Photographs from the Bert Kwakkel Jubilee Concert including live concert shots, the review from the evening and some candid shots throughout the wonderful day.

Some photographs from my rehearsal and performance of the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo with the St Andrews Chamber Orchestra and conductor Michael Downes.

This concert was postponed from late November 2010 when the snowfall in Scotland was so severe that the Orchestra were unable to travel through from St Andrews to Helensburgh to play.

This year the snow has just arrived but thankfully one day after the concert, so the Orchestra and audience made it to St Andrew’s Kirk in Helensburgh to hear a lovely programme of Kurt Weill, Beethoven and Rodrigo. 

Thanks to everyone who attended and performed in the concert it was a treat to perform the Rodrigo again!

 

Here are some images from the 2011 Guitar Gems Festival in Netanya, Israel. Aisling Agnew and I gave the Opening Night Concert and then adjudicated on the various competitions that took place during the course of the festival.

The festival has a very vibrant and friendly atmosphere and is open to everyone, inviting musicians and participants from all over the world. It makes a point of having no connection with the politics of the region and has an emphasis in the very positive connections made by making music. 

Aisling and I arrived early and spent some time exploring Jerusalem and the Old City, this is reflected in some of the images above.

Also performing at the festival and at the head of the jury was the French guitarist and composer Roland Dyens. It was fascinating to meet Roland to hear his beautiful concert. In the very near future Aisling and I will be looking at a sonata he has very recently written for flute and guitar.  

Guitar Gems had a huge entry for the competitions with players travelling from England, Russia, Germany, Tartarstan, Kazakhstan, Israel, Czech Republic, Switzerland and Belarus to compete.

Two wonderful performances over two rounds including repertoire by Giuliani and Paganini won Vera Danilina first prize in the Youth Competition. Vera is a name to look out for, very expressive and incredibly talented at just 12 years old!

Very confident, expressive and experienced playing over two rounds by Artyom Dervoed won him first prize in the Adult Competition.

Special mention must be made of Pavel Kukhta who showed moments of brilliance during his first round! Pavel placed second overall.

On the last night of the festival Aisling joined Russian guitarist Sergei Matokhin and the local Orchestra under conductor Ronen Nisan to perform Piazzolla’s double concerto in the stunning setting of Netanya’s Amphitheatre.

Below you can see a video from the concert including a comedy introduction to some Scottish Lute Pieces!

“Unusual for early October, the weather was very hot with daytime temperatures well into the mid 20s and very warm nights. On such an evening many turned out to see the first concert of the season given by Matthew McAllister. We have had performers from all over the world come to play for the club, but this is probably the first time we have a Scot come to play. Matthew travelled down from Glasgow to play for us.

Matthew’s easy going and friendly manner really brought the audience into his music. The first half of the programme was devoted to Baroque music which ranged from Scottish lute music to J.S Bach (a cello suite) and included some Weiss and a lament written by Neil Gow. All of the music was played with great sensitivity and covered a wide dynamic range so that even the guitar whispers of ppp could be heard at the back of the hall. However, conversely, Matthew with his Bert Kwakkel guitar, was capable of producing some very powerful sounds when required.

The second half covered more modern music and included Brouwer’s Suite no.2 which he wrote while still a teenager. This was followed by a most poignant rendition of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Farewell to Stromness with some wonderful ‘Scottish snaps’. We heard a very sensitive rendition of Anon’s Romanza which although played by many aspiring guitarists, never has the feeling that Matthew managed to project. More challenging pieces of Julia Florida by Barrios and Asturias by Albeniz completed the formal part of the programme.

Very enthusiastic applause was rewarded with Matthew showing his versatility by playing US jazz guitarist Ralph Turners version of Always on your Side. This concluded a most enjoyable start to the season.”

Terry Woodgate (Chairman West Sussex Guitar Club)