APSU’s annual GuitarFest rescheduled for April 13th-14th

Clarksville, TN – Having fallen afoul of last month’s wintery weather, Austin Peay State University’s annual GuitarFest will now take place on April 13th and 14th in the Kimbrough Building’s Gentry Auditorium.

On April 13th, multi-competition winner and APSU alumnus Gary Stewart will perform a recital of nineteenth century music for solo guitar. The April 14th concert will feature the Hanser-McClellan Duo in a performance of music for two guitars. Both evening concerts are at 7:30pm and are free and open to the public.

Stewart, a Kentucky native, has been a top-prize winner in such competitions as the Rantucci International Guitar Competition (New York), the Southeastern Guitar Congress (Alabama) and the Stroud Guitar Competition (Ohio).

In addition to his undergraduate studies at APSU, Stewart received a graduate assistantship at the University of Akron and a doctoral teaching fellowship at the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music.

He has performed and recorded with the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, the Cleveland Opera, and with the internationally acclaimed early music group Apollo’s Fire on their recent Classical Billboard top 10 recording, “Come to the River.” His program will include a selection of rarely heard period guitar arrangements of music by Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin.

Consisting of award-winning St. Louis guitarists John McClellan and Kirk Hauser, the Hauser-McLellan Duo is regarded by audiences and critics as one of the top guitar duos in the country.

Their recordings include discs dedicated to South American music, recordings of music written and dedicated to the duo and an appearance on the CD “Slightly Above Below Average,” a tribute to their mentor and friend, Chet Atkins.

On that CD, they perform alongside such guitar luminaries as Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), Vince Gill and Tommy Emmanuel. Their wide-ranging program will include music by Handel, French guitarist Ida Presti, Brazillian guitarist Paulo Bellinati and recent works written for the duo by Roger Hudson, Kim Portney and APSU alumnus Jeffery R. Comas.

For more information about APSU GuitarFest, please contact APSU professor of music Dr. Stanley Yates by email at YatesS@apsu.edu or the APSU Department of Music by phone at 931.221.7351