Founded in 1974 by current Musical Director Dr John Casey, Guitarstrophe! has become the world benchmark for both large guitar ensembles, and musical youth groups alike. Guitarstrophe! has introduced a level of musicianship and refinement to the guitar ensemble idiom which has for a long time been regarded as unattainable by musicians of all persuasions, including guitarists.
LATEST NEWS! 28/7/09
All set for New Zealand
See blog for more details
Plans for 2009: New Zealand Ahoy!
More information will be posted about our trip to New Zealand on the blogs. Remember to keep the following days free if you are in the vicinity.
Auckland: 7th July
Hamilton: 10th July
11th July (workshop with Hamilton guitarists)
Wellington: 15th July
Margaret River 2009:
Guitarstrophe! has returned from a rollicking weekend down at Margaret River t perform with the local guitarists at their School Spectacular. Pictures of our exploits will be up very shortly.
Festive Fizz
Festive Fizz, the CD recorded at the World Youth Guitar Festival in July last year has been released. Read our latest blog for more information or visit wygf.org to hear some samples.
MEMBERSHIP
The members of Guitarstrophe! are high school and tertiary students. Apart from the odd true blue Australian its membership has a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds such as Austrian, Bosnian, British, Canadian, Colombian, Dutch, Estonian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Greek, Malaysian, Serbian, Singaporean and Sri Lankan. Guitarstrophe! is therefore a melting pot of cultures, and accordingly a microcosm of what society should be; everyone working for the common good. This diversity seems to contribute to the group's success. The age of the members range from 12 to 24 years, but despite this they are identified as one of the leaders in the guitar ensemble genre, irrespective of age.
EARLY HISTORY
Guitarstrophe! was formed in 1974 by its present Musical Director John Casey to provide performance and ensemble experience for his students learning the classical guitar in Western Australian government schools. The success of this project prompted the Western Australian Education Department to make it compulsory for all schools that teach guitar to have a guitar ensemble program. Although government schools adopted the new guitar ensemble idiom, Guitarstrophe! has remained a private organization and became incorporated on the 23rd of July 1999 to financially help facilitate concert tours and other performance endeavors.
In 1977, the ensemble embarked on a tour of the South-West region of WA, giving a series of successful public and school concerts. Regular performances followed in Perth, where Guitarstrophe! became a feature of the Shell Concert, a showcase of music education in WA government schools. In 1987, Guitarstrophe! toured Sydney, giving school concerts and 2 performances at the Conservatorium of NSW, as guests of the Australian Guitar Competition.
DARWIN INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL
The most recent successes of Guitarstrophe! can be seen to stem from the ensemble’s participation in the Darwin International Guitar Festival, the world’s premier guitar festival. Guitarstrophe! received overwhelming praise from the international guitar community for their performances at the 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2002 festivals, with the most notable remarks of commendation coming from virtuoso guitarist John Williams and the festival’s Artistic Director, Adrian Walter. Also, due to its involvement in the Darwin International Guitar Festival several works have been written for Guitarstrophe! by leading Australian composers which were premiered in Darwin.
The Arrow of Time by Richard Charlton (1997)
Birds of Paradise by Gerard Brophy (1999)
Rhapsody by Richard Charlton (2002)
Flexible Strings by Dominik Karski (2002)
Pathos by Michael Le Page (2003)
Trouble In The Ribcage by Timothy Hansen (2005)
Guitarstrophe! featured in the OutBach concert at the 2005 Darwin festival, performing with Donna Coleman (piano) and William Barton (didgeridoo). The success of this concert, Guitarstrophe!’s feature concert and other Darwin community concerts has prompted an invitation to perform again at the next Darwin International Guitar Festival, which is to be held in July 2007.
The latest work written for Guitarstrophe! is Trouble in the Ribcage, by Australian composer Tim Hansen (2006).
OTHER NATIONAL ACTIVITIES
An interview with musical director John Casey was broadcast nationally on John Crawford’s show New Music Australia on ABC Classic FM in November 2000. Several recorded works of Guitarstrophe! were featured as part of the program.
Guitarstrophe! was broadcast nationally on ABC Classic FM in October 2002, featuring works by Australian composers. Hosted by Robyn Johnston, the live performance included Rhapsody by Richard Charlton, Flexible Strings by Dominik Karski and A Place in the Wilderness by Mark Pollard.
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY
Guitarstrophe! is also gaining much wider recognition within the local Western Australian community. Guitarstrophe! was a featured act in the Oz-Day Concert on Australia Day 2001 and again in 2002, of which the performances were later broadcast nation wide on the SBS network. For these concerts, Guitarstrophe! teamed up with a regular performer in this event, flamenco dancer Margarita Villa, and the performances featured extensive choreography by the ensemble.
Highly distinguished composer and pianist Roger Smalley invited Guitarstrophe! to perform at the University of Western Australia’s New Music Week concert series in August 2001, where they performed Birds of Paradise by Gerard Brophy. The ensemble has also released its first CD Birds of Paradise, named after the Brophy work. Flexible Strings by young Western Australian composer Dominik Karski was also performed at the New Music Week concert. Professor Smalley was astounded by the performance and expressed great interest to write a piece for the group. Guitarstrophe! also performed in the prestigious City of Perth Terrace Proms in October 2002.
Aside from their regular concert schedule, Guitarstrophe! also performs in local charity events such as Fashion in F, a fundraising music and fashion show in September 2003, which raised money for the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children and The Children’s Leukaemia and Cancer Research Foundation. In September 2004 Guitarstrophe! performed in the Jessica Gilbert Benefit Concert to help raise money for The Children’s Leukaemia and Cancer Research Foundation once again.
EUROPEAN CONCERTS
In late 2004 Guitarstrophe! performed in their first overseas concert tour. Aside from their concert activities, the group promoted Australian guitar music and interacted with other like guitar orchestras across England and Germany. In this tour, Guitarstrophe! won the Kirklees International Guitar Orchestra Competition, which is regarded one of Europe’s greatest competitions for guitar orchestra. The successes and achievements of this tour allowed Guitarstrophe! to prepare for a second concert tour, in July 2007. In 2007, Guitarstrophe! ‘kick-started’ their tour at the 7th Darwin International Guitar Festival and then flew to England to attend the Calderdale Guitar Festival near Manchester and then travelled south to perform in the world-first World Youth Guitar Festival. Subsequently, they will record a CD with the Eden-Stell guitar duo before heading back to Perth.
PRAISE FOR GUITARSTROPHE!
“In my experience it is one of the finest ensembles of young players I have heard anywhere” Carlos Bonnell, Professor at the Royal College of Music, 1997
“…John Casey’s Western Australian Combined Schools Guitar Ensemble [Guitarstrophe!] – a formidable team of young players whose performances invariably weaken my long-held belief that the guitar orchestra is merely an educational tool.” Paul Fowles, Classical Guitar Magazine, December 1997
‘Yet another enjoyable local CD is the compilation by John Casey’s Guitarstrophe! ensemble. Casey is a pioneer of guitar orchestras, and his youthful 27-strong group has garnered high praise, most notably at the Darwin International Guitar Festival in recent years. It has been acclaimed for its disciplined ensemble playing and its idiosyncratic sound which once heard, is never forgotten” Neville Cohn, The West Australian, September 2000
“The youthful enthusiasm of the players from Guitarstrophe! is a great asset for Australian music and the community” Dominik Karski, Australian Composer, October 2001
“Through their many fine performances, Guitarstrophe! has earned the position as one of Australia’s premier youth performing arts groups” Adrian Walter, Darwin International Guitar Festival Artistic Director, October 2001
“His finest moment [Richard Charlton] came in the Rhapsody for Two Guitars and Guitar Orchestra, performed by the Z.o.o. Duo and John Casey’s world-class youth ensemble Guitarstrophe” Paul Fowles, Classical Guitar Magazine, January 2003
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louise is quite the charming one :D maybe you should introduce me to them, but you must meet them first. i might join the fun afterwards depending on what their smell is like.
Ciao Guitarstrophe! - Una canzone è davvero bella quando le sue note giungono dritte al cuore! - A song is really beautiful when his notes come straight to the heart! - Una canción es realmente hermosa cuando sus notas vienen directamente al corazón!
Happy New Year 2008 ! Buon Anno 2008 from Italy !Bella la musica! I have a beautiful "regalo" how do you say... gift... for you, visit my website http://www.classicalguitarvideo.com Ciao, Daniele Magli
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