Guitar Virtuosos to Perform Free Concert at UHMC
By Maui Now Staff
Following the success of last year’s successful free concert, guitar virtuosos will return to the University of Hawaiʻi Maui College ʻIke Leʻa auditorium on Friday, July 10, at 3 p.m. to spotlight opportunities to study music and inspire the next generation of musicians.
The concert will feature guitarists Ian O’Sullivan, Christopher Mallett and Aaron Cardenas. The program will include a variety of solo and duet music, with a mix of classical guitar and ʻukulele pieces.
A reception with pūpū and refreshments will follow at 4 p.m. for all attendees.
O’Sullivan is a Kamehameha graduate and UH alumni who became the first guitarist from Hawaiʻi to earn a master’s in guitar degree from Yale University. He performed last July and is excited to return.
“As a performer, I always feel good when the acoustics are good,” O’Sullivan said. “It’s nice to share music with another part of the University of Hawaiʻi–and especially with the community. I look forward to talking to students after the concert.”
OʻSullivan is currently a lecturer in classical guitar at UH Mānoa, and was a finalist in the 2014 Na Hōkū Hanohano awards for his first CD, Born and Raised.
Mallett has been awarded several prizes, including the Eliot Fisk Prize for “outstanding guitarist” from Yale University, the Alumni Ventures Grant from Yale University, and as part of the Oberlin Guitar Duo, received the top prize in the International Guitar Chamber Competition in Brownsville, Texas. He has also been featured in Classical Guitar Magazine, Soundboard and the American Suzuki Journal.
Cardenas is a student at UH Mānoa.
UH Maui College faculty are also excited about the performance.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the concert last year,” said Joel Katz, who teaches guitar at the college. “The musicianship and sound were wonderful. There was variety in the selection pieces along with altered tunings and types of guitars. It was a great musical experience.”
There is no need to make reservations for this free concert and reception.
For more information about the event, contact Anne Ku at (808) 385-2190 or via email. Or contact Joyce Yamada at (808) 984-3663 or via email.