Guitarist to Present Feb. 19 Free Concert in Wallman Hall
The Department of Music of the Fairmont State University School of Fine Arts will present a concert of classical and contemporary pieces, performed by guitarist Dieter Hennings on Saturday, Feb. 19. Admission to the concert, which will take place at 8 p.m. in Room 229 of Wallman Hall, on the university main campus, is free and open to the public.
The compositions to be performed are the “Hungarian Phantasy” from An Malvina by Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856); Processi Melodici del’Ansia II by Luca Cori (1965); Chaconne BWV 1004 by J.S.Bach (1685-1750); Sonatina Meridional by Manuel M. Ponce (1882-1948); “Asturias” from Granada by Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909); and La Catedral by Agustin Barrios (1885-1944).
Dieter Hennings musical endeavors span from new music on guitar to early music for lute, baroque guitar and theorbo. Hennings has been a soloist with Canada’s New Music Concerts Ensemble, Eastman BroadBand Ensemble, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, the University of Arizona Philharmonia and the Orquesta Juvenil de Sonora, Mexico, and has won several prestigious competitions including the 2008 Aaron Brock International Guitar Competition, 2005 Eastman Guitar Concerto Competition, the 2002 Villa de Petrer, Alicante (Spain) International Competition and the 2001 Portland Guitar Competition, among others.
Hennings is an active proponent of new music, particularly that of Latin America, having recently worked with composers Mario Davidovsky, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Juan Trigos and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. He has recently premiered works by composers Jake Bancks, Wes Matthews, John Aylward, Beth Wiemann, Hebert Vazquez, Luca Cori, Juan Trigos and Scott Worthington. He performed Synchronisms no. 10 for guitar and tape for Mario Davidovsky in a concert dedicated to the composer’s work. Hennings has received grants from the Howard Hanson Institute for American Music and the Fondo Estatal para la Cultura y las Artes to commission and premiere contemporary works for guitar.
Recent engagements include concerts with pop-singer Natalie Merchant and baroque violinist Monica Huggett, as well as appearances which include the Mexican Embassy in Rome, Festival SpazioMusica of Cagliari, Conservatorio de las Rosas in Morelia, Mexico, University of Chicago, Festival Internacional de Chihuahua, New York’s Joyce Theater, Julliard’s Paul Hall and New England Conservatory. Hennings is a resident artist at the East Coast Composers Ensemble and the Eastman Broad Band Ensemble, with whom he maintains an active performing schedule.
In 2005 and 2007 he participated in the modern premieres of the baroque operas Apollo and Daphne and La virtù de’stralli d’Amore by Francesco Cavalli, both directed by Paul O’Dette. Hennings recently performed recitals on baroque lute and guitar at Milan’s Spazio Tadini, the Arizona Early Music Society and the Rochester Early Music Society, among many others.
Current recording projects include an album of works by Silvius Leopold Weiss for baroque lute and the guitar works of composers Juan Trigos and Luca Cori. Recently he collaborated in a recording project with singer Natalie Merchant, which also featured musicians like Winton Marsalis, Medeski, Martin and Wood and producer Anders Levin.
Hennings recently completed the residency for his doctoral degree in both Guitar Performance and Early Plucked Instruments at the Eastman School of Music.
Dieter HenningsSchool of Fine ArtsMusic
