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Mak Grgic
Concert – Friday, January 13th 2012 at 8:00 PM
Master Class – Saturday, January 14th at
11:00 AM
Concert Venue:
Marylhurst University Wiegand Hall
17600 Pacific Highway (Hwy. 43),
Marylhurst, OR 97036-0261.
(see map)
Mak Grgic Biography
"An alluring combination of masterful guitar skills, dedication to playing and an engaging stage presence fascinated the multigenerational audience, who
refused to let the guitar virtuoso off the stage." Siol.net (Slovenia) Manca Cujez
"...an amazing talent on the classical guitar" Eagle-Gazette. His
playing has been called "voluptuous" and "flawless" by critics--a reviewer once proclaimed him a "young master of the guitar." At 24, Mak GRGIC
has been invited to a multitude of music venues world-wide. These include The Allegro Guitar Series in Texas, where the critic proclaimed his playing "Subtle and
Sensitive", Portland Classical Guitar, Guitar Festival Mikulov, Piran Music Nights, The Sounds of Six Strings, Cankarjev Dom, where the featured article stated: "An
alluring combination of masterful guitar skills, dedication to playing and an engaging stage presence fascinated the multigenerational audience, who refused to let the guitar
virtuoso of the stage.", The Dallas Opera with Chamber Orchestra in performances of Peter Maxwell Davies' The Lighthouse, The Lancaster Festival in Ohio, where he
performed Rodrigo's Fantasia para un Gentilhombre, conducted by Gary Sheldon, newly appointed conductor of the Miami City Ballet. He will also perform with the Spokane
Symphony at the Festival at Sandpoint and at "Musica a 4 Stelle" summer festival in Grado, Italy, St. Donat's Church in Zadar, Croatia, Atrium of the City Museum
of Ljubljana and the Guitar Festival at William Patterson University in New Jersey. Mak made his orchestral debut with the St. Petersburg Symphony playing Rodrigo's
Concierto de Aranjuez. Other future dates include performances at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. and with JACK Quartet and the Croatian Chamber Philharmonic in
Europe. For four years he was a member of the Zagreb Guitar Quartet, who toured throughout Croatia and with them he traveled from Dubai to Montreal to Mobile, Alabama and
Paris.
He recently took first prize at the Pacific Guitar Festival and
Competition 2011, and has been honored with highest prizes at: the First Andres Segovia International Competition for young guitarists in Velbert, Germany, the Forum Gitarre
Wien International Competition, the International guitar competition in Arrenzano, Italy, the Fifth Anna Amalia Competition for young guitarists in Weimar, Germany, the
International Guitarart festival and Competition in Belgrade, Serbia and as the youngest participant, he was awarded the third place in the category with no age limit at the
Concorso Europeo di Chitarra Classica, Citta di Gorizia, in Italy in 2005.
Born in 1987 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Mak follows in a distinguished line of some of
today's finest young guitarists emerging from the Croatian school of guitar. In Zagreb he studied with the revered Ante Cagalj at the Elly Basic Conservatory of Music and
obtained his Bachelor's Degree with Alvaro Pierri at the Universitaet fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. At the moment he is pursuing a Master's
Degree at the USC Thornton School of Music as a student of William Kanengiser of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
A new work has been composed for Mak, one for solo
guitar and electronics by composer and founding member of the acclaimed ensemble Alarm Will Sound, Payton MacDonald. Mak distinguishes himself as a versatile guitarist,
playing classical and improvised guitar music, and offers repertoire ranging from baroque to Spanish to modern music of his homeland. Mak also plays the music of some popular
jazz artists such as Pat Metheny. A new CD "String Modulations" of the music of Slovenian composer and guitarist Nejc Kuhar with Mak has been released by the
Publishing and Record Label Radio/Television of Slovenia.
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