Photo Copyright © Tyler Boye
"…among the elite of today's classical guitarists."
-Gramophone
One of the “youngest stars of the guitar world” (New York Times, 2010), Jason Vieaux is a musician regularly noted for his engaging and virtuosic live performances, imaginative programming, and uncommon communicative gifts. Recent concert highlights include recitals for Lincoln Center and 92nd St. Y in New York, Dumbarton Oaks Series in Washington DC, a return to the Music@Menlo festival, a debut with Charlotte Symphony, and recitals for Spivey Hall and Indiana University. Vieaux's upcoming concerto performances include works of Rodrigo, Villa-Lobos, Piazzolla and Roberto Sierra for the Chautauqua Music Festival, the symphonies of Mexico City, Ft. Worth, Grand Rapids, Illinois, Williamsburg, Reading, and Dubuque, as well as Boston’s A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra. His current chamber music collaborations with the Escher Quartet, flutist Gary Schocker, and bandoneon/accordion virtuoso Julien Labro continue to display Vieaux’s extensive range of musical interests. As one of the “leading guitarists of his generation” (Absolute Sound, 2009), Jason Vieaux has established a lasting connection with his audiences, as evidenced by numerous return invitations in 2010-2011 to series in Toronto, Cleveland, Michigan and North Carolina. In October, Mr. Vieaux will receive a 2010 Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant and perform with mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke at the Kennedy Center.
Mr. Vieaux is a frequent guest with orchestras across the United States. He has performed as concerto soloist with, among many others, the Cleveland Orchestra, Ft. Worth Symphony, San Diego Symphony, the Florida Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Orchestra 2001, IRIS Chamber Orchestra, and the Auckland Philharmonia in New Zealand, while working with such renowned conductors as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, David Robertson, Michael Stern, Jahja Ling, Stefan Sanderling and Alasdair Neale. Vieaux’s triumphant programs and collaborations for Music@Menlo, Strings Music Festival, Grand Teton, Jupiter Chamber Players, and others, have forged his reputation as a first-rate chamber musician. As a passionate advocate of new music, Vieaux has premièred new pieces by Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate, José Luis Merlin, Eric Sessler, Arthur Hernandez, Gary Schocker, Fazil Say, and frequently plays works by Mario Davidovsky, Roberto Sierra, and John Corigliano.
Jason Vieaux has ten recordings to his credit and many more to come under his multi-record deal with Azica Records. Bach; Works for Lute, Vol.1 was released in the spring of 2009, and, after hitting #13 on Billboard’s Classical Chart after its first week, received rave reviews by Gramophone Magazine and The Absolute Sound. His previous CD, Images of Metheny, features music by renowned American Jazz guitarist/composer Pat Metheny. Metheny, after listening to this landmark recording, declared: "I am flattered to be included in Jason's musical world." Sevilla: The Music of Isaac Albeniz, was rated one of the Top Ten Classical CDs of the year by both The Philadelphia Inquirer and Cleveland’s Plain Dealer. Mr. Vieaux recorded his first CD when he was just 19, and two years later released the highly successful Laureate Series Guitar Recital on the Naxos label. Vieaux's recordings and live performances are on the radio and internet; he is often heard on such top-rated programs as NPR’s "All Things Considered," "Morning Edition," and American Public Media’s "Performance Today." Mr. Vieaux’s expressive and communicative gifts have been the subject of many newspaper and magazine articles around the US and abroad. Acoustic Guitar Magazine named Jason Vieaux in its January 2008 cover article The New Virtuosos as “one of three young musicians pushing the instrument beyond the traditional”. England’s MUSO and Gramophone Magazine have published feature articles on Mr. Vieaux.
Jason Vieaux began guitar studies at age eight with Jeremy Sparks in Buffalo, New York, and continued study at The Cleveland Institute of Music with John Holmquist. He is the youngest First Prize winner in the history of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America International Competition, a Naumburg International Guitar Competition prizewinner, and, in recognition of his prodigious talent and extraordinary professional career, The Cleveland Institute of Music honored Mr. Vieaux with their Alumni Achievement Award in 1998. In 1995, Mr. Vieaux was an Artistic Ambassador of the United States to Southeast Asia, and concertized in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Myanmar (Burma). He has also toured Europe, Mexico, Canada, the Far East, Australia and New Zealand.
Aside from his duties as a performer, Mr. Vieaux is highly dedicated to the art of teaching. He heads the guitar department at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and will also join the faculty of The Curtis Institute of Music in the fall of 2011 to create a new classical guitar department with fellow guitarist David Starobin -- Curtis' first new program in two decades. Jason is also affiliated with Philadelphia-based Astral Artists. His website is www.jasonvieaux.com
Jason Vieaux is represented by Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd., Mt. Vernon, NY www.jwentworth.com
