Classical Guitarist to Perform at the Library
Classical guitarist, Peter Fletcher, will be performing at the Miami Public Library on Thursday, October 12, at 6:30 p.m. Fletcher, who plays to packed houses at Carnegie Hall, has performed at the library several times and has always provided a stellar program. This is an exciting addition to the 66 Cultural District programming for 2017.
He began guitar study at the age of seven under classical guitar instructor, John Sutherland. In 1980 maestro José Tomás, Andrés Segovia’s teaching assistant in Spain, held a week long Master Class in Atlanta, GA. Peter Fletcher was the youngest student to perform in the class, playing music by Bach and Carcassi.
“He has technical facility but what one remembers about his playing is the nuances, the poetical phrasing, dynamic and tonal changes, his harmonics, his cadences.”
In December, 1983, he made his formal debut under the auspices of The Brasstown Concert Association in North Carolina. Wrote the critic of The Cherokee Scout,“He has technical facility but what one remembers about his playing is the nuances, the poetical phrasing, dynamic and tonal changes, his harmonics, his cadences.” Fletcher furthered his studies in Master Classes with David Leisner, David Russell, Oscar Ghiglia and Pepe Romero. As a performer in the Christopher Parkening Master Class in 1988, he was broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR). In 1990, the Music Teacher’s National Association (MTNA) awarded Fletcher a prize at its National Level Competition, and in 1995 he received the Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music under Nicholas Goluses, and was twice the recipient of an Eastman Graduate Award.
In demand as a performer in cultural venues throughout the country, Mr. Fletcher has been invited to give recitals at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY; Cincinnati’s Memorial Hall; St. Philip Cathedral in Atlanta; Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and many others. In 2003 he performed on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center. In January 2005, Mr. Fletcher was invited to join the distinguished Jury of the 9th Annual Schadt String Competition in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He made his New York Debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in February 2007, and returned in 2008, 2009 and 2010 to a completely sold-out house.
Highlights of Fletcher’s past concert seasons have included appearances at The First Presbyterian Church of Lockport, NY, a concert which marked the first classical guitar performance in the history of this well established concert series. As a result of the concert, Mr. Fletcher was interviewed on NPR-affiliated radio station Classical 94.5 WNED of Buffalo/Toronto. Peter also broke new ground in El Paso, TX when he became the first ever classical guitarist to perform an entire solo recital as part of the Bruce Nehring Consort, an accomplishment which led to a feature article in the El Paso Times. More engagements included an appearance in Naples, FL as part of the Music at Trinity-by-the-Cove concert series, and a feature recital for the inaugural season of the Firehouse Arts Center in the San Francisco Bay Area. He made his Pittsburgh debut in 2010 at the “Music in a Great Space” concert Series at Shadyside Presbyterian Church.
In 2013 Fletcher performed once again at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in New York City. The program featured the Suite Compostelana by Catalan composer Federico Mompou in celebration of his 120th birthday. In addition Peter performed the world premiere of Diary of a Camino by American composer Jeremy Gill.
In October of 2014 he performed at the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in Rockford, IL and the Pro-Mozart Society Concert Series in Atlanta, GA —all part of a nationwide tour. In 2016 Peter presented a solo recital at the prestigious Tryon Fine Arts Center in North Carolina, and performed a recital at the Hood River County History Museum this fall in Oregon. Peter’s last recital at Carnegie Hall took place on May 6, 2017, and he will make his solo recital debut in Detroit on May 6th, 2018, on the Cathedral Cultural Series at Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Fletcher’s many radio and television appearances have included Storyline on Fox-affiliate WAGA-TV’s “Good Day Atlanta”; KCSC in Oklahoma City; Long Island’s Public Radio WLIU 88.3 FM; NPR-affiliated Classical 94.5 WNED in Buffalo/Toronto; In 2015 Peter was interviewed by classical radio announcer Owen DeJong at South Dakota Public Broadcasting, who also aired his full recital given in Rapid City, SD.
Peter Fletcher’s three recordings, The Art of Classical Guitar, A Peter Fletcher Recital and Federico Mompou: Guitar Works (Centaur Records CRC 2588), have received critical acclaim. In September 2005 Centaur Records released Peter Fletcher plays Erik Satie. Peter Fletcher Plays Baroque Music for Guitar was released in 2008 on the Tower Hill Recordings label.
Current recordings involve an all-Grieg album, for which he himself wrote the guitar transcriptions, released in 2014 on Centaur Records, and a self-released Christmas Album in 2015. His current CD features live performances of Bach’s First Lute Suite, Ravel’s Empress of the Pagodas, Leyenda and Sevilla by Albeniz, and music by Tansman, Reusner, Couperin, de Visee, Satie and Carlo Domeniconi.
Peter divides his time between Detroit, where he recently purchased a vintage home in the historic North Rosedale Park neighborhood, and New York City.
