Virtuoso classical guitarist Jason Vieaux tends to go anywhere his mind can take him. From J.S. Bach to Issac Albeniz, to David Ludwig to Astor Piazaolla, to Pat Metheny to Duke Ellington, it's hard to pin Jason Vieaux down. But, perhaps, that's his plan.
Those of you who've listened to at least one of his shows on Crossover know Jason's story. For those who haven't: he began his musical training in Buffalo, New York at eight years of age, after which he continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He wound up being the youngest winner of the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition in 1992, following this success with a 53-city recital tour of the United States and France.
In 1995, Jason was made an Artistic Ambassador of the US to Southeast Asia. In 1996, his debut album, on the Naxos Records label, won the rosette in its rating in the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs. Since then, he's recorded almost a dozen CDs with Azica Records. He has collaborated with the Escher String Quartet, flutist Gary Schocker, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and bandoneon/accordion virtuoso Julien Labro.
Jason co-founded The Curtis Institute of Music Guitar Department with guitarist David Starobin in 2011. He also heads the Guitar Department of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Jason is affiliated with Astral Artists here in Philly, and gives outreach concerts for them. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the Guitar Foundation of America.
Jason has performed with more than 70 different orchestras, and he's been featured at every major guitar series in North America. Jason’s appearances for Music@Menlo, the Strings Music Festival, Grand Teton Festival, Jupiter Chamber Players and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, have forged his reputation as a first-rate chamber musician and programmer. His passion for new music has fostered premiéres of works by Dan Visconti, David Ludwig, Jerod Tate, Eric Sessler, José Luis Merlin and Gary Schocker.
On this week's show, we'll catch up with Jason since we last spoke with him, and listen to excerpts from his latest CD, Play.
Crossover airs Saturday morning at 11:30 am on WRTI-FM, with an encore the following Friday evening at 7 pm on HD-2 and the All-Classical web stream at wrti.org.
