Staff Reporter
Dimapur, April 23
One of Asia’s most accomplished classical guitarists Paul Cesarczyk is in Dimapur giving weeklong workshop on the beautiful music style. The classical guitar training workshop the award-winning American guitarist is conducting is hosted by Nagaland Classical Guitar Society.
The workshop by the Polish-born guitarist Cesarczyk got underway on Thursday at the Hope Centre for Excellence in Dimapur town. The workshop is being sponsored by the Indian Guitar Federation (IGF).
Guitarists and music teachers and music enthusiasts from Dimapur and Kohima and also from Kolkata are taking part in the training programme.
Addressing the guitarists and guitar teachers, Paul Cesarczyk said that the training will prepare young musicians and teachers to teach at a certain level. The course, which he himself formulated, is of 16-weeks course. However, it has been compressed into a week’s course training for Dimapur.
It may be mentioned here that Paul Cesarczyk is a Polish-born American guitarist, and guitar instructor. And over the last few years, he relocated to Thailand and has been instrumental in raising the standards of classical guitar playing in that country.
Avik Saha, President of Indian Guitar Federation also interacted with media persons at the inauguration of the training programme. Music brings people together, he said. While admiring the people’s love for music, he said people here hold music and appreciate music more.
The workshop will conclude with a short classical guitar recital at the Bundrock Memorial Chapel in Patkai Christian College on April 28 at 5:30pm.
Biography of the master
Described by Guitar Review Magazine as an “artist of uncommon command and maturity, with a broad, singing tone,” the Polish-born American guitarist Paul Cesarczyk is an active exponent of both the contemporary and the traditional repertoire.
Cesarczyk is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Andres Segovia Award, the Aaron Copland prize from ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers), the Artists International Award, a Kosciuszko Foundation Prize, and an Artistic Excellence Award from the New York State Senate.
He made his New York City debut at the age of seventeen at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and has been concertizing since then throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Paul Cesarczyk has appeared in concert with the Manhattan Guitar Quartet (as a founding member), the Speculum Musicae, the Cremona Festival Orchestra, The Claremont Ensemble, the New York City Opera Orchestra, the Manhattan Virtuosi, and the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has performed in many festivals including the Danish GuitarWave festival, playing the works of Per Nørgård, and the Long Island Guitar Festival, where he has performed Steve Reich’s minimalist masterpiece Electric Counterpoint, and David Leisner’s Sonata for violin and guitar. As a member of the Boyadjiev-Cesarczyk duo he performs alongside his wife, violinist Yavet Boyadjiev, and is currently expanding the contemporary violin and guitar repertoire with commissions.
An active proponent of new music, Cesarczyk has worked with contemporary greats such as George Crumb, both at the George Crumb Festival in New York, and in collaboration with the composer for his “George Crumb 70th Birthday Album,” released by Bridge Records (1999).
A composer in his own right, Cesarczyk’s Debut CD “Polish Folk Melodies” (2009), featured his arrangements of Polish music for the guitar. His most recent arrangements include music by the King of Thailand and can be heard on the CD “Ekachai Jearakul Plays the Music of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej,” Bangkok, Thailand (2011).
Cesarczyk began guitar studies with his father, and was educated in New York City, including at the prestigious La Guardia High School for the Performing Arts. He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Manhattan School of Music, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree, at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His most influential teachers were guitarists David Starobin and Jerry Willard.
Since 2009, Paul Cesarczyk serves as the Guitar Department Chair at Mahidol University College of Music, in Thailand. He is also on the faculty of the Cremona International Music Academy and Competition, in Italy, during the summer months. His dedication to teaching has produced numerous prize winners in national and international competitions. Mr. Cesarczyk performs on a guitar made by John Price and uses Augustine strings exclusively.
