receiving a bachelor of music degree at East Carolina University studying under Dr. Elliot Frank. He earned a master of music degree at Appalachian State University and was a teaching assistant to Dr. Douglas James. Mr. Kossler has been a top prize winner in a number of national and international guitar competitions including the MANC guitar competition, East Carolina guitar competition, Appalachian State guitar competition, MTNA competition, Columbus State guitar competition and the UTD Guitar competition. As a teacher he has been featured as a guest artist or clinitan at several festivals in the US and Canada. Mr. Kossler currently resides in Tallahassee, Fla., where he is pursuing a doctoral degree as Bruce Holzman's teaching assistant. Kossler performs regularly as a solo artist as well as with the Kossler Guitar Trio with his father and brother John. American born guitarist Christopher Adkins began his study of the guitar at the age of twenty at East Carolina University with Dr. Elliot Frank. After receiving his Bachelor and Masters degrees in music performance there, Christopher went on to receive an Artist Diploma at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia with Dr. Andrew Zohn. As a competitor, Christopher has won first prizes at the 2010 MANC competition and the 2011 Appalachian State Guitarfest International Competition. He has also had the honor of participating in masterclasses with world-renowned guitarists such as David Russell, Jason Vieaux, Lorenzo Micheli, and Carlos Perez among others. In the fall of 2011, Christopher will begin his Doctoral studies with Bruce Holzman at Florida State University, where he was awarded a teaching assistantship.
Joseph Ikner (Teacher Trainer) is frequently invited to perform as a soloist and chamber musician at university campuses, music festivals and for a variety of audiences throughout eastern North America. Enthusiastically received performances for the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, DC and a tour of Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama highlight Joseph Ikner’s recent concert happenings. In January 2002, Mr. Ikner premiered Comedic Situation, a commissioned work for solo guitar by Dr. Andrew Zohn. Following the debut, The North Carolina Arts Council awarded Joseph Ikner a grant to help fund his first recording, Premiere. Selections from Premiere have been featured on public radio stations and the CD is available for purchase at www.iknermusic.com. Joseph Ikner’s accomplishments at several solo guitar competitions include: Finalist, Aranjuez Strings International Guitar Competition, 2001; 1st prize, South Carolina National Guitar Competition, 2001; 1st prize, North Carolina Music Teacher’s Association Collegiate Artist Guitar Competition, 1997 & 1999; Finalist, East Carolina University Summer Guitar Workshop Guitar Competition, 1999. Widely regarded as a dedicated, conscientious and effective guitar pedagogue, Joseph Ikner is regularly sought to conduct master classes and clinics. Joseph Ikner has also directed guitar studies at Campbell University. He holds a MM, and BM, magna cum laude, in Guitar Performance from East Carolina University and is currently seeking a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Guitar Performance at Shenandoah Conservatory. Joseph Ikner has been a faculty member of the ECU Summer Guitar Workshop since it’s inception in 1996.
