Richard Todd & Mitch Weverka- June 6, 2004

Richard Todd      Nashville-born guitarist Richard Todd won scholarships to study with masters such as Clare Callahan, Robert Guthrie, and Matteo Mela. Competition awards include First Prize in both the Music Teachers’ National Association Competition and the National Federation of Music Clubs Competition. Mr. Todd has performed in many live broadcasts for radio and television, including National Public Radio affiliates in Nashville and Cincinnati, and television appearances in Imperia and Sanremo, Italy. His numerous concerts throughout the United States and Italy have included appearances with the Cincinnati Philharmonia and Dallas Chamber Orchestras. His first CD, released in 1999, was described by Soundboard Magazine as showing “intensity, variety of tone color, and ebb and flow in the music…”. It can be purchased at www.independentrecordings.com

     Mr. Todd currently resides in Nashville, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Tennessee State University. Recent festival engagements include the Maple Mount Institute in Kentucky, the Columbus State University Guitar Symposium in Georgia, and the Seminari di Primavera Corso Internazionale. Mitch Weverka      Mitch Weverka began playing the guitar at age seven. While growing up in Fort Worth he received most of his instruction from the Bolivian guitarist/artist Oscar Valdez. Since that time he has completed a performance degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Southern Methodist University, studied in Cremona, Italy for nearly three years and received numerous accolades.      Mitch has been a finalist in numerous international competitions, winning top prize at four; the Festival Internazionale della Chitarra (2001 Siracusa, Italy), The East Carolina Guitar Competition (2001 Greenville, North Carolina), The Oswald Rantucci Guitar Competition (1997 Buffalo, New York), and the Rovere d’Oro International Music Competition (1997 San Bartolomeo, Italy). While living in Italy he received a Diploma of Merit from the Academia Musicale Chigiana in Siena where he studied with Oscar Ghiglia. He has studied with a number of internationally acclaimed guitarists, principally Robert Guthrie, Giovanni Puddu, Matteo Mela, and John Holmquist. As a student he performed in master classes for a long list of touring artists.      Currently, he lives in Fort Worth, Texas where he maintains a very active schedule. He is pursuing a postgraduate degree at Texas Christian University, where he is part of a very unique program in Educational Foundations directed by Sherrie Reynolds, Ph.D. Mitch is also a founding member and current director of The Fort Worth Guitar Guild a non-profit organization dedicated to developing guitar activities in North Texas, USA.