Guitarist Alec Holcomb Graduation Recital

The graduation recital of guitarist Alec Holcomb. Alex graduated in 2017 with a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance and is currently studying with Judicaël Perroy at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Also clarinetist Slavko Popovic performs two incredible pieces.

André Messager: Solo de concours
Slavko Popovic, clarinet; Michael Davidman, piano
Solo de concours was composed for the clarinet in 1899 for a Paris Conservatory Contest piece. It was written to display virtuosity, character and style. It is a very delightful piece.

Poulenc: Sonata for Clarinet and Piano
Slavko Popovic, clarinet; Michael Davidman, piano
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano was one of the last pieces written by Poulenc. It was dedicated to an old friend Swiss composer Arthur Honegger, one of the members of Les Six, a group of young French composers who shared ideas about music in the 1920’s. The movements are marked Allegro tristamente; Romanza: Très calme and Allegro con fuoco: Très animé.

Isaac Albéniz: Selections from Suite española No. 1, Op. 47 Castilla and Asturias
Alec Holcomb, guitar
Alec Holcomb describes Castillla as a really fast jolly piece and Asturias as a staple of the guitar repertoire.

Giulio Caccini: “Amarilli mia bella”
Alec Holcomb, guitar; Vartan Gabrielian, bass-baritone
“Amarilli mia bella” (Amaryllis, my beauty) is one of the most famous songs in the Baroque era. It is considered Giulio Caccini’s signature work.

Lansky: Gigue, from Partita: Suite for Guitar and Percussion
arr. David Starobin
Alec Holcomb, guitar
Gigue, from Partita: Suite for Guitar and Percussion was composed for guitar and percussion and David Starobin co-founder of Curtis’s guitar program and a virtuoso of the contemporary classical guitar arranged this for solo guitar. Alec describes the piece as funky.

Piazzolla: “Primavera porteña,” from Cuatro estaciones porteñas
arr. Baltazar Benitez
Alec Holcomb, guitar
Cuatro estaciones porteñas (Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) by Astor Piazzolla is a set of four tango compositions. “Primavera porteña,” (Buenos Aires Spring) is the third in the set written in 1970.

Radamés Gnattali: Sonata for Cello and Guitar
Alec Holcomb, guitar; Chen Cao, cello
Radamés Gnattali was a Brazilian composer of both classical and popular music and lived between 1906 and 1988. He composed Sonata for Cello and Guitar in 1969. The movements are marked Allegretto comodo; Adagio and Con spirito.