Spanish Music Featured in ONNY Season Opener

POTSDAM -- Imagine perfumed gardens, toreadors and flamenco dancers driven by vivacious dance rhythms and castanets. Or revel in the soothing sounds of a strumming guitar when The Orchestra of Northern New York presents, Spanish Nights, the gala opening concert of its 29th season, on at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, October 15 at SUNY Potsdam's Hosmer Hall.

The program opens with Bizet's "Les Toreadors" from Carmen. Chabrier's Espana - Rhapsody for Orchestra is next, followed by De Falla's El sombrero de res picos (The Three Cornered Hat).

Douglas Rubio, recognized nationwide as an outstanding performer on the classical guitar and member of the Crane Artist Faculty, is the featured soloist on Concierto de Aranjuez, Op. 36 - Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra. The program ends with De Falla's "Danza Espanola" from La vida breve.

Dr. Rubio's brilliant solo performances inspire standing ovations, and he is a gold medal chamber musician. The Santa Barbara News-Press praised his playing for its “considerable sensitivity and bravura.” His programs offer a fascinating mix of the old, the new, the traditional, and the off-the-beaten-path.

Rubio has performed throughout the U.S., and his numerous engagements in the Midwest include Lawrence, Bradley, Illinois Wesleyan, Missouri State, Illinois State, and Millikin Universities. He has been the featured concerto soloist with the Montecito and Pennsylvania Centre chamber orchestras, and the Orchestra of Northern New York.

He is especially active in the field of chamber music. As a member of the Avalon Guitar Duo, he won First Prize in the 1985 GFA International Duo Guitar Competition. The duo has gone on to perform throughout the United States, and is featured on the compact disc GFA Winners Circle 1982-1993. Rubio is also featured on an album of solo and chamber music by Heitor Villa-Lobos, released on the Naxos label. He performs frequently with flutist Jill Rubio as the Rubio Duo, and with Sweet, Fair & Wise, a trio of flute, tenor voice, and guitar.

A native of Southern California, Dr. Rubio is Professor of Classical Guitar at the State University of New York at Potsdam. Prior to moving to upstate New York, he ran a very successful guitar program at Illinois State University. He is a graduate of the University of California at Irvine, and holds both a Master of Music degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in classical guitar performance from the University of Southern California (USC). His private teachers include James F. Smith, Pepe Romero, and Frederick Noad.

Douglas Rubio performs on a guitar made by Stephan Connor, and uses D’Addario strings exclusively.

Tickets are on sale at the Community Performance Series Box Office in the Performing Arts Center on SUNY Potsdam’s campus.  For more information, call the box office at 267-2277 or visit www.onny.org

Tags