7:00 pm

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

In this presentation, the great jazz guitarist Gene Bertoncini will share his approach to the guitar. 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.

Gene Bertoncini is one of the pre-eminent jazz guitarists active today. His fluid technique and lyricism have won him international praise and accolades as the "Segovia of jazz." An eloquent and versatile improviser, Mr. Bertoncini has been heard with an extraordinary range of jazz greats, including performances and recordings with Benny Goodman, Buddy Rich, Wayne Shorter, Hubert Laws, and Paul Desmond, among others, as well as such distinguished singers as Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Nancy Wilson, Vic Damone, and Eydie Gorme.

The Washington Post proclaimed his solo appearance in New York City the best jazz concert of the year 1999. Mr. Bertoncini's acclaim is hardly confined to this country. His CD Someone to Light Up My Life, which features his own arrangements of the compositions of the great bossa nova composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, won international raves. Brazilian critic and listener polls also named him the best acoustic jazz guitarist. He recently released a striking new solo CD, Quiet Now, on the heels of his highly successful Acoustic Romance, which reached the top ten of the jazz playlists. Jazziz magazine’s March 2004 issue ranked it number one in their list of the top twenty acoustic guitar CDs.

A prolific and popular studio musician, Mr. Bertoncini honed his professional chops as a member of The Tonight Show band during Johnny Carson's tenure, and he has worked with composers and arrangers such as Lalo Schifrin and Michel Legrand and has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

In addition to an active performing and recording schedule, Mr. Bertoncini teaches at the Eastman School of Music and William Patterson University. A New York City native, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in architecture. According to The New Yorker magazine, "Bertoncini is an affecting, highly original guitarist who moves easily back and forth between classical and jazz guitar."

He was honored by the New York City Classical Guitar Society in 2008 with a special tribute concert, featuring performances by Frederic Hand, Dennis Koster, Jorge Morel, Paul Meyers and Mr. Bertoncini. The NYCCGS publication A Tribute to Gene Bertoncini features tributes from a wide variety of top classical and jazz artists. The book is available for purchase here.