Bokyung Byun

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Programs

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Opening act Beckett Ceron

Tiento Antiguo…………………………………………Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)

Sonata in D Major, K.491…………....Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757) arr. Russell

A Felicidade………………………....Antônio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) arr. Dyens

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Bokyung Byun

Campanas del Alba……………………..Eduardo Sainz de la Maza (1903 - 1982)

Prelude and Dance………………………………………..Celil Refik Kaya (b. 1991)

Sonata Omaggio a Boccherini…….…Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1897 - 1968)

      Allegro con spirito

      Andantino, quasi canzone

      Tempo di Minuetto

      Vivo energico

La gran sarabanda……………………………………………..Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)

—INTERMISSION—

Brasiliana No. 13……………………………………..Radamés Gnattali (1906-1988)

      Samba bossa-nova

      Valsa

      Choro

Sonatina………………………………………………………………...Celil Refik Kaya

      Andante

      Adagio

      Allegro

Western Vista……………………………………………Olga Amelkina-Vera (b.1976)

Recipient of the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Bokyung Byun​ enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Bokyung holds the distinction of being the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where Falletta herself described Bokyung’s performance as "stunning, showcasing her gorgeous tone, immaculate technique, and sophisticated musicianship.” Other recent honors include the grand prize at the 2021 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition and the Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition

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A bevy of orchestras, festivals, workshops, and guitar societies look to Byun for solo performances and masterclasses. In recent seasons, Byun has performed as a soloist with orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, West Los Angeles Symphony, New Juilliard Ensemble, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, among others. Her solo recital highlights include performances at the Kumho Young Artist Series, Philadelphia Guitar Festival, Aspen-Salida Concert Series, Toronto Guitar Weekend, Guitar Montréal, Ellnora | The Guitar Festival, and San Diego Guitar Festival. She was acclaimed for performing “eloquently through a diverse and challenging program,” by Michelle Fratus, president of the board of the Knoxville Guitar Society, and having “confidence, passion, excellent projection and great dynamic contrast” by Heather Morand Clark, president of the Guitar Society of Toronto.

Committed to expanding the role of a 21st-century musician, Byun’s concert program often features contemporary music alongside traditional repertoire. As Byun herself says, “it’s vital and exciting to audiences for concerts to join the new with the old. For guitar music to continue to grow, I believe that new works must actively be cultivated in programming, and it is my hope that audiences leave my performances with new experiences.” This skill at navigating both classic repertoire and fresh work has led her to co-found Sounding Board: The New Music Initiative for Guitarists and Composers. The project focuses on promoting collaborative relationships between composers and performers to create new works for guitar, and its inaugural festival in Besançon, France in 2019 has been praised as “extraordinary, in the strict sense of the word,” by La Presse de Gray in France.

Bokyung’s debut recording in 2020 has been praised by Soundboard Magazine as, “a very beautiful disc…We are treated to extraordinary musicianship, technical assurance, and beauty of sound.” In 2022, American Record Guide chose her Naxos Laurate Series recording as the Critics’ Choice Album, remarking her style as “very reminiscent of Andres Segovia.”

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Born in Seoul, Korea, Byun began playing guitar at the age of six. At eleven, she took the stage for her first solo recital, leading to an early start in her teen years performing numerous concert tours around Korea, to enthusiastic response, including millions of views on YouTube. By her teen years, she had gained national attention for first-prize finishes in three renowned competitions: the Korea Guitar Association, the Music Association of Korea, and the Guitar Foundation of America International Youth Competition.

Byun soon moved to the United States, where she briefly studied in Los Angeles before moving to New York City, where she entered The Juilliard School at the age of sixteen. She holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Teachers and mentors include Scott Tennant, William Kanengiser, Chen Zhi, Tae-Soo Kim, and Sharon Isbin.

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In 2020, Byun co-founded Guitarlab which has provided an innovative online learning platform offering cutting-edge classes designed for young professionals around the world. Bokyung is currently on the guitar faculty of University of North Texas. She is an Augustine Strings artist and plays a guitar by Dieter Mueller (2019).

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Opening act Beckett Ceron is 14 years old and lives in Cincinnati Ohio. He has been studying classical guitar since he was five years old. Beckett has placed in a number of national and international competitions and has performed in locations around Ohio, Connecticut and New York. In 2017, at the age of 7, Beckett had the honor of playing in an ensemble with Andrew York at Carnegie Hall, for the Premiere of York’s Singularity.  In 2018 Beckett was the youngest ever member of the Guitar Foundation of America's (GFA) Youth Orchestra, at age 9. He has participated in masterclasses with a number of classical guitar greats including Eduardo Fernandez, Thomas Viloteau, Adam Levin, Stephen Mattingly, Jeremy Collins and has worked with Bokyung Byun, Scott Borg, Jim McCutcheon and Dave Veslocki.

In 2023 he was selected to participate in the GFA’s Mentorship Program and had a beautiful Colombian Cumbia piece written for him by Carlos Bedoya, which he performed at the opening ceremony of the 2023 GFA Convention at the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to guitar, Beckett loves to play soccer and his 2023 team made it to the US National Finals tournament for the E64 National League. When not playing guitar or soccer he can be found enjoying a game of chess or reading a book.