Chattanooga Times Free Press - ChattanoogaNow
Guitar concert features music of Roland Dyens
Guitar Chattanooga and the McCallie School Guitar Quartet will combine their talent to present “A Concert Tribute to Roland Dyens” on Sunday, April 30, in St. Luke United Methodist Church, 3210 Social Circle.
Dyens, who passed away in October 2016, was a French classical guitarist, composer and arranger. The free concert will feature professional performers and students, who will play selections from the Dyens’ catalogue.
“Roland and I originally met at a guitar festival in Florida more than 15 years ago and immediately struck up a friendship,” says Charles Evans, director of the McCallie Guitar Quartet.
“A few years after our initial meeting, I was hon- ored to have him spend four days at McCallie, where he worked with my students and performed two concerts on campus. Plans were underway for him to return to school this com- ing fall again to coach and inspire the 70 students in the program.”
Evans says everyone performing on the program has some connection to Dyens, either through his compositions or his teaching.
“We thought it would be a great way to say farewell,” says Evans. “It should be an enjoyable afternoon with some great music,”
The McCallie Guitar Quartet, originally formed in 2002, is a select, auditioned group featuring the most advanced instrumentalists in the guitar program at the school.
They have performed for the 2006 TMEA Conven- tion in Nashville and at the Stetson University International Guitar Workshop. In 2012, they performed for the Arts Education Partnership National Forum. In 2014, the group was chosen to perform on NPR’s “From the Top.”
As a group, they have participated in master classes with Dyens, Eduardo Fernandez, Jason Vieaux and Judicael Perroy.
Guitar Chattanooga is known for classical guitar performances as well as classes and educational outreach initiatives. Each season, Guitar Chattanooga presents four free solo guitar concerts featuring artists of the highest quality.
Sunday’s concert honors the memory of Earl Miller and Sandy Sanderford.
Miller was a prominent musician and teacher at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, organist and choir director at St. Luke. Sanderford was a long-time member of the St. Luke choir.