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www.aislingagnew.com
Irish flautist Aisling Agnew's site.
www.cgretreat.com
Matthew's Classical Guitar Retreat
www.cgs.net.my
Classical Guitar Society, Malaysia.
www.chessworld.net
Challenge Matthew to a game!
www.delcamp.net
Excellent classical guitar recource. Jean-François Delcamp
www.douglaswhates.com
musician/composer/bassist
www.duolisme.com
Guitar duo from Holland
www.feargushetherington.com
Maelasta duo partner.
www.fluteguitarduo.com
The Agnew & McAllister Duo's website.
www.frevoquartet.com
The website of Frevo Quartet
www.gifest.com
Ordu international guitar festival
www.gitaarsalon.nl
Home of the legendary Recuerdos GitaarSalon in Enkhuizen.
www.glenngould.com
legendary
www.guitaralive.org
International Classical Guitar Radio
www.kelvintrio.com
Home of the Kelvin Trio
www.kentguitarclassics.com
International dealers in finest quality classical and Flamenco guitars
www.kwakkel.com
Bert Kwakkel, luthier.
www.livemusicnow.org
The website for Live Music Now!
www.naturalstudio.co.uk/records
My record label's website.
www.nescgs.co.uk
North East Scotland Classical Guitar Society
www.nsrmcallister.wordpress.com
Matthew McAllister Musing
www.oldiges-guitars.com
Guitars by Gerhard Oldiges
www.ralphtowner.com
Guitarist/improviser, Ralph Towner.
www.ssba.org.uk
Scottish Spina Bifida Association
www.tokafi.com
Discover & share great new music!
www.uwsclassicalguitarsociety.com
Robert Geary's UWS Classical Guitar Society
www.vamu.se
Dynarette cushion support
www.williamsimcoe.com
New York guitarist William Simcoe
www.worldguitarist.com
Daily news for classical guitar.
www.youtube.com/nsrmcallister
Matthew's channel on YouTube!
A short film from a recent concert Matthew gave with his Maelasta duo partner Feargus Hetherington featuring The Sherlock Violin. The film also features an interesting interview with Steve Burnett, the maker of The Sherlock Violin.
The concert took place at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh and featured repertoire by Molino, Paganini, Bach, Chopin & Stevenson.
Below you can read the review of the concert written by Susan Nickalls that appeared in The Scotsman.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF SCOTLAND
****
Maelasta – Feargus Hetherington & Matthew McAllister
“PART of the enduring fascination with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes is the darker, more melancholic side of his nature, which he often soothed by playing the violin.
The violin and guitar duo Maelasta shed some tantalising light on what music Holmes might have listened to, as well as what, and how, he might have played, with violinist Feargus Hetherington performing on the Sherlock Violin.
This had been carved by local violin maker Steve Burnett out of wood from a tree in the garden of the Edinburgh house where Conan Doyle grew up.
The mellow, earthy tones of the instrument were well suited to the quicksilver preludio from JS Bach’s Partita in E major. Apparently, Holmes preferred German music to French and Italian, particularly in his more introspective moments. He was also partial to long discussions with Watson about Paganini over a bottle of claret.
Guitarist Matthew McAllister pointed out that Paganini was also a superb guitarist, and his Cantabile for guitar and violin reveals a tender, less flamboyant side to the virtuoso.
The telepathic, dance-like interaction between the two musicians is not unlike the relationship between Holmes and Watson.
This close attunement was particularly apparent in the duo’s exquisite arrangement of Ronald Stevenson’s A’e Gowden Lyric, after Hugh MacDiarmid’s poem, with a nod to Burns along the way.
This series of free concerts organised by Live Music Now Scotland, performed against the backdrop of the National Gallery of Scotland’s stunning collection of paintings, is one of the capital’s best-kept secrets.“
Susan Nickalls
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Below are some fantastic videos from Matthew’s recent trip to the Gitaarsalon, in Enkhuizen, Holland. Matthew was joined on the trip by flautist Aisling Agnew.
Matthew & Aisling gave an evening recital in the Gitaarsalon and also spent an extra day there filming. Here are just a handful of the videos that were made.
Credit goes to the very talented Peter de Vos, Frank Reijgersberg & Ron Gundelach for video and audio.
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Footage from recent premieres at the Barockmuseum, Salzburg.
The video opens with the journey to Salzburg and an exceprt from the composition ‘Structures‘ by Douglas Whates is heard. On arrival in the gardens and inside the Barockmuseum the composition playing is the ending of Duino II by the Austrian composer Klaus Ager.
The rehearsal footage is of the new Flute & Guitar composition ‘The Uses of Not‘ by Greg Caffrey, we also see some concert footage of this new work.
The final section of the video shows the journey back towards Scotland and features some of the solo guitar piece ‘Old Photo‘ by Douglas Whates.
All audio excerpts are taken from the live concert with exception of the rehearsal footage of ‘The Uses of Not’.
Aisling Agnew & Matthew McAllister will perform a recital at the Barockmuseum Salzburg as part of the MIM – MUSIC IN (E)MOTION Concert Series.
The recital will contain two World Premieres alongside a selction of Baroque & Contemporary repertoire.
Barockmuseum Salzburg
(Orangerie des Mirabellgartens)
Mirabellplatz 3
5020 Salzburg
Austria
The concert begins at 6:30pm on Thursday 1st October
———————————————————————————————————-
Programme:
Sonata in E minor ~ Johann Sebastain Bach (1685 – 1750)
Adagio ma non tanto ~ Allegro ~ Andante ~ Allegro
Farewell to Stromness ~ Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (b.1934)
Duino II ~ Klaus Ager (b.1946)
Pluck Blow ~ Greg Caffrey (b.1963)
Interval
The Uses of Not ~ Greg Caffrey
Old Photo ~ Douglas Whates (b.1981)
Structures (Barbican Complex 2008) ~ Douglas Whates
Histoire du Tango ~ Astor Piazzolla (1921 ~ 1992)
Bordel 1900 ~ Cafe 1930 ~ Nightclub 1960 ~ Concert d’Aujourd’hui
———————————————————————————————————-
The two World Premieres are ‘The Uses of Not‘ by Northern Irish composer Greg Caffrey and Structures (Barbican Complex 2008) by Scottish composer Douglas Whates.
Aisling Agnew will perform two solo flute works; ‘Duino II’ by Austrian composer Klaus Ager and Structures by Douglas Whates.
Matthew McAllister will perform two solo guitar works both by Scottish composers; Farewell to Stromness by Peter Maxwell Davies and Old Photo by Douglas Whates.
Here are two videos from a recent concert Matthew gave with the Organist Stuart Muir.
The footage is taken from their first ever concert together, the venue is The Caird Hall, Dundee, where Stuart is the City Organist.
Muir & McAllister
“The only problem I have about a “brunch” is that it always leaves me wanting more of the same. That was exactly my feelings after yesterday’s lunchtime concert in the Caird Hall. Titled “Baroque for Brunch” it was a succession of tasty baroque morsels served up by Stuart Muir and Matthew McAllister, on organ and guitar respectively. Much more of the same would have gone down a treat.
The programme was simple in form but excellent in performance, four works by Handel interspersed with transcriptions for organ and guitar, all of which were heralded by one of the most familiar organ works of all, Jeremiah Clarke’s Trumpet Voluntary.
I thought all three transcriptions were extremely well arranged and came over in similar excellent fashion, with the balance between the two instruments well-nigh perfect throughout. Bach’s Wachet Auf cantata was simple yet satisfying as was Albinoni’s famous Adagio, with the organ doing what no orchestra could do, supplying a wonderful reverberating 32 foot pedal stop on the final chord.
If these were good, the duo surpassed themselves with their performance of Vivaldi’s Guitar Concerto in D major. It lost nothing in translation from its normal form and in fact I preferred it to the usual guitar and orchestra version, possibly due to the colours conjured out of the organ.
Stuart Muir’s solo spots, apart from the Clarke, were four movements from Handel’s Water Music, his personal tribute to the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. In these, he succeeded in doing what every good recitalist should do on this organ, and that is show off its many facets from the quiet Coro through an Air and Bourree to the splendid Hornpipe in which he really did let rip.
There were several secondary school pupils in attendance, each one on the process of studying music of the Baroque Period. It’s a pity they and others like them cannot be enticed to other such concerts because I’m sure they would find them as illuminating as they would have found yesterday’s.”
Gary Fraser The Courier 17th Sept ’09
Monday 25th January
Maelasta
Violin & Guitar
Live Music Now!
Time: 1:30pm
Larkhall
Scotland
Tuesday 26th January
Maelasta
Violin & Guitar
Live Music Now!
Time: 11am
Lanark
Scotland
Tuesday 26th January
Maelasta
Violin & Guitar
Live Music Now!
Time: 13:30pm
Broxburn
Scotland
Wednesday 27th January
Maelasta
Violin & Guitar
Live Music Now!
Time: 11am
Hamilton
Scotland
Wednesday 27th January
Maelasta
Violin & Guitar
Live Music Now!
Time: 14:15pm
Mid Calder
Scotland
Friday 5th February
Matthew McAllister & Stuart Muir
Organ & Guitar
Time:7:30pm
Tickets: TBC
Venue: St Nicholas Church
Prestwick
Scotland
Wednesday 17th February
Solo Recital
Time: 1:15pm
Tickets: £3/5
Venue: Younger Hall
St Andrews University
Scotland
Saturday 13th March
Solo Recital
Time: 7:30pm
Tickets: TBC
Venue: TBC
Passau
Germany
Friday 14th May
Solo Recital
Twents Guitar Festival
Time: 12:30pm
Tickets: 10 Euros
Venue: Concordia Theater
Enschede
The Netherlands
for a full list of concerts,
click here