Australian-born British classical guitarist John Williams plays classical guitarist-composer Nikita Koshkin’s best-known guitar work, the Usher-Waltz, a piece inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe story “The Fall of the House of Usher”, written for the Czech guitarist Vladislav Blaha.
The piece was made famous by John Williams’ performance in the Seville Concert CD in 1993 (the video above).
Nikita Arnol’dovich Koshkin (born 28 February 1956) is a classical guitarist-composer born in Moscow. He received his first guitar from his grandfather, along with a recording of Segovia’s, which inspired him to become a guitarist, despite his parents forecasting a diplomatic career for him. Koshkin studied classical guitar at the Moscow College of Music under Georgi Emanov and later at the Gnessin Institute under Alexander Frauchi, with compositional teaching from Victor Egorov.Besides writing works for solo guitar, Koshkin has composed guitar-ensemble music as well; in addition to numerous pieces for guitar duo, he has written two works for guitar quartet, Changing the Guard (1994) and Suite for Four Guitars (composed for the Georgia Guitar Quartet, 2007).
Vladislav Blaha described by Music Opinion Magazine in London as one of the finest Czech guitarists, studied at the Brno Conservatoire and the F. Liszt University of Music in Weimar, Germany, The masterclass with C.Cotsiolis, A.Carlevaro and, with the aid of the British Council Fellowship, the study in England with G.Crosskey (Royal Northern COllege of Music) and J. W. Duarte in London completed his formal leasing. he received a Doctorate Degree at the College of Music in Bratislava, Slovakia and Docent Degree at Janacek Academy of Music, Brno. Blaha achieved international recognition as the Winner of four international guitar comperirions in: Volos/Greece, Exztergom/Hungary, Kutna Hora/Czech Republic and Markneukirchen/Germany. He received ,,Medale Bronze” in the Radio France International Competition in Paris. Concerts Blaha has given concerts in prestigious halls in 35 countries of Europe, Asia, Latin America in addition to U.S.A. – Carnegie Hall on Nov.17, 2014, England – Royal Festival Hall and Conway Hall in London, Radio France in Paris, Tokyo, Roma, Berlin, New York, Jakkarta, Havana, Lima, Caracas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Vienna, Zurich, Brussel, Moscow, Valencia, Saigon, Hanoy, Mexico City, Guanajuato etc. His richness of expression, together with his brillant virtuosity and stylish interpretation give cause for much critical acclaim throughout the musical word. He has releaded nine CDs as soloist and made numerous radio and television recordings in various countries. He is Dozent of Janacek Academy of Mucis and the Brno Conservatoire and gives masterclasses at music colleges and performs at festivals in the USA, Japan, MExico, Germany, Austria, England and others. Twenty seven composers from 16 countries dedicated works to him (J.W.Duarte: Moraviana, N. Koshkin: Usher Waltz, M. Tesar, F. Kleynjans, A. Tucapsky, M. Stedron, J. Cardoso, J. Morel and others) and some others let him play the premieres of their work (L.Brouwer, S. Rak, V. Kucera, …). Blaha is president of Czech Classical Guitar Society and since 1992 has been director of the International guitar festival and courses Brno.
Sources
- Nikita Koshkin on wikipedia
Read more
- The Fall of the House of Usher on wikipedia
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