Ronn McFarlane - September 19, 2004
One of the most outstanding lutenists performing today, Ronn McFarlane is largely responsible for bringing the transcendent charm and timeless quality of the lute into the musical mainstream and making it accessible to a larger audience.
Born in West Virginia, Mr. McFarlane spent most of his early years in the neighboring state of Maryland where he developed an interest in music at an early age. As a teenager, he taught himself to play on what he describes as a cranky sixteen dollar steel string guitar. He went on to develop his talent, and combined blues and rock music on the electric guitar with studies on the classical guitar. He graduated with honors from Shenandoah Conservatory and continued studies at Peabody Conservatory before turning his full attention and energy to the lute in 1978. The following year, Mr. McFarlane performed his first solo recitals on the lute and became a member of the Baltimore Consort. Since that time, he has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada and Europe with the Baltimore Consort and as a soloist. Mr. McFarlane was a faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory from 1984 to 1995, teaching lute and lute-related subjects. In 1996, Mr. McFarlane was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Music from Shenandoah Conservatory for his achievements in bringing the lute and its music to the world. He has numerous recordings on the Dorian label including six solo recordings, four lute song recordings with Julianne Baird, soprano and Frederick Urrey, tenor, ten CDs with the Baltimore Consort and three ballad recordings with Custer LaRue and members of the Baltimore Consort.
Recently, Ronn McFarlane has been engaged in composing new music for the lute, building on the tradition of the lutenist/composers of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This new music will be the focus of his next solo CD.
What the critics are saying:
"A delightful surprise of unusual charm, American lutenist McFarlane, subtle master of his instrument, illuminates the little trod path of Scottish lute music from the early 1600's...McFarlane brings a loving touch to these gems."
Cincinnati Enquirer
"His intense concentration, technical prowess and rapport with the audience showed that, in time, he could become the Segovia of the lute."
Chicago Tribune
"probably the finest living exponent of his instrument"
- The Times Colonist, Victoria, B.C.
"The songs posess a timeless charm and pith that are captured with effortless grace by the remarkable lutenist Ronn McFarlane" TIME
"Dorian has the find of a lifetime in Ronn McFarlane, one of the most impressive lutenists ever to record...Inimitable clarity, tone, grace, wit and phrasing culminate in Renaissance lute playing at its very, very finest."
American Record Guide
"...his effortless ornaments create just that magical balance of almost amorphous freedom that never for a moment loses its rhythmic drive."
Grammophone UK
"McFarlane, for his part, is a master lutenist who's seemingly distilled countless influences and yet maintained the uniqueness of his instrument. He played 450-year old John Dowland pieces as well as his own compositions with a casual intensity that belies his rythmic style. And anyone impressed with the dexterity required by speed rock ought to see what Mr. McFarlane does when he flashes his fingers across the fretboard of a stout lute. Little wonder his performance received a standing ovation."
- The Wall Street Journal