Published: January 13, 2009 10:16 am         

Ada Arts Council presents classical guitarist Brad Richter

ADA — Classically trained guitarist Brad Richter is returning to Ada, along with a few friends.

Brad Richter and Friends will perform at Dorothy I. Summers Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and students with valid ID and may be picked up at Gem Jewelers, 101 W. Main.

Richter will present two master classes at East Central University Friday prior to the concert. The event is presented by the Ada Arts Council with financial assistance from the Oklahoma Arts Council.

Also helping in bringing the event to Ada are Subway, Pepsi Cola Company, Walmart and all the local and surrounding media.

For this special concert the duo is joined by singer Carly Pedersen whose voice leads the ensemble in new directions by adding original and classic American songs by Stephen Foster, Gershwin and others to the duo’s high energy virtuosity.

Since completing his master’s degree at the Royal College of Music in London, Richter has performed throughout North America and Europe as a soloist, in duos with artists such as Grammy winner David Finckel of the Emerson String Quartet and in numerous national broadcasts in the US, Great Britain and Mexico. Recent festival appearances have included The Aspen Music Festival, The London International Guitar Festival, Festival Dr. Alfonso Ortiz Tirado (Mexico) and the Walnut Valley Festival where he won the National Finger-picking Championship.

Richter is also a composer. In addition to his collections of concert music for solo guitar (published by Mel Bay and GSP), he is a composer of chamber music.

He is a winner of the International Composer’s Guild Competition, wrote and performed a score for the Emmy award winning PBS television series, The Desert Speaks, and his chamber music CD Navigating Lake Bonneville, has just been released.

When not on the road, Richter teaches at the University of Arizona and serves as the Artistic Director of Lead Guitar, a charity (which he co-founded in 2006) that establishes school guitar programs for at-risk youth.

Uzur has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in many countries in Europe, Asia and North America including important concerts and collaborations with composers such as Tikhon Khrennikov, Petris Vasks and Lewis Nielson. His engagement as the principal cellist and soloist with ARCO Moscow Chamber Orchestra brought him many CD releases and international tours and his performances, interviews and compositions have been broadcast nationally on television and radio stations in the former Yugoslavia, Russia, and United States.

He has given concerts and has been an artist in residence at festivals in Austria, Spain, Italy, France, Russia, Canada, Korea, Latvia, United States and the former Yugoslavia. Uzur is cello professor at Weber State University in Utah.

Uzur received his bachelor’s and master’s in Cello Performance with soloist diploma from the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and doctorate from Michigan State University. His most recent recordings include Entertainers and Viktor Uzur in Recital. Uzur is the founder and director of the Bonneville Chamber Music Festival in America. Uzur is a prize winner and a diploma recipient at competitions such as the Yugoslavian National Solo Competition, Sarajevo, Jeuness Musicales International Competition, Belgrade and XI International Competition Tchaikovsky, Moscow.

Pedersen is a talented young singer at the beginning of her career. Richter and Uzur met Pederson through a series of auditions they held for the world premiere of Navigating Lake Bonneville at Weber State University in 2005.

The young singer holds a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Pedagogy from WSU in Ogden, Utah. Her performing experience at Weber State included feature solo performances with the Big Band and Jazz Ensemble, the University Symphony Orchestra and the WSU Concert and Chamber Choirs, with whom she toured the western United States for five years.

For more information on the concert or the Ada Arts Council, phone 580-235-0193, or e-mail at bgilstrap@wildblue.net, or visit the Ada Arts Council Web site at www.adaarts.com.

     

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