Mak Grgic in Concert January 11

Mak Grgic in Concert January 11

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 will take the stage for the next concert in the Portland International Guitar Series presented by U.S. Classic Guitar on Friday, January 11, 2019 at the historic Eliot Chapel in downtown Portland.  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 avantgarde and microtonal music, Mr. Grgic’s extraordinary talents and tastes as soloist, collaborator, and recording artist are fueled by his curiosity, imagination, and boundless energy.   Mak’s latest CD MAKrotonal is being considered for the 2019 Grammy Awards.

His exciting and diverse Portland program will include a multimedia presentation of Cinema Verismo which takes a listener down memory lane of favorite cinema from the past few decades. By offering originals or adaptations of music featured in famous films such as The Deerhunter, Raging Bull, The Godfather, Chariots of Fire, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and many others, the soothing sounds of the guitar will evoke your fondest memories.  His program will also include selections from his Balkanisms CD which includes arrangements of magical tunes from the enchanting Balkan Peninsula as well as modern works by composers such as Duson Bogdanovic’s Levantine Suite.

As a concert artist, he averages eighty-five performances a year — nearly two bookings per week — as both soloist and collaborator. He is a founding member and active performer in two duos— the Flamenco-style “Duo Deloro” with Adam Del Monte, and the new music-focused “FretX Duo” with Daniel Lippel, guitarist of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). As Young Artist in Residence with the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles, he founded “DC8,” an octet declared “an inspiring addition to the contemporary music landscape in Los Angeles” by the Los Angeles Times. Other ongoing collaborations include the JACK Quartet, Martin Chalifour (concertmaster, LA Philharmonic), cellists Jay Campbell and Joshua Roman, The Assad Brothers, and John Sant’Ambrogio (St. Louis Symphony).