(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Guitars of Westminster ensemble, directed by Mark Johnstone, hosts internationally acclaimed guitarist Vladislav Bláha on Friday, January 31 at 7:30pm in Bristol Chapel on the Westminster Choir College of Rider University campus in Princeton. A free-will offering will be accepted for admission at the recital. Proceeds will benefit the Westminster Conservatory’s guitar fund, which supports students’ participation in guitar festivals and the commissioning of new works.
Bláha will perform works ranging from the Baroque to the modern era. Composers featured include Bach, Koshkin, de Falla, Rak and Duarte.
Vladislav Bláha has given concerts in prestigious halls throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America and the United States, including Carnegie Hall and the Royal Festival Hall in London. He is the winner of four international guitar competitions: Volos, Greece; Esztergom, Hungary; Kutna Hora, Czech Republic; and Markneukirchen, Germany. He was also awarded the bronze medal in the Radio France International Competition in Paris.
Twenty seven composers from 16 countries have been so inspired by Blaha’s performances, that they have dedicated works to him. Among them are Duarte, Koshkin, Morel, Kleynjans, Cardosso, Tesar, Tucapsky and Stedron. Bláha is a professor of guitar at Conservatoire of Brno and an associate professor at the Janacek Academy of Music in Brno. He frequently gives masterclasses and performs on festivals all over the world. He is president of the Czech Classical Guitar Society and director of the International Guitar Festival and Courses in Brno.
The Guitars of Westminster ensemble offers classical guitarists the opportunity to play and perform a variety of music from the Renaissance to the 21st century in solos, trios, duos and quartets. It has performed at Drumthwacket, the New Jersey Governor’s Mansion, and Princeton’s Morven Museum. Recent seasons have included performing and competing at the Long Island Guitar Festival, the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society Festival and the Guitar Foundation of America Festival in Kentucky.
The ensemble’s director Mark Johnstone has taught guitar and presented many performances over the last 20 years. In addition to teaching at Westminster Conservatory, he has taught guitar for The University of North Texas and The College of New Jersey. He has performed in Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and many cities in the United States. He has given numerous performances playing continuo on theorbo throughout Texas with Le Petit Violons, and The Orchestra of New Spain. He currently plays continuo for I Virtuosi del Seicento directed by Tim Urban. He holds degrees in History and Music from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., and he has pursued postgraduate degrees from The University of North Texas and Hunter College in New York City. Classical Guitar magazine reviewed his Holiday Gig Book as “Immensely enjoyable...The arrangements stand out above the crowd.”
Learn more about these events at rider.edu/arts or by calling 609-921-2663. Westminster Choir College is located at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Walnut Lane in Princeton.
