U.T. Dallas to Host Texas Guitar Competition;
Guest Artists Cuen and Blaha to Perform
RICHARDSON, Texas (Feb. 7, 2002) – The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) will host the First Annual Guitar Competition and Festival – a unique Texas competition designed to showcase outstanding classical guitar students at least 16 years of age — from Feb.28 to March 2. Monetary prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place, and all winners will be invited to perform in the UTD 2002/2003 Guitar Series.
In addition to the competition, two guest artists who also will serve as judges, Rafael Cuen and Vladislav Blaha, will perform, and a third, Jose Montenegro, will give a presentation.
The festival will begin in the Jonsson Performance Hall on Thursday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. with a free presentation by Guanajuato Guitar Quartet member Montenegro, who is academic secretary in the School of Music at the University of Guanajuato, artistic director of the International Festival of Guitar in Morelia and guitar area coordinator of the National Week of Guitar in Guanajuato. Montenegro has performed as a soloist with the University of Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Leon, Guanajuato.
The second day of the festival, Friday, March 1, will feature an 8 p.m. concert by Cuen in the Jonsson Performance Hall. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students of other schools and free to anyone with a UTD picture ID. Cuen, former chairman of the School of Music at the University of Guanajuato and current director of cultural affairs to the University of Guanajuato, has performed as a soloist with the University of Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra, the Guanajuato Chamber Orchestra and as an invited concert player in the First National Week of Guitar in Guanajuato.
The competition finals will take place on March 2 in the Jonsson Performance Hall from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Observation of the finals is free and open to the public. The competition winners will be announced at 8 p.m. followed by a concert featuring Czech guitarist Vladislav Blaha. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students of other schools and free to anyone with a UTD picture ID.
Blaha, president of the Czech Classical Guitar Society, director of the International Guitar Festival in Brno and professor of guitar at Conservatoire in Brno, has given concerts extensively thought the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Blaha has achieved international recognition as a first place prize-winner in international guitar competitions in Greece, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, and in the Radio France Competition in Paris 1983. In addition to his performance and recording work, Blaha is the reviewer of Classical Guitar Magazine in England and an editor of the Guitar music edition series for the German publishers Vagt & Fritz.
To obtain tickets or for more information about the many musical, arts, theatre, dance and other performances and exhibitions held throughout the year at UTD, please call 972-883-2982, e-mail utdarts@utdallas.edu, or visit the School of Arts and Humanities’ web site at www.utdallas.edu/ah/. Persons with disabilities needing special accommodations may call 972-883-2982. Texas Relay Operator: 1-800-RELAYVV.