Jason Vieaux

Last updated
Jason Vieaux
Jason Vieaux Classical Guitarist Portrait.jpg
Background information
Born (1973-07-17) July 17, 1973 (age 50)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Genres Classical
Occupation(s)Musician, composer
Instrument(s)Guitar
Years active1993 - Present
Labels Naxos, Azica
Website www.jasonvieaux.com

Jason Vieaux (born July 17, 1973, in Buffalo, New York) is an American classical guitarist. He began his musical training in Buffalo, New York at the age of eight, after which he continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1992, Vieaux was awarded the Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition First Prize, the event's youngest winner. [1]

Contents

NPR describes him as, "perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation," [2] and Gramophone magazine puts him "among the elite of today's classical guitarists." [3] His album Play won the 2015 Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. [4]

Career highlights

Jason Vieaux has performed as a concerto soloist with over 100 orchestras, including Cleveland, Houston, Toronto, San Diego, Fort Worth, Charlotte, Buffalo, Richmond, Edmonton, Auckland, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra of St. Luke's, and Chautauqua Festival. Some of the conductors he has worked with include David Lockington, David Robertson, Edwin Outwater, Jahja Ling, Michael Stern, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Stefan Sanderling, Gerard Schwarz, Giancarlo Guerrero, and Steven Smith.

Vieaux's appearances for Caramoor Summer Music Festival, [5] Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, New York's 92nd Street Y, [6] Music@Menlo, Strings Music Festival, Grand Teton, Argentina's Teatro Colón, and many others have forged his reputation as a first-rate performer and curator of programs. [7] [8]

As a chamber musician Jason Vieaux regularly performs and collaborates with Escher String Quartet, [9] violinist Anne Akiko Meyers, [10] Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, [11] harpist Yolanda Kondonassis, [12] and accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro. [13]

Vieaux's passion for new music has fostered premieres of works by Avner Dorman, Jeff Beal, Dan Visconti, Vivian Fung, David Ludwig, Jonathan Leshnoff, Jerod Tate, Gary Schocker, and Eric Sessler. In 2021, notable Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny dedicated Four Paths Of Light, a four-movement guitar solo work, to Jason Vieaux which Vieaux has recorded for the Pat Metheny album Road to the Sun . [14]

Teaching

Jason Vieaux co-founded the guitar department at the Curtis Institute of Music in 2011 and has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1997, heading the guitar department since 2001. [15]

In 2012, the Jason Vieaux School of Classical Guitar was launched with ArtistWorks, [16] a technological interface that provides one-on-one online study with Vieaux for guitar students around the world.

Composing

While Jason has arranged and composed pieces for the guitar throughout his career, in 2020, Jason Vieaux began to publish scores for his original compositions for the first time via self publishing. clevelandclassical.com called Jason's 2020 composition Home "a lovely, nuanced song." [17]

Instrument

A photo of Jason Vieaux's Gernot Wagner guitar from 2021 Jason Vieaux 2013 Gernot Wagner Guitar.jpg
A photo of Jason Vieaux's Gernot Wagner guitar from 2021

Jason Vieaux currently performs on a Gernot Wagner guitar made in 2013. [6] Wagner is based in Frankfurt, Germany.

The guitar is made in the "double-top" or "laminate-top" style of classical guitar construction.

Notable achievements, awards, and honors

Discography

Solo:

Chamber:

Guest:

Albums with a * are Grammy-nominated.

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References

  1. 1 2 "Jason Vieaux: A Classical Virtuoso's Show-Stopping Encores". www.premierguitar.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  2. 1 2 "NPR Music's 50 Favorite Songs Of 2014 (So Far)". NPR.org. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  3. "Jason Vieaux". www.guitarsint.com. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  4. 1 2 "Jason Vieaux wins a Grammy - Gusto - The Buffalo News" . Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  5. Kozinn, Allan. "Caramoor Sets Lineup for Summer Festival" . Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  6. 1 2 "Harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and Guitarist Jason Vieaux Perform at 92Y for 'Art of the Guitar' Series" . Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  7. Victor Serinus, Jason (August 11, 2010). "French composers go to Spain–not for the first time–at Music@Menlo". The Classical Review.
  8. "CMSLC's Garden Party at Gardner". The Boston Musical Intelligencer. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  9. "Friends of Chamber Music: Escher String Quartet with Jason Vieaux, guitar - The Folly Theater". follytheater.org. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  10. "Jason Vieaux and Anne Akiko Meyers in Concert". Parlance Chamber Concerts. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  11. "Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke & guitarist Jason Vieaux to reunite for duo concert in Shaker Heights". Cleveland Classical. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  12. "Yolanda Kondonassis & Jason Vieaux". Schubert Club. 14 February 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  13. "Jason Vieaux & Juilen Labro The Phillips Collection". www.phillipscollection.org. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Road To The Sun". Modern Recordings (in German). Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  15. "Vieaux and Bishop bring Grammy Awards home" . Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  16. "ArtistWorks Debuts Online Classical Guitar School with Virtuoso Jason Vieaux" . Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  17. "Colin Davin & Jason Vieaux in a live online recital (June 6)". Cleveland Classical. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  18. Pasternak, Joe. "Genre Bender: Guitarist Jason Vieaux" . Retrieved 2015-06-01.
  19. 1 2 3 "Jason Vieaux Faculty Entry". Cleveland Institute of Music. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  20. "NPR Artist in Residence". NPR.org. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  21. "Jason Vieaux: Tiny Desk Concert". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  22. "Jason Vieaux Faculty Page Curtis". www.curtis.edu. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  23. "Sammy DeLeon Y Su OrquestaCon Salsa Y Sabor! – Azica Records Online". azica.com.