BIOGRAPHIES
Jane Curry
Born in the UK and now based in New Zealand, Jane balances concert engagements with the coordination of the classical guitar programme at Victoria University, Wellington New Zealand. Concerto engagements include performances with Orkiestra Ars Longa (Poland), the Salaya Chamber Orchestra (Thailand), the Arioso Ensemble (Malaysia), the Capital Concert Orchestra (Canberra) and with national orchestras throughout New Zealand.
Chamber music collaborations include the New Zealand Guitar Quartet (NZGQ), Archi d’Amore Zelanda and the Linkwood Guitar Duo. The NZGQ is one of the most active quartets in Australasia, with recent concerts at Peking University, Beihang University (Beijing), Pinacoteca University (Mexico), the NZGQ also featured at the Guitar Foundation of America Convention (Louisville, Kentucky). Archi D’Amore Zelanda, with Donald Maurice (viola d’amore), has performed in Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Poland and throughout New Zealand. Jane has recorded six CD’s including a disc of Vivaldi and Graupner concertos with Archi D’Amore Zelanda and Orkiestra Ars Longa (Poland) and a Naxos CD of New Zealand Music for Two Guitars. She completed a MMus and DMA with Professor Thomas Patterson (University of Arizona). Her teachers include Katya Skandera, Matthew Marshall, Gunter Herbig, Scott Tennant, David Russell and Sergio and Odair Assad, (Russell and Assad hold artist residencies at the University of Arizona). |
Owen Moriarty
Owen Moriarty is a highly regarded chamber musician and arranger, he regularly tours with Arts on Tour and Chamber Music New Zealand as a member of the New Zealand Guitar Quartet, Duo Tapas (violin and guitar) and the Linkwood Guitar Duo. He has given concerto performances with the National Capital Orchestra (Canberra), the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, the Devonport Chamber Orchestra and the Dunedin Symphony.
Owen has released five CD’s - a self-titled debut (double) CD, "Da Chara" and "Incantation" (Duo Tapas), "The Storm" (Ode Records) and “The Passing of a Black Star” (Rattle Records) (New Zealand Guitar Quartet). He completed a MMus from Massey University (New Zealand) before continuing his studies at the University of Southern California (USA) with Jim Smith, Scott Tennant and Bill Kanengiser. During his time in the USA he also studied with Brian Head, Martha Masters, and Pepe Romero and participated in master classes with guitar luminaries Odair and Sergio Assad and Grammy winning guitarist David Russell. Prize winner in competitions including the Rotorua Concerto Competition, the Gisborne International Music Competition, the ASTA/Green Competition (California), the Bangkok International Guitar Competition, and the Ivor Mairants Guitar Competition (London), Owen has performed throughout New Zealand, and in Australia, USA, Portugal, Mexico, Thailand, Spain, China, and the United Kingdom. |
John Couch
New Zealand born John Couch is an Australian based classical guitarist and the Artistic Director of New Zealand’s premiere classical guitar festival, the Taranaki Classical Guitar Summer School (TCGSS). Couch is a highly qualified guitarist holding a Masters of Music in performance and research (pedagogy), Post-Graduate Diploma in performance and research, Bachelor of Music and is a Fellow of the Trinity Guildhall (London).
Couch has featured on four CD album recordings: A Fairytale… with Variations (2001), Desdemona’s Song (2005), Andres New Shoes (2008), Ask Me Tomorrow (2015) and The Passing of a Black Star (2017). With an interest in creating new music for the classical guitar, Couch has commissioned and had work dedicated to him from leading composers such as Marek Pasieczny, Vincent Lindsey-Clark, Gary Ryan, Richard Charlton, Marian Budos, Sally Greenaway, Christopher Norton, Jesmond Grixti, Campbell Ross and Ivana Troslj. He has given many world premier performances and his latest CD brings a selection of these works together. As a chamber musician Couch has performed and recorded in the New Zealand Guitar Duo and the New Zealand Guitar Quartet. As a soloist he has performed in festivals and concert series around Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America and Asia. He has recorded for and played on ABC Classic FM (Australia), 2CN (Australia), Classic FM (New Zealand), TVNZ (New Zealand), Radio Canada and HCMTV7 (Vietnam), and has featured as a soloist with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Couch has won international and national guitar and music competitions in New Zealand and Australia. He has been a finalist and prizewinner in many other international competitions including Taiwan international guitar competition, Tokyo international guitar competition and the 36th International Guitar Competition “Michele Pittaluga” (Italy). |
Vladimir Gorbach
Internationally acclaimed guitarist Vladimir Gorbach has captivated audiences across Europe, Australia, the United States and his native country of Russia.
His international success began when he was accepted into the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation "Live Music Now" outreach program. He then went on to win many international guitar competitions and prizes in Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Greece and the 2011 Guitar Foundation of America earning him a full season concert tour throughout North America, including at Debut Carnegie Hall, NY; Canada, Mexico, South America, and China, in addition to a publication with Mel Bay and a recording for Naxos label distributed worldwide. Recent highlights include tour of Japan, 2015 La Guitarra California Festival, appointment as faculty of guitar at Sydney University and opening the season for the Boston Classical Guitar Society season and recital for the Seattle Classical Guitar Society while taking on a part-time faculty role at the California State University, Fullerton, in addition to being selected as the first International Artist Fellow in Music at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music to pursue his Doctoral of Musical Arts (DMA) studies. (USC's most elite graduate fellowship in the Arts granted annually to only one fellow in each of five arts schools at USC). He has performed in recital and as soloist with chamber ensembles of Orchestra de Las Beiras, the Orchestra de Aveiro, the Russian Academic Chamber Orchestra Musica Viva, the Symphony Orchestra of New Russia, and Junge Philharmonie Köln , as well as appearances at the Moscow Philharmonic Concert Series, Koblenz International Guitar Festival (Germany), Guitar Art Festival Belgrade (Serbia), Vienna Guitar Forum (Austria), Nantes Summer Guitar Academy (France), Vondelpark Festival (The Netherlands), and Sydney Crows Nest Concert Cycle (Australia), in addition to giving master-classes at numerous festivals. He began his guitar lessons at an early age in the class of Professor Yuri Kuzin at the State Music School in Novosibirsk and later with Arkady Burkhanov at the Glinka Conservatory. He continued his studies at the Music Academy in Cologne, Germany with Roberto Aussel. Mr. Gorbach plays a 2005 Daniele Chiesa instrument fitted with Augustine Strings. |