An Evening of Classical Guitar Duos
Dúo Copla, José Maldonado and Ernesto Ramos
Matt Kaplan & Pierre Ferreyra-Mansilla
Saturday, February 25, 2024
Aikido of South Brooklyn
205 Columbia St. Brooklyn, NY 11231
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Matthew Kaplan is a classical guitarist based in New York City. He holds dual bachelor’s degrees of Music Education and Music Performance with a minor in piano performance from West Chester University of Pennsylvania and a master’s of Music Performance from Mannes College - The New School for Music where he studied with classical guitar luminaries like Frederic Hand and Michael Newman.
Matt’s performing experience includes venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, the Kimmel Center, the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, and the Morgan Library and Museum. He has also had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses for musicians like Leo Brouwer, Jorge Caballero, Manuel Barrueco, Scott Tennant, William Kanengeiser, Eduardo Fernández, Martha Masters, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, and many more.
Internationally, Matt has brought his music to Perú at the Universidad Nacional de Música in 2007. In Italy he performed as a soloist with the Rome Festival Orchestra in 2010 and in 2018 he performed in Lanciano as a fellowship recipient of the 2018 Lanciano International Guitar Seminar. Matt also regularly performs in Santiago de Chile and Barcelona, Spain.
In 2021 Matt released a double album recording of chamber music of pieces composed by the Bolivian composer Jaime Zenamon. Zenamon - A Chamber Music Collection includes music for guitar and cello, guitar and violin, guitar duo, guitar trio, and guitar quartet featuring Matt’s colleagues and friends in New York City. You can hear Matt’s debut guitar chamber music album “Zenamon - A Chamber Music Collection” on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, Tidal, and more.
In addition to Matt’s performing career, Matt has also flourished as a private educator of classical guitar & teaching pedagogy. Matt has over 15 years of teaching experience working with students of all ages, abilities, and musical interests. In Matt’s most recent teaching experience, Matt established himself as an effective guitar instructor at the award winning NYC private music school Sage Music and was promoted to be the company’s first ever education manager where he was in charge of training teachers to teach effective and impactful lessons.
Recently, Matt co-founded the Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society - a community that seeks to nourish and build the classical guitar community in Brooklyn, and to increase awareness and appreciation of classical guitar music everywhere. Find out more at www.bkcgs.org
Currently Matt plays in NYC as a soloist and with chamber music groups like Duokado (guitar and cello duo), The Alexander Wu Quartet, and Matadora (guitar & piano). He teaches classical guitar lessons online and at his studio in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Matt plays a double-top spruce guitar made by Garrett Lee
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Pierre was the grand prize winner of the 2011 Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society competition and the Peter Gross grant for performance. Highlights of his recent performances include performances with the New Amsterdam Singers and the Dessoff choirs, the Aspen Opera Company and Festival orchestras, as well as the Philadelphia, New England, Oneonta, and Wall classical guitar society festivals. He is also a frequent performer at the Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, the Americas Society, and the Morgan Library in New York City. As a seasoned teacher, Pierre has had extensive experience working with students of diverse ages and backgrounds. He was a fellowship student at the Aspen Music festival with Sharon Isbin from 2010 to 1016, where he worked with both public school and private students. Pierre began his musical studies at the age of nine with the Suzuki method. After years of private and independent study, he finished his Bachelor's degree at Mannes College of Music in 2002, and his Master's degree at the Juilliard school in 2014. Pierre is a co-founder of the Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society.
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Dr. José Gabriel Maldonado Suárez is a musician, arts administrator, and educator from Puerto Rico based in New York City. His classical guitar solo and chamber music repertoire spans works of guitar literature from the Renaissance to contemporary music, with a strong emphasis on music from Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In addition to performing solo guitar repertoire, José is actively engaged in chamber music. He is a co-founder of Dúo Copla, a classical guitar duo that focuses on performing, arranging, and recording works by Puerto Rican composers. Furthermore, José is a co-founder of Weiwei & José Duo, a classical guitar and piano duo that explores Baroque, Classical, and Romantic Era repertoire with additional influences from Puerto Rican and Chinese folk traditions.
As an Arts Administrator, Dr. Maldonado Suárez curates events that celebrate diverse voices by artists from underrepresented communities in the classical music field. José has served as an Audience Development and Engagement Consultant for the Brooklyn Classical Guitar Society and was invited to contribute his expertise as a member of the Advisory Council: Building Equity for BIPOC Artists at the Jamaica Center of Arts & Learning in Queens, NY. Additionally, he was selected to join the 2023 inaugural cohort of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) Mentorship Program.
José has received invitations to perform and deliver presentations at prestigious institutions, including Hunter College, Stony Brook University, John Jay College, the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, Marshall University, Middlebury College, Columbia University, and the Long Island Guitar Festival, among others.
Currently, Dr. Maldonado Suárez is the Director of Guitar Studies at Bloomingdale School of Music, where he actively curates and manages all public programming for the department. Simultaneously, he is a member of the faculty in the Department of Art & Music at John Jay College, part of The City University of New York (CUNY). Dr. Maldonado holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree (DMA) from Stony Brook University and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Baruch College.
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Prof. Ernesto V. Ramos Vázquez is a dedicated educator and musician from San Juan, Puerto Rico, whose deep-rooted passion for music started in his teenage years when he delved into the local rock scene as an electric guitarist. Since then, he has performed in a variety of ensembles spanning from classical, folkloric, and jazz, to experimental theater, and rock genres, both in Puerto Rico and New York City.
After studying in the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico under the tutelage of the renowned classical guitarist, and composer Leonardo Egúrbida, and also with jazz guitar professor Fernando Mattina, he continued his studies at the Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College, with professor Lars Frandsen and privately with guitarist Jerry Willard.
With an extensive career in education and as a higher education administrator, Prof. Ramos Vázquez has adapted his teaching methods to cater to each student's unique interest and skill level, fostering a love for music in every individual, while counseling students in their musical career. He has been invited to perform and teach Master Classes in Chicago at the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance, and at John Jay College and Bloomingdale School of Music in New York.
Currently, Prof. Ramos Vázquez is the Associate Dean of Students and Academic Affairs of the Conservartorio de Música de Puerto Rico, forms part of its Preparatory School Faculty, and likes to perform works from the classical guitar repertoire, as well as Afro-Caribbean music, Latin American Classical Guitar Music of the nineteenth century, and Puerto Rican Danza.
