Guitar/Piano Duos
Matt Kaplan, Isidora Vladic, José Maldonando, Weiwei Zhai
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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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As a solo and collaborative musician Isidora Vladic has performed repertoire ranging from standard classical repertoire to avant-garde works of the 20 and 21st century. She has participated in the Institute and Festival for Contemporary Performance at Mannes, performing ensemble works by Kurtag, Stockhausen, and David Lang and has also participated in the International Keyboard Institute and Festival at Hunter College and Gijon International Piano Festival in Spain as a solo performer.
Isidora received her Bachelor's and Master's in Piano Performance from New York University. Her teachers have included Jeffrey Swann, Jose Ramon Mendez, and Marc Ponthus. She has also played in masterclasses for artists such as Robert McDonald, Nelita True, Alexander Kobrin, and Barry Snyder. She currently studies the Taubman Approach with Robert Durso, co-founder and Senior director of the Golandsky Institute.
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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. His doctoral research focused on the Puerto Rican Danza, tracing the genre's origins, its sociopolitical impact, and its role in the struggle for Puerto Rican decolonization.
As an arts administrator, Dr. Maldonado Suárez curates classical music presentations and events that celebrate Latine and Caribbean music manifestations. His Caribbean-focused repertoire and demonstrated passion for teaching have earned him invitations to perform and present lectures and master classes at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, Marshall University, Middlebury College, Columbia University, and the Long Island Guitar Festival, among others. Additionally, he was selected to join the 2023 inaugural cohort of the Association of Arts Administration Educators (AAAE) Mentorship Program.
Dr. Maldonado Suárez is the Director of Guitar Studies at Bloomingdale School of Music and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music at John Jay College, the City University of New York (CUNY). Dr. Maldonado Suárez holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degree from Stony Brook University and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration (MA) degree from Baruch College, CUNY.
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Pianist Weiwei Zhai has performed throughout Asia, North America, and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician. Critics have praised her “enthusiasm and grace” and described her performance as “absolutely gorgeous throughout as to sonority and especially style” (New York Concert Review). Weiwei has played concerts at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Harvard Club of New York City, Steinway Hall, Trinity Church Wall Street, the National Opera Center, and the Beijing National Library Performing Arts Center. As the first-prize winner of the Concerto Competition at Manhattan School of Music (MSM), she performed the Scriabin Piano Concerto with conductor Philippe Entremont. In addition, she has played with celebrated conductor Christian Vásquez in Italy. Ms. Zhai won top prizes in the Kazakhstan International Piano Competition and the Five Towns Young Musicians Competition in New York.
An avid chamber musician, Ms. Zhai has collaborated with members of the Grammy-nominated quintet, Imani Winds. Her piano trio has been invited to play for the International Advisory Board at MSM. She has appeared at the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the PianoTexas International Festival and Academy, and the InterHarmony International Music Festival.
Weiwei began to take piano lessons at an early age. She won top prizes in major national competitions and graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with Manchun Chen. She moved to New York to study at Manhattan School of Music, where she received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree, studying with Dr. Solomon Mikowsky and Dr. Inesa Sinkevych. Ms. Zhai is a member of the piano faculty at Bloomingdale School of Music and Lindeblad School of Music.
