Music of the Americas and Guitar of Mexico (Guitarra mexicana)

Join the Ibison Guitar Duo and Luis Angel Medina on a musical journey around the Americas. Guitars made by local maker Martin Blackwell!

Tickets $30 CLICK HERE to purchase (eventbrite)
Tickets available at the door Cash only.

This programme is an exploration of Music of the Americas and Mexico on the classical guitar, shared by the incredible Ibison Guitar Duo and Luis Angel Medina. All the guitars used for this concert have been built by local guitar maker Martin Blackwell.

During the first half, you can expect to hear the Ibison Guitar Duo explore Music of the Americas, featuring music by composers such as Gnattali, Assad and Piazzolla. The Ibison Guitar Duo, Chad Ibison and Janet Grohovac, are Grammy-nominated guitarists whose performances have been praised as “superb and sublime” (Austin American-Statesman) while presenting a “refined and elegant style” (This is Classical Guitar). The duo performs throughout the US and abroad with recent appearances at the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Taxco, Mexico; Christ Church Cathedral series, Canada; Ticino Musica’s concerts in Lugano, Switzerland; and the Houston Classical Guitar Festival and Competition. Both hold Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Ibison has won many top prizes in competitions including the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America and the JoAnn Falletta Concerto Competition. Dr. Grohovac won 1st prize awards at the Southern Guitar Competition, and the Northwest Guitar Competition. Chad was the Teaching Assistant to Professor Adam Holzman at UT-Austin for 5 years and is the Professor of Guitar at Austin Community College. Janet is the Professor of Guitar at Concordia University Texas. They also manage their own very successful Austin-based guitar studio where the duo teaches close to seventy students a week.

During the second half, Luis Medina explores his own identity and research by exploring Mexican music written for classical guitar by the most emblematic guitar composers as well as lesser-known ones that equally deserve a place in the biggest concert halls.

Founder of the Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival, Luis Angel Medina is an avid performer and teacher across North America. Currently studying with Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, Luis is enrolled in the Doctoral in Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, where he continues to promote the guitar through public events that lead to the spread of music in the larger community.

Born in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, Luis began his music studies at the age of fourteen when he enrolled in the Music Diploma at the University of Guadalajara. Since then, he moved to Vancouver, Canada, where he received numerous awards and scholarships from Capilano University and the University of British Columbia. Luis obtained his Masters degree from the University of Georgia in Athens under the mentorship of acclaimed guitarist Dr. Daniel Bolshoy. Upon graduation, he was awarded the Director’s Excellence Award which recognizes students for excellence in musicianship, scholarship, leadership, and service, also passing his final oral examinations with distinctions.

Luis has been invited to perform in multiple occasions for some of the most prestigious guitar societies across North America, such as the, Vancouver, Calgary, Regina and Toronto Guitar societies. He was featured in the International City Music Talents concert held at the prestigious Playhouse Theatre in Vancouver, has made appearances as a soloist, performing Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s first guitar concerto with A Little Night Music Orchestra and has also been invited to play for the Tri-Cities Guitar Society in Washington. With a very active performing career that has taken him to perform in various cities in Europe, China, and all-over North America, Luis is very active directing guitar ensembles, teaching and performing at various festivals across Canada.