Before I get into all the good stuff that’s already happened, I wanted to let you know I’ll be heading to France on Tuesday for almost 2 weeks for two special concerts with Duo Transatlantique and our friends Duo Amaral. We’ll be splitting the concerts, and ending them with a quartet – an arrangement of Boccherini’s “Fandango” Guitar quintet. This is also part of what we’ll be performing in December for the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society’s 25th anniversary concert.

Now for the summer reviews! On June 3rd, I performed the real arrangement of the Boccherini, as well as Quartteto 15 by Paganini with the amazing Kennedy Center Chamber Players for the first half of a sold-out concert featuring Christoph Eschenbach, the music director and conductor of the NSO. The next day the Washington Post wrote a great review of the concert, including this: “In both works, Benjamin Beirs contributed rounded, mellow tone on the guitar, featuring notably clean left-hand work and sensitive phrasing.”

Also, I’m happy to say “Widening Circles” has now received four amazing reviews.  I’ll post some excerpts of each, and feel free to check out the link to each below. Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone, and here’s to new music!
Ben

Classical Guitar Canada

“I’m impressed with this album for its conceptual programming as well as Beirs’ exceptionally clear and stylistic performance. Beirs is doing interesting things on guitar and will be a name to watch out for. I highly recommend this album to anyone who wants to see a side of classical guitar that is very approachable as well as modern in its mix of styles and moods.” -Bradford Werner, Classical Guitar Canada – full review here

The Sacramento Bee

“Summer may be the best season for exploring new music. And this year has seen a strong crop of new and interesting recordings that are tailor-made for expanding musical horizons…A new generation of classical guitarist is coming onto the music scene – and many no longer hew to the dogma of the Segovia era. One of those is the supremely talented Benjamin Beirs.” -Edward Ortiz, Sacramento Bee – full review here

Fanfare Magazine #1

“Awakened Awareness is Beirs’s own composition and its style is somewhat similar to those of the composers we just heard, but it has its own distinctive melodic voice. His cooling chords provide a certain calmness in the midst of otherwise fiery music, and it’s most welcome. I hope to hear more of his pieces…The music on this disc reaches the listeners ears in smooth and clear sonics with the pleasant ambiance of an intimate concert hall.” Maria Nockin, Fanfare Magazine – full review here

Fanfare Magazine #2

“Benjamin Beirs, too, is ‘one’ with his instrument, and that identification, coupled with his all-embracing virtuosity, makes Widening Circles a complete success. I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by predicting that we’ll be hearing a lot more from him in the future.” – Robert Schulslaper, Fanfare Magazine – full review here

My project was featured yesterday on the very cool, indie blog ThoseWhoDig.net – click here to see the full article. If you haven’t already, please watch the video and listen to some excerpts from the album. It’s only been a few days since I launched the project, and I’m already 15% funded! I hope it continues at this rate!

Best,
Ben

For those of you who have seen my Blackbird arrangement on youtube, I’ve recently released the mp3 on CDBaby and iTunes (click here to buy from iTunes). You can buy the mp3s through CDBaby here:

Just in case you haven’t seen the Blackbird video:

I’m happy to announce that Duo Transatlantique has recently released our sophomore album entitled “From Moment to Moment.” The album and mp3s can be bought on CDBaby through the link below. It is also available through a number of online vendors including iTunes (click here).

For June, I’ll be in Malibu for a little under a week, performing for Bodhifest, a daylong event featuring music, yoga, meditation, and much more. You can view the poster for the event below. July will take me to France, as well as to L.A. for The Buddhist Geeks Conference.

I hope you all have a beautiful and relaxing summer. I hope to see you around!
Ben

Also, I’m happy to announce my most recent competition award at the Schadt Concerto Competition in Allentown, PA – I won second prize and the Audience Choice award. Judged by Sergio Assad, William Kanengiser, and Diane Wittry, March 4-6 2011, this was a fantastic competition with a very high level of guitarists, and I was privileged and humbled to be a part of the whole experience. The weekend started out with myself and Gohar Vardanyan giving a radio interview alongside Allentown Symphony Orchestra conductor Diane Wittry for WDIY, the public radio station serving Allentown, PA and the greater Lehigh Valley. Below you can listen to the entire interview, as well as view an album of photos taken after the finals of the competition. Congratulations to all the semi-finalists, as well as Petrit Ceku, 1st prize, and Silviu Ciulei, 3rd prize!

And now I go into Duo Transatlantique mode for our Spring 2011 Tour in France and the USA! Please visit my calendar for our tour dates if you’d like to see us!

Wishing you a happy Spring,
Ben

I’ve added FOUR new videos to my music section, and one track to my audio samples. All of these are live, and I hope you enjoy them – just mosey on over to the Music page and dig in!

In other news, I was accepted as a semi-finalist at the 15th annual Schadt String Competitionin Allentown, PA. I will compete with, I believe 9 other semi-finalists for the first prize of money, fame, and immortality. Is that in the fine print?!?! Oh, and a return engagement with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra in 2012. Keep your fingers crossed!

Also prepping for my tour in March 2011 with Duo Transatlantique. Please check our Calendar to see specific dates if you’d like to see us in the Philadelphia / Baltimore area (or in France!).

Wishing you a very healthy, happy and successful 2011 – about a month late, but who’s counting?!

-Ben

My trip to North Carolina was also great. On Friday, November 19th, I appeared on WCQS, Western North Carolina Public Radio, and then performed for the newly-formed Asheville Classical Guitar Society. Here are some excerpts from my radio interview:

Then I drove over  Greensboro, NC for a masterclass with guitar students of Kami Rowan at Guilford College and a concert in conjunction with the Piedmont Classic Guitar Society. Here are a couple pictures from the masterclass:

Shortly after that, I was a guest performer at BuddhaFest, a Buddhist Film Festival in Washington, D.C. that included talks with prominent meditation teachers. I played a short concert before the closing talk, which was given by Sharon Salzberg. I was honored to open for such a well-known and respected author and teacher. She spoke of our potential as human beings – that we all really have limitless potential, so why not strive to fully reach it???

I also had the opportunity to return to the National Guitar Workshop in New Milford, CT for a half recital and to present a workshop on tone. It was great to be back there – I spent six summers there as a student, so to come back on the other side was a lot of fun. This is a photo from the concert:

Finally, I had a very beautiful experience giving a concert at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY. After 10 days of silent, intensive meditation in a retreat with meditation master Lama Surya Das, the folks at the retreat were very appreciative of the concert – almost as appreciative as I was of their incredible presence during my performance!

I hope you all had a great summer and are enjoying what’s left of it, and I hope to see you around!

Sunday, April 11, 2010 – 3 PM – “Music on the Lake” chamber music series

$15 - House Concert in Lake Barcroft, VA

More info and reservations: ayakodoi@gmail.com (703) 941-1595

Friday, April 16, 2010 – 8 PM – Triangle Guitar Society

$15 / $12 members

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Church 3313 Wade Ave. Raleigh, NC 27607

http://physiology.med.unc.edu/TGS/default-t-prezsez.htm

Sunday, April 18, 2010 – 4 PM – Phillips Collection

Price of admission to museum includes concert ticket (no more than $12)

1600 21st Street, NW, Washington, D.C., near the corner of 21st and Q Streets, NW.

http://www.phillipscollection.org/ 202-387-2151

Wednesday, April 21, 2010 – 12 PM – Peabody Spotlight!

Free!

Johns Hopkins East Baltimore Campus, Turner Auditorium

http://web.jhu.edu/cultural_affairs/calendar.html (410) 955-3363

Friday, April 23, 2010 – 7:30 PM – Twenty-Two Gallery

$15/10 students & seniors

236 S. 22nd St. Philadelphia, PA 19103

www.twenty-twogallery.com (215) 772-1911

Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 3 PM – An die Musik LIVE!

$15/10 students & seniors

409 N Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201

www.andiemusiklive.com (410) 385-2638