We're Excited to Announce our Season Opening Gala Concerts

Portland Classical Guitar (PCG) is proud to announce its season opening gala concerts—the first at the Mt. Angel Abbey on Friday, September 5, and the second at Marylhurst University’s St. Anne’s Chapel, on Friday, September 12. These concerts, each beginning at 8 PM, will mark the official launch of the eagerly-awaited tenth season of PCG’s much-loved annual concert series. It will feature four outstanding guitarists: William Jenks, Peter Zisa, Mario Diaz, and Dan Cosley.

PCG proprietor and series director William Jenks will perform Vivaldi’s iconic Concerto in D Major with members of the Portland Chamber Orchestra—including such stellar local musicians as Tatiana Kolchanova, Janet Brittle, Stefana Berceanu, Travis Chapman, Ashley Peck, Chang Min Lee and more. Jenks is a fixture on the local classical guitar scene, with several excellent recordings under his belt, and a long history of performances in the Pacific Northwest, Europe, and Latin America. He will be touring the latter region this October, with performances in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. And last May he performed at the Dominican Republic’s National Conservatory of Music, where he was also the presiding judge for the VIII Concurso Nacional de Guitara Clasica competition.

Peter Zisa—who will be performing Sor’s “Rondo” from the Grand Solo Sonata, and Tedesco’s “Sonatina” for flute and guitar (the latter with LeeAnn McKenna, flute)—is a versatile guitarist who has released three recordings and several books on music and guitar technique. Zisa has extensive performance experience on the university and festival circuit; among his many honors is a first place award in the annual Solo Classical Guitar Competition sponsored by the American String Teacher’s Association. In 2007, Zisa inaugurated a new Portland winter holiday tradition: the Season of Lights concerts, benefiting local charities. He is also a founding member of the Portland-based East-West chamber group, Thousand Waves.

Mario Diaz is an award-winning guitarist who will perform six selections from Bryan Johanson’s collection of 24 Preludes, “Appassionata” by Ronaldo Miranda, and “Tonada por Despedida” by Juan Antonio Sanchez. Diaz has studied, taught, and toured with leading artists, in both the United States and Latin America. His music is a distinct, engaging blend of Latin, classical, jazz, pop, and flamenco. He teaches music at Portland State University and Portland Community College.

Dan Cosley has written innovative arrangements for guitar, drawing on the music of composers as diverse as Beethoven and Ellington. But he is also an accomplished composer in his own right, and for these concerts he will be premiering his latest solo work, Echoland, which he refers to as a “cubist” blues, exploring the genre via “the refraction of cliches through a prism of modern compositional techniques.” Cosley is an impressive guitarist who has appeared on numerous CDs, and has performed both throughout the US and abroad (including such far flung places as Japan and Italy). He is currently a member of the music faculty at Marylhurst University.