Thursday, May 4, 2023, at 7:00 PM
Pushing the Limits: Arranging, Commissioning, and Collaboration
The duo of Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan has undertaken three ambitious projects since 2019: an album of Canadian commissions, an album of French arrangements, and a forthcoming album of six new concertos for two guitars and string orchestra. Using examples from all three, this presentation will give an inside look into the various creative processes, arranging techniques, and unique compositional approaches taken by composers who are not guitarists themselves.
The presentation will be followed by our Open Mic. Sign up in advance to play — see the Member Events page for details. NYCCGS Member Events are free and open to all members and first-time guests.
Steve Cowan and Adam Cicchillitti are respected and acclaimed guitarists, quickly establishing themselves on both the guitar circuit and concert stages across Canada and abroad. Classical Guitar Magazine calls Cicchilllitti a “superb Canadian guitarist” and Cowan “one of Canada’s top contemporary classical guitarists.” Together, they form the dynamic ensemble Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo, a guitar partnership that focuses on expanding the guitar duo idiom through collaborations with living composers, while also performing popular duo works and their own arrangements of impressionist works from 20th-century France and Spain.
Two long-time friends and musicians, Cowan and Cicchillitti toured Eastern Canada under the auspices of Debut Atlantic in 2018 and are currently on tour with Prairie Debut in 2020-2021. The Cicchillitti-Cowan Duo presents intriguing programs and has recently released an album of Canadian guitar premieres on the Analekta label. Their next album, featuring original arrangements of 20th century music written in Paris, will be released with Analekta in the spring of 2021. In 2022, they will premiere six new commissions for two guitars and orchestra with Ottawa-based chamber ensemble 13 Strings, funded by the Canada Council for the Arts.
