Concert Series

Postponed Due to COVID: May 2nd, 2020 at 7:30pm – Classical Guitarist Joao Kouyoumdjian

JOÃO KOUYOUMDJIAN is a Brazilian born classical guitarist of mixed Brazilian and Armenian ethnic heritage. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and the University of São Paulo where he studied under Sharon Isbin and Edelton Gloeden respectively. He has also studied with Preto Moreno as well as being a mentee of Paulo Martelli. KOUYOUMDJIAN’s program will feature music from his homeland Brazil and his family’s ethnic origin Armenia.

Since winning the XXI Souza Lima National Guitar Competition in São Paulo, Brazil in 2010, Kouyoumdjian has been building a steady international performance career that has spanned the United States, Brazil, Europe and Africa. Among his concert engagements, noted stops have included Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum. He has also performed as a guest soloist with the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra in Yerevan, Armenia.

Postponed Due to COVID: May 9, 2020 7:30 p.m. –  James Bishop & Cameron O’Connor – at Casa Della Zisa 

James Bishop-Edwards is an accomplished performer with a rich and varied traditional repertoire and contemporary genres as well. James plays historical instruments of the Renaissance and Baroque periods such as the five-course guitar and eight-course lute.  He was head of the Guitar Department at Southern Oregon University in Ashland for several years, and previously on the faculty as Guitar Instructor at California Polytechnic University in San Luis Obispo.

James has over twenty recordings to his credit, which feature his arrangements of American and European classics.  Six books of these arrangements have been published by Mel Bay Publications.  A few of his many performance credits include: featured artist at the 1999 and 2005 La Guitarra California Festival, the Santa Barbara Arts Festival, Richard Schneiders’ Lost Mountain Guitar Festival, and soloist with the Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra and Jefferson Baroque Orchestra.

Award-winning and critically acclaimed, Cameron O’Connor
recently returned from a series of concerts in Japan, is the head of the Guitar Program at Oregon State University. Cameron in the Director of Guitar Studies at Oregon State University.

Cameron graduated cum laude from California State University Northridge, where he studied under Ron Borczon, Ronald Purcell, and Steve Thachuk. He recently received his Master Of Music degree from the Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied with Sharon Isbin. O’Connor studied with William Kanengiser while working on his doctorate at the USC.

Postponed due to COVID: May 13  7:30 p.m. – Mak Grgic at Casa Della Zisa 

Touted as a “gifted young guitarist” by the New York Times, and “a guitarist to keep an eye on” by the Washington Post, Mak Grgic is  emerging as a star on the worldwide stage. An expansive and adventurous  repertoire attests to his versatility and wide-ranging interests: from  the Baroque and Renaissance to music of the cinema; from ethnic music of  his native Balkans to extreme avant-garde and microtonal music, Mak’s  extraordinary talents and tastes as soloist, collaborator, and  recording artist are fueled by his curiosity, imagination, and boundless  energy. As a testament to  his versatility and wide-ranging appeal, in 2018 Mak was invited by  legendary singer-songwriter k.d. lang to perform as the opening act for  the North American leg of her Ingénue Redux Tour.

Postponed due to COVID May 25th, 2020 7:30 p.m. – XX Digitus Duo& Momoko Muramatsu (pianist) & Peter Zisa at Community Music Center

Works by Ponce, Tedesco, Rodrigo, & Lynch

Momoko Muramatsu has appeared as recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, South America, Japan and the United States. She has won top prizes from international competitions in Brazil, Japan and Italy, and has performed at numerous music festivals including Tanglewood, Aspen and the Iberia Music and Film Festival of Brazil. Since moving to Portland, she has been soloist with the PSU Symphony Orchestra and the Mount Hood Pops Orchestra and has played with Fear No Music and other ensembles. She frequently performs with Maria Garcia as XX Digitus Duo.

Dr. Peter Joseph Zisa is an award-winning performer on the six and eight-string guitar. Reviewers and audiences across the U.S. and abroad describe Zisa’s musicianship as “dynamic, sensitive, authentic, inspiring and emotionally expressive”. Zisa is grateful for his studies with David Grimes, and with legendary performers Maestro Andrés Segovia, José Rey de la Torre, José Tomas, Oscar Ghiglia, Michael Lorimer, David Leisner, Guy Horn, Bruce Patterson, Robert Strizich and Catherine Liddell, who have contributed to his musical development.

Folias Duo – Portland cross-country tour from Grand Rapids Michigan to Portland

Todd Gorman of American Record Guide calls the Folias Duo “daring compositions Daring compositions…[display] a great range of energy and sensitivity…and originality” American Record Guide

Fanfare Magazine: “Carmen Maret and Andrew Bergeron music is…mysterious… charming…evocative.”

CDZ Collegium Musica & PGS Present Guitar Festival  

– Performance venue solo, duos, guitar ensemble – Guitar orchestra, Guitar ensemble, solo- Performances – Masterclasses – Outstanding Achievement Awards

March 2020

March 1 Portland Guitar Society & CDZ-Collegium Musica Present Afternoon Youth Open Mic Forum at Casa Della Zisa 2:00 p.m.

(Featured performer to be announced)

March 7 – Arnica Quartet & Peter Zisa at the Community Music Center(3350 SE Francis Street) 

The Arnica String Quartet (Shin-young Kwon and Fumino Ando, violins; Charles Noble, viola; Heather Blackburn, cello) was founded in 2005 by four leading Portland musicians; three of the performers are members of the Portland Symphony. Known for performances of the highest quality, Their program celebrates the music of Mozart & Arriaga (“The Spanish Mozart”). The program will include two concerti; the first in D minor by baroque composer  J.S. Weiss, the second by Viennese composer Mauro Giuliani, his Concerto in A major (op. 30). Hearing Giuliani perform at a music soirée, Beethoven is said to have remarked: He (Giuliani) makes “the guitar sound like a little orchestra.”

Saturday, March 7,  7:30 p.m. ac the Community Music Center 3350 SE Francis Street. Click here to purchase tickets at $25 tickets through bpt.me/4498596

February

February 15th (7:30pm) From Spain with Love! Música de España con Amore –

This program spans a 300-plus-year history of Spanish music: from the court composers Santiago De Murcia and Antonio Santa Cruz to Francisco Tarrega, Joaquin Turina, to flamenco guitarists Sabicas, and Paco de Lucia.

February 2 – Portland Guitar Society & CDZ-Collegium Musica Present Afternoon Youth Open Mic Forum at Casa Della Zisa 2:00 p.m.

A free performance venue for young guitarists (ages 8 – 20) who love to perform. The meeting also provides an opportunity to meet other young players and play chamber music (duets, trios).

An ensemble that fuses the rhythmic West-African harp with the extended harmony of jazz – a convergence of compositional textures and improvisation quite unlike anything heard before. 

The cello of Michael Shay brings sustained melodic swells and driving bass lines.  The trumpet of Jonathan Roberts fuses a classically-trained ear with modern jazz sensibility and experimentation. The percussion of Steven Skolnik balances subtle expressiveness with danceability.  And Will Dudley innovates an ancient, beautiful sound with his modified chromatic kora.

July 14-August4th – The Summer Musical Travel Series – FREE!

The Summer Musical Travel Series is a fun educational program suitable for children of all ages (family and friends included) at Casa Della Zisa. Each program will last 30 – 40 minutes, followed by a brief Q & A period, and an opportunity to see and hear the instruments up close. Our 2019 Musical Travels will take us to Spain, India, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, and West Africa (Mali). Performing artists and performing times listed below.

INSTRUMENTS FROM THE MIDDLE AGES AND RENAISSANCE – Sunday, August 4, 2:00 p.m.

Phil and Gayle Neuman are musicians, teachers, and instrument builders that engage in the performance of historical music from a variety of periods. The Neumans perform and conduct educational programs at universities and schools of music across the U.S. They have received international recognition as performers and scholars of Ancient Greek musicand have several recordings of this repertoire on the Pandourion label available from North Pacific Music.

“Portland’s reigning masters of early music, Phil and Gayle Neuman” – Brett Campbell, Oregon Artswatch, March 9, 2015

“Phil and Gayle Neuman are well known for their knowledge of Early Music, but they are also world-class experts in Ancient Music, music stretching back from pre-Medieval times to the very earliest days of our civilization in Sumer, Egypt, Greece and Rome.” Vancouver B.C. Recorder Society, October 3, 2015

July

DOUG SMITH & SHOHEI TOYODA – Saturday July 27, 2019 7:30 p.m. 

Grammy-award winning Doug Smith and Japan Fingerstyle champion Shohei Toyoda return by popular demand to do a joint concert at Casa Della Zisa.

THE SITAR AND TABLA – MUSIC OF INDIA – Sunday, July 21, 2:00 p.m.

Sandeep Koranne and Saikiran Madhusudan, both born and raised in India, are good friends and musical masters of the sitar & tabla. The sitar is 21 string instrument, with a curved-raised frets. Melodies may be fingered and played on six of the string, the remainder of the strings vibrate in sympathetic vibration. The tabla is membraphone percussion instrument.

Sandeep was a musical prodigy; he began his music studies at the age of four, and studies of the Sitar at the age 6. He gave his first public performance on India National Television at the age of 10. Sandeep is a disciple of Shri Mal Shankar in the Maihar-Beenkar Sitar style. He has extensive knowledge of Raga music, vocal as well as instrumental. Sandeep has performed regularly on All India Radio (AIR) national radio service of India. Besides his interest in music Sandeep has a Masters Degree in Computer Science and performs research in mathematics and electronics.

Saikiran Madhusudhan started formal training in tabla at the age of 5 and regularly performs and teaches the instrument. He also continues to study tabla with Sri Aditya Kalyanpur, a prominent student of Ustad Alla Rakha. Prior to this, growing up Saikiran received training in the lineage of Pandit Suresh Talwalkar and Pandit Shankar Ghosh. He is also very fortunate to be a regular attendee of Ustad Zakir Hussain’s immersive tabla workshops and has had the privilege to perform before him. With a Masters in Electrical Engineering, Saikiran is also pursuing his career in the chip verification industry as a Product Engineer.

SPANISH-FLAMENCO GUITAR – MUSIC OF SPAIN– Sunday, July 14, 2:00 p.m. 

Mark Ferguson, professor of Spanish at Pacific University, is an accomplished flamenco guitarist who studied extensively in Spain with such notable maestros of flamenco guitarist as Pascual de Lorca, Flecha, Antonio Jero, Niño Jero, Juan Maya Marote, David Serva, Antonio Moya, José Antonio Rodríguez, Jesús Álvarez, Domingo Rubichi, Santiago Lara. Mark has performed with some of Spain’s finest flamenco artists: Luis de la Tota, Estefanía Sánchez, Timo Lozano, Jesús Montoya, Ali de la Tota, Jesús de la Esperanza, Vicente Griego.

Peter Joseph Zisa is a gifted interpreter of music whose classical training includes studies with such legendary performers as Maestro Andrés Segovia, José Rey de la Torre, José Tomas, Pepé and Angel Romero, Michael Lorimer, and Oscar Ghiglia. He performs as a soloist at universities and various concert series across the U.S. and abroad. His other musical collaborations include performances with Grammy-nominated violinist Adam LaMotte, Dr. Tatiana Kolchanova, Grammy-award winning guitarist Doug Smith, legendary Brazilian guitarist Celso Machado, noteworthy award winning Blues and Jazz vocalists Shirley Nanette, LaRhonda Steele, Marilyn Keller, and Cantor Ida Rae Cahana, vocalist with  Pink Martini.

Two award-winning guitarists in concert: Ikuo Inoue & Cameron O’Connor – May 3, 2019 – Friday, May 3, 2019 Ikuo Inoue from Tokyo and Cameron O’Connor, will team up on a program that will include Japanese guitar music (solos and duos of Takemitsu, Shingo Fujii, Joe Hisaishi, arrangements of traditional tune).