Guitar concerts open to public at May 14-17 guitar festival at Shepherd University

SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV >> Shepherd University is offering a series of five free concerts in conjunction with its first International Guitar Festival May 14-17. Open concerts include:

• Marcelo Ferraris, 8 p.m. May 14 in Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church, 100 W. Washington St.

• Manuel Barrueco, 8 p.m. May 15 in a concert sponsored in part by Tonar Music, in Frank Center Theater, 260 University Drive.

• Jose Manuel Lezcano, 8 p.m. May 16 in St. Peter's Lutheran Church, 110 S. King St.

•William Feasley, 3 p.m. May 17 in St. Agnes Catholic Church, 106 S. Duke St.

• and Festival Showcase Concert, 7 p.m. May 17 in St. Agnes Catholic Church.

Argentine guitarist and composer Ferraris graduated from the Conservatorio Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires. He has participated in international guitar festivals in the United States, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia and was awarded the Cantuta of gold in the 2006 International Guitar Festival in Tacna, Peru.

Barrueco has performed across the United States, been nominated for several Grammy awards, and received a Latin Grammy. He teaches at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Cuban-born guitarist, composer, educator, and folklorist Lezcano has earned much professional recognition, including a Fulbright Award to Ecuador where he performed as orchestral soloist and pursued research on indigenous guitar traditions. Lezcano premiered his second guitar concerto, "Concierto Cubanero," in 2011 in New York City and in Quito, Ecuador.

Feasley, adjunct music professor at Shepherd, was the first guitarist to be awarded the Peabody Conservatory's Artist Diploma. He won a gold medal in the 1987 PanHellenic Guitar Competition in Athens, the 1990 and 1995 Baltimore Chamber Music Awards, and a 1996 Governor's Citation for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts in Maryland. In 1986, Feasley was chosen to play for Andrés Segovia, the father of modern classical guitar, at the University of Southern California.

For more information, contact Dr. Robert Tudor, associate professor of music and music department chair, at (304) 876-5237 or rtudor@shepherd.edu.