7:00 pm

Manhattan Theatre Club Creative Center
311 West 43rd St. between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (map)
New York City

Our monthly event for July will be feature Benjamin Verdery in a talk about arranging for the guitar entitled "If you Arrange It, They Will Listen!" The presentation will be followed by open playing time for members, so bring your guitar and play, or just come and listen. This is a great opportunity to gain experience performing, try out a new piece in front of an audience, or just share music with others in a supportive environment.

NYCCGS Member Events are free and open to all members and first-time guests.

Distinguished as "one of the classical guitar world's most foremost personalities," by Classical Guitar, "an American original, an American master," by Guitar Review, and "iconoclastic" and "inventive" by The New York Times, Benjamin Verdery enjoys his innovative and eclectic musical career.

Since his 1980 New York debut with his wife, flutist Rie Schmidt, Benjamin has performed worldwide, including the International Guitar Festival (Havana, Cuba); Festival International de Agosto (Caracas, Venezuela); Theatre Carré (Amsterdam); Chichester Cathedral (England); Bad Urach Schubert Festival (Germany); the 92nd Street Y, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Metropolitan Opera (NYC), the Ambassador Theater in Los Angeles, and concerts in France, Estonia, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Singapore. He has recorded and performed with such diverse artists as Frederic Hand, William Coulter, Leo Kottke, Anthony Newman, Jessye Norman, Paco Peña, Hermann Prey and John Williams. Several composers have composed music for him, including Daniel Asia, John Anthony Lennon, Ingram Marshall, Anthony Newman, Roberto Sierra, Van Stiefel and Jack Vees.

Benjamin has released over 15 albums, his most recent, Branches (Mushkatweek) features arrangements of works by Bach, Mozart, Strauss, Hendrix and the traditional Amazing Grace. His recording, Start Now (Mushkatweek), won the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Award. Other recordings of note include Some Towns & Cities which won the 1992 Guitar Player Magazine Best Classical Guitar Recording and his collaboration with John Williams on John Williams Plays Vivaldi (Sony Classical). Ben is currently working on a second recording with guitarist Bill Coulter (for audio clip go to Ben's audio section).

Since 1985, Benjamin has been chair of the guitar department at the Yale University School of Music. In 2004, the Yale University Music Library commissioned Ingram Marshall to compose a work for classical and electric guitars. Dark Florescence was premiered at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers Orchestra and Steven Sloane in February 2005 and had its European premiere at the Belfast Festival (Ireland) with the Ulster Orchestra in November 2005. The electric guitarist for these occasions was Andy Summers (of The Police). Having met at the 2002 New York Guitar Festival, Benjamin and Andy have since recorded First you Build A Cloud.

A prolific composer, many of Benjamin Verdery's compositions have been performed, recorded and published over the years. Most recently, Now and Ever for David Russell (Telarc) and Peace, Love and Guitars for John Williams and John Etheridge ( SONY). Williams had also recorded and performed his work Capitola. Benjamin s Scenes from Ellis Island, for guitar orchestra, has been extensively broadcast and performed at festivals and universities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Europe, and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet included it on their CD Air and Ground (Sony Classical). Benjamin's Etudes for guitar orchestra was commissioned by the Tidewater Classical Guitar Society for the 2004 Virginia International Festival. Doberman-Yppan (Canada) is currently publishing his solo and duo works for guitar and Workshop Arts (distributed by Alfred Music) has published the solo pieces from Some Towns & Cities as well as instructional books and video.

In addition to his performance tours, recording and teaching Benjamin Verdery is Artistic Director of Art of the Guitar at the 92nd St Y (New York City) and of the Yale Guitar Extravaganza (New Haven, CT) and is honorary board member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, Inc. Each summer Benjamin holds his Annual International Master Class on the Island of Maui (Hawaii).