CGSUNY Fall Festival 2011

CGSUNY is very excited to feature Presti as the headline performers for the Saturday evening program at the 2011 CGSUNY Fall Festival. Presti is thefirst professional all-female guitar trio in the United States. Their name pays homage to the legendary Ida Presti, considered by many to be the greatest woman guitarist to date and one of the best performers in the history of theguitar. Members of the ensemble are Olga Amelkina-Vera, Valerie Hartzell and Lynn McGrath. Their most influential teachers include Manuel Barrueco, Robert Guthrie, Ako Ito, William Kanengiser, Alexander Lagoya, Matteo Mela, Pepe Romero, Douglas Rubio, James Smith, and many others who have given us advice and inspiration throughout the years. Collectively they have an array of undergraduate and graduate degrees from such prominent music schools as the Peabody Conservatory, University of North Texas, and University of Southern California. Each of them brings to Presti their own unique experiences and talents. Each is an accomplished performer in her own right, Valerie and Lynn as soloists and Olga is a member of the Kithara Duo. Their performing careers have taken them all over Europe, United States, Canada, and South America. They also have a gifted composer amongthem—Olga—who has been inspired by this opportunity to contribute to the original guitar trio repertoire. We’ll take a moment here to introduce each of the performers and a bit about their namesake, Ida Presti.

Maria Zemantauski is one of the world’s few heralded female flamenco-style guitarists, and one of even fewer female flamenco composers. Maria will be the featured performer for the Sunday afternoon concert that follows the Collegiate
Honors Recital at the CGSUNY 2011 Fall Festival. She has performed in Spain, Italy and across the continental United States to great acclaim. Her albums, Mrs. Laughinghouse (1997), Seeing Red (2000), Under the Lemon Tree (2005) and
Petty Feet & Mistletoe (2010), have received stellar reviews from music critics around the world. Maria’s programs are a dynamic blend of artistic freedom, innovation and tradition. This is not surprising considering that as a child, she
resisted guitar lessons, telling her encouraging parents that she wanted to “discover the instrument on her own without being told what to do.” As one reviewer wrote, “Zemantauski has continually pushed the boundaries of the possible with her trusty 6-string,
blending genres that have little or no business appearing on the same bill, much less in the same song. It's rarely less than electrifying to watch her do it." She believes that the expressive possibilities of the guitar are limitless and
pursues her music with passion, confidence and grace.

Schedule of Events

Saturday, September 24, 2011
Anderson Theatre Hartwick College

Registration 9 a.m.
Morning Recital
Lectures & Demonstrations
CGSUNY Members Recital
Informal Ensemble Playing (TBA)
Luthier Display (All Day)

Dinner Break
Silent Auction
Concert by Presti (A Reception will follow after the concert) 7 p.m.

Sunday, September 25, 2011
Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta

Master Class: 10:00 a.m -12:00
CGSUNY Collegiate Honors Recital: 1:00 p.m -2:30
Concert by Maria Zemantauski: 3:00 p.m

CLICK HERE FOR DIRECTIONS TO THE FALL FESTIVAL!!