Jose Luis Merlin, Guitar, June 17, 2012
One of the most distinguished guitarists and composers of our time –
Almost every classical guitarist has played the music of José Luis Merlin…the poet of the guitar. His compositions such as “Sueno Con Caballos,” and “Suite del Recuerdo,” are amongst his most famous. All the way from his home in Spain, Merlin returns to InConcert Sierra to perform a special Father’s Day concert and a premiere composition in memory of locally renowned guitarist Louis Valentine Johnson’s son, Alex Johnson.
Join us to hear a true master perform his own works. A great way to celebrate Fathers Day and the final concert of our 2011-12 season of great music!
Pre-concert forum at 1:15pm.
This performance is sponsored by Barry & Connie Dorland, Louis V. Johnson and Libby Zuniga in memory of Alex Johnson, Bea and Jerry Pressler, and the Porter & McWilliams families in memory of Cory Jones
José Luis Merlin is a guitarist, professor, and composer… ‘The Poet of the Guitar’
His compositions are played and recorded by many guitarists around the world:
Jan Wouters (Belgium)- Etienne Plasman (Luxemburg)
- Antigoni Goni (Greece)
- David Tanenbaum (USA)
- Jasón Vieux (USA)
- Yang Xuefei (China)
- Michael Nigro (USA)
- Lisa Schroeder
- Willam Simcoe (USA)
- Louis Johnson (USA)
- Wang Zhen (China)
- Bruce Paine (New Zealand)
- Máximo Pujol (Argentina)
- Eduardo Martín (Cuba)
- Lee Khee Gan (Japan)
- Eric Cabalo(USA)
- Danny Shoemaker (USA)
- Stanley Yates (England)
- Elliot Frank, Allar Õunapuu (Estonia)
- Matthew Hornbeck (USA)
- Dietmar Oliver Kunzler (Germany)
- Adam Holzman (USA)
- Robert Guthrie (USA)
- Luis Andrés Campos Yépez (Ecuador)
- Marcelo Coronel (Argentina)
- And more!
Other Accomplishments:
He has worked as an orchestrator and arranger with the composer Jorge Drexler in performing the soundtrack of the movie “City of Your Final Destination” by James Ivory starring Anthony Hopkins.- He has made an adaptation for string quintet with guitar, choir and soloists from the opera Orpheus and Euridice by Glück at the request of the company, “The Sea of Puppets” and recorded and distributed on DVD by the label “Sello Autor”.
- He has composed the music for “Water” for the “Expo Zaragoza” 2008 recorded and distributed on DVD by the label “Sello Autor”.
- He has composed the music for “Rimas infantiles par alas estaciones del año” with the poet Cristina Alvarez Puerto.
- His compositions are included in the studio’s programs of a lot of universities and conservatories around the world. There are more than 10,000 WEB pages in the Internet about of his activities.
- Merlin`s biography was published in the Who’s Who in Music (London), 14th and later editions, together with the world’s most distinguished musicians. Since ten years ago he received many students of Guitar and Composition from different countries.
- He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
- He has been a concert artist, composer and guitar teacher since 1967, as well as a researcher and teacher of instrumental technique. He studied guitar, theory and sol-fa for five years with Vicente Degese, continued for eight years with Abel Carlevaro, and studied harmony, counterpoint, musical form and instrumentation with Leónidas Arnedo (Tchaikovsky Conservatory).
- He has made more than thirty international tours: Mexico, Ireland, Spain, Austria, USA (over 200 concerts), Canada, Cuba, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Brazil and Uruguay. He has given concerts in such renowned halls as the Centro Cultural de la Villa (Madrid, Spain), the United Nations (New York, USA), the Meridian House Who’s (Washington, D. C., USA), the Museums of Art in Dallas and Detroit (USA), the Teatro Juan Bravo (Segovia, Spain), the Teatro Nacional Cervantes (Buenos Aires), as well as on public radio and television in Ohio, Michigan, Oregon, California, Texas (USA), and on the international channel of Deutsche Welle (Germany).
- He has been invited on five occasions to give classes and lectures at universities in the US and Germany.
- He has played as a soloist with the Symphonies of Rosario and San Juan (Argentina), and has performed chamber MUSIC with the following chamber ensembles: Frolov Chamber Orchestra, Cuarteto Sudamericano, Buenos Aires, Sudamérica, Sudamericano, Musicámera, del Plata, and the Grupo Merlin.
- He was co-founder and first president of the Association Integración Guitarrística Argentina. He was the founder and Director of the Centro de Estudios Musicales in Buenos Aires (a school of MUSIC for all levels). Actually he is co-founder and first president of the “Club de la Guitarra” Cultural Association in El Escorial, Spain.
- He has published more than 12 recordings in USA, Japan, Austria and Argentina.
- He composed the music for “Travesia, the guitar witness to five centuries”, an oratorio for recititative, singing voice, mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra (texts by José Tcherkasky).
- Has also composed works for solo guitar, guitar and violoncello, guitar and string quartet, piano and voice, etc. His works have been published by GSP Publisher (USA), Chanterelle (Germany), Tuscany Publications and Shamrock (Austria) (distributed by Theodore Presser, New York). His publications have received critical acclaim in the music press.
- He has arranged and adapted works by Beethoven, Scarlatti, Bach and Piazzola, and has set poetry to music.
