Tidewater Guitar Orchestra

Bio:

The Tidewater Guitar Orchestra was begun in the spring of 1995 by Sam Dorsey, president of the Tidewater Classical Guitar Society. Sam discovered a similar orchestra, led by Professor Luis Zumbado, during a visit to the University of Costa Rica in San José. The Tidewater Classical Guitar Society had Zumbado's orchestra on its' concert season in 1996, and the TGO reciprocated by appearing in Costa Rica in 1999 as part of the International Guitar Festival held there. The TGO were the only group from the US invited to perform at the event and gave the Costa Rican premiere of Ask the Sphinx as part of a program largely based on music of North America. One of the only orchestras of its kind in North America, the TGO purchased its original instruments through a generous grant from the The Tidewater Classical Guitar Society. Since then, the orchestra has been acquiring additional instruments from luthier Omar Corales Guzman of Costa Rica. The TGO has performed widely in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Notable among these performances were two performances as part of the International Waterfront Festival. As part of this festival, the orchestra performed with Virginia Symphony conductor JoAnn Falletta, to standing ovations at two sold out concerts. Lee Teply, a reviewer for the Virginian Pilot, lauded the orchestra's performance. "Their bright sound was perfect for music by Albéniz and Tárrega, and the precision with which they played was impressive. The program closer, 'Tico Tico', was a fitting celebration, like a party after an evening of hard, but rewarding work." In September of 1999, the orchestra performed in Williamsburg, honoring that city's tercentenary celebration. The repertoire of the group is quite diverse. Originally, much of the music for the orchestra came through a generous exchange program with the orchestra in Costa Rica. These pieces were mostly Central and South American in nature and are still crowd pleasers. To add to its repertoire, members of the orchestra, notably John Boyles and Dan Cudney, began arranging other pieces in other genres. As a result, the orchestra has added works by such composers as Bach, Telemann, Mozart, Bartok and Copland to its repertoire. In addition the group commissioned Virginia-born composer Andrew York, a member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, to compose Ask the Sphinx, which was given its world premiere at the Williamsburg tercentenary. The TGO teamed up with producer Mark Skipper in 2000 to record their first full length CD project "Prelude" at Daily Planet Studio In Virginia Beach, VA. Featuring works by Andrew York, Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados, Telemann, and Aaron Copland, Prelude contains the premiere recording of Andrew York's Ask the Sphinx - also recorded by The LA Guitar Quartet. An added bonus is that the CD is HD compatible. The TGO is currently finishing its newest CD project at www.soundmarkstudios.com in Portsmouth with producer / mixer Mark Skipper, tentatively titled Tres Anos.

Member Since:

July 10, 2006