Brasil Guitar Duo

João Luiz
Douglas Lora

Winner, 2006 CAG International Competition

www.myspace.com/brasilguitarduo

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Classical Guitar Magazine exclaims: “The maturity of musicianship and technical virtuosity …is simply outstanding.” in describing the Brasil Guitar Duo, winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild International Competition.  With a full touring schedule on two continents, critically acclaimed recordings and innovative programming featuring a seamless blend of traditional and Brazilian works, the Duo has quickly emerged as one of the preeminent guitar duos of its generation.

Highlights of the Brasil Guitar Duo’s 2008-09 season include debut performances at the Lied Center of the University of Kansas, Purdue University Convocations and the Virginia Arts Festival, along with a combined engagement which includes both a recital at the CityFolk Festival in Dayton, OH and concerto performances with the Dayton Philharmonic. In addition, Mssrs. Luiz and Lora perform recitals at the Guitar Festival hosted by the Santa Barbara Symphony and for the Classical Guitar Societies of St. Louis, Upstate New York and Dallas/Ft. Worth, the latter of which features a three-city tour.  The Duo returns to Dallas in June to perform in a special concert with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

This followed a busy summer 2008, including debut performances at the Grand Teton Music Festival, Stowe Summer Music Festival (VT), Lancaster Festival (OH), and internationally, the Bermuda Guitar Festival, the Outreach Festival in Tirol, Austria and Sao Paulo’s Campos do Jordão international Festival.  In addition, they performed a special collaborative program with soprano Sarah Wolfson at the Chautauqua Festival and the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival. 

Recent featured recital engagements in New York City include Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the River to River Festival, New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes College, New York Classical Guitar Society and a special concert of works by Cuban-born composer Tania León at Symphony Space.  In addition, they have performed for the Orange County (CA) Performing Arts Center, Tucson Guitar Society, Miami Guitar Festival and the Asociacion Nacional de Conciertos in Panama City.  Recent orchestral highlights include a performance of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Concerto for Two Guitars with the Houston Symphony, and Brazilian music with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre. 

In the recording studio, the Brasil Guitar Duo’s debut for the Naxos label features the complete works for two guitars by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco on two CDs, the first of which was released in late 2008 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the composer’s death, and the latest was released in June 2009.  Previously, the Duo’s first CD dedicated to all-Brazilian repertoire, Bom Partido, was released in August 2007 on CAG Records and is now in its third printing.  That followed the group’s debut CD, João Luiz e Douglas Lora (2000), which has garnered wide critical acclaim: “One would be hard put to think of a finer way to enter the world of recorded music” (Classical Guitar).  Joined by the Duo’s mentor Enrique Pinto, the players formed the Violão-Camara-Trio and recently released a CD of traditional repertoire.

The Duo appears frequently in conjunction with CAG’s highly regarded New Music/New Places initiative, performing in diverse non-traditional spaces.  Just some of the venues who have hosted the duo are: BAMcafé and Barbés Bar and Performance Space in Brooklyn; Long Island’s Cinema Arts Centre; Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs; and Philadelphia’s World Café Live.  The Brasil Guitar Duo is perfectly suited for these non-traditional venues, having established a broad repertoire of classical guitar duos (Bach, Sor, Scarlatti, etc.) combined with the traditional music of its native land (samba, maxixe, choro and baião).  

João Luiz and Douglas Lora met in São Paulo as teenage guitar students and have been performing together for more than ten years, perfecting a sublime synchronicity and effortless performance style. The ensemble’s primary studies were with Henrique Pinto along with Fabio Zanon, Paulo Martelli, Sergio Abreu and Alice Artz.  Douglas Lora recently completed a Master’s degree at the University of Miami as a student of Dr. Rene Gonzalez.  João Luiz is a member of the guitar quartet Quaternaglia.