| "Soundscapes" FIU Miami Guitar
Orchestra Fall Concert 2013
New Appointment at Florida International University School of Music
New guitar orchestra work "Istanbul Espresso" to be premiered on May 24, 2013
New CD "Anatolian Fantasy"
available on January 25, 2013
New Composition "Istanbul Express" to be premiered on March 2, 2013
Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra
Auditions
Two new CDs scheduled to be released in Fall 2012
"Scenes from Guitar Island" Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra Spring Concert 2012
Aksak Duo Concert Tour
Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra Winter Concert 2012
Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra featured at SC Baroque Festival
Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra featured at Davis Art Center Series
"Dueling Strings" Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra Spring Concert 2011
Over the Sea: SC Chamber Players Concerts
Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra Winter Concert 2011
New composition to be premiered on March 19, 2011
Santa Cruz Guitar
Orchestra Fall Concert 2010
Anatolian Fantasy with
the Ozgen Trio
Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra
Auditions
"Designing Technical
Training Programs" book release
"New Dimensions
in Classical Guitar - DVD" release
"New Dimensions
in Classical Guitar" broadcast on TV
"New Dimensions
in Classical Guitar" wins 2006 Telly Award
"New Dimensions
in Classical Guitar" DVD presented at GFA
"Troubadour" CD
"New Dimensions
in Classical Guitar" premiered in March 2004
Artist in Residence
at the Mello Center
The FIU Miami Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
will present its inaugural concert at the Wolfsonian FIU in Miami Beach, Florida on Friday, November 22, 2013
at 7:00 pm more...
Dear friends, I am happy to report that I just got a great job offer from Miami and joined the music faculty at Florida International University School of Music as director of guitar studies and FIU Guitar Ensemble beginning with the Fall 2013. Even though I had to leave UCSC and beautiful Santa Cruz, I will still be collaborating with many great musician friends from California. I am also excited to have a chance to work with many wonderful musicians in Miami, such as Orlando Garcia, Carlos Molina, Carlos Rafael Rivera, Rafael Padron, and Federico Bonacossa.
Mesut's new composition "Istanbul Espresso" for guitar orchestra with soprano, mandolin, electric guitar, and bass will be premiered in the SCGO Concert "Sinfonia de Guitarra" on Mary 24, 2013.
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This CD is a sequel to my first recording of folk inspired classical guitar music entitled "Troubadour," which included works by a number of composers. In this new album, all the music was written by myself, including not only solo but also chamber works, such as guitar duo, soprano-guitar duo, flute-cello-guitar trio, and kemençe-cello-guitar trio with wonderful musician friends: Patrice Maginning (soprano), Neva Özgen (kemençe), Yelda Özgen (cello), William Coulter (steel string guitar), Lars Johannesson (flute), and Amy Brodo (cello). more...
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Mesut's new composition "Istanbul Express" for soprano, two flutes, cello, and piano will be premiered by Lars Johannesson, flute, Alissa Roedig, piccolo, Sheila Willey-Hannon, soprano, Amy Brodo, cello, and Susan Bruckner, piano in the SC Chamber Players Concerts "Orient Express" on March 2-3, 2013.
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The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra is accepting new players.
The orchestra meets in three two-month sessions: October-November,
January-February, and April-May. In each session, ten rehearsals
will take place during the weekends, culminating with a public
concert. Players are expected to have basic reading skills
and a technical level from lower intermediate to advanced.
Other than classical guitarists, mandolin and bass players
are also welcome to join the orchestra. Auditions can be arranged
by appointment with Orchestra Director Mesut Özgen. For
more information go to the SCGO Website.
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Mesut's two new CDs "Anatolian Fantasy" featuring his own compositions and "21st Century Guitar Music" featuring new works written for Mesut are scheduled to be released in the fall of 2012.
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The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
will present the final concert of the 2011-12 season at the UCSC Music Center Recital Hall in Santa Cruz, California on Monday, May 21, 2012
at 7:30 pm more...
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Aksak Duo, formed by the Turkish virtuoso violinist Cihat Askin and guitarist/composer Mesut Özgen, begins their concert tour in Turkey at the Kars Music Festival on March 24, 2012. The duo performs a special program of violin-guitar music, including works by Pablo Ortiz, Chris Pratorius, Robert Strizich, Ken Walicki, Mesut Özgen, and others. Aksak means "limping" in Turkish and refers to an odd rhythmic pattern in 9/8 or 9/4 meter. more...
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The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
will present its Winter Concert at the Mt. Calvary Lutheran
Church in Soquel, California on Sunday, March 4, 2012
at 4 pm. more...
The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
is featured in the first concert of the 2012 SC Baroque Festival at the UCSC Music Center Recital Hall on Saturday, February 11, 2012
at 7:30 pm. Among the repertoire is Özgen's arrangement of Contrapunctus No. 1 from the Art of the Fugue by J.S. Bach. Read a concert review on the SC Sentinel: "Baroque Festival goes exotic to open 39th season"
The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
presents the first concert of the 2012 Guitar Ensemble Series at the Davis Art Center in Davis, California on Friday, February 3, 2012
at 8 pm more...
Featured in an article on The Davis Enterprise: "Guitar magic featured at Davis Art Center series"
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The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
will present the final concert of the 2010-11 season at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz, California on Tuesday, May 17, 2011
at 7:30 pm more...
Featured in an article on Metro Santa Cruz: "Santa Cruz Sound Garden"
The Santa Cruz Chamber Players Concert Series continues the 2010-2011 season with a concert featuring music inspired by the oceans. The program includes works by Toru Takemitsu, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Tsuneya Tanabe, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Carl Nielsen, Sarah Dubois, and Mesut Özgen more...
The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
will present its Winter Concert at the Mt. Calvary Lutheran
Church in Soquel, California on Sunday, February 20, 2011
at 4 pm. more...
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Mesut's new composition "Mavi Yolculuk (Blue Journey) for flute, cello, and guitar will be premiered by Lars Johannesson, flute, Amy Brodo, cello, and Mesut Özgen, guitar in the SC Chamber Players Concerts "Over the Sea" on March 19-20, 2011.
The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra, directed by Mesut Ozgen,
will present its Fall Concert at the Mt. Calvary Lutheran
Church in Soquel, California on Sunday, November 21, 2010
at 4 pm. more...
Music from Istanbul and the Ottoman Court
The UCSC Music Department's "Friday Night Live"
series kicks off the 2010-2011 season with a concert featuring
faculty guitarist Mesut Özgen leading the Özgen
Trio, with Turkish kemençe master Neva Özgen and
flutist Kathleen Purcell, presenting a repertoire from the
classical and folk musics of Turkey on Friday, October 22,
2010, 7:30 pm at UCSC Music Center Recital Hall. The program
includes works by Prince Dimitrie Cantemir, Yalçin
Tura, Mesut Özgen, and David Evan Jones, whose new piece
for kemençe, guitar, and computer-generated tape will
receive its premiere at this concert. Neva Özgen, a master
of kemençe (Turkish bowed instrument with gut strings)
and one of the most respected improvisers in Turkish classical
music, currently teaches at the Istanbul University Turkish
Music Conservatory. For more information call the UCSC Ticket
Box Officet at 831-459-2159 or email at tickets@ucsc.edu.
A repeat concert will also be presented at the St. Mary's
by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Pacific Grove on Saturday,
October 23. more...
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The Santa Cruz Guitar Orchestra is accepting new players.
The orchestra meets in three two-month sessions: October-November,
January-February, and April-May. In each session, ten rehearsals
will take place during the weekends, culminating with a public
concert. Players are expected to have basic reading skills
and a technical level from lower intermediate to advanced.
Other than classical guitarists, mandolin and bass players
are also welcome to join the orchestra. Auditions can be arranged
by appointment with Orchestra Director Mesut Özgen. For
more information and an audition request, contact Mesut at
guitar@mesutozgen.com.
Mesut's pedagogic research book "Designing
Technical Training Programs for Classical Guitarists Based
on Exercise Physiology Principles" is released
by Turquoise Guitar Editions.
The purpose of this research paper is to present technical
training programs for classical guitarists based on exercise
physiology principles, a subdiscipline of kinesiology that
examines biophysical foundations of human movement. Two other
subdisciplines of kinesiology are also discussed in the study
as they relate to playing guitar: functional anatomy and biomechanics.
more...
Mesut's award-winning multimedia concert DVD "New Dimensions
in Classical Guitar" is released on Turquoise
Guitar Editions, featuring solo and duo classical
guitar works accompanied by various visual designs. It includes
five premiere performances of new works by Benjamin Verdery,
Robert Strizich, Pablo Ortiz, Anthony GIlbert, and Deepak
Ram (go to Recordings/Clips
for video excerpts)
DVD
Release Concert on October 13, 2007
Read
the Program Notes (about visuals, repertoire,
and composers from the DVD Menu)
Read
a review on Classical Guitar Magazine
Turquoise Guitar Editions
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UCTV has been broadcast one-hour selections from the "New
Dimensions in Classical Guitar" between May 8-14, 2006.
The premiere broadcast was last year in February 14-20, 2005.
UCTV is available nationwide on Dish Network (Channel 9412)
and on cable stations across California and nationwide in
the U.S., as well as on the Internet. (Visit
www.uctv.tv for more information on schedules
and availability)
The air times (U.S. Pacific time):
Mon, May 8, 2006 8:00am
Mon, May 8, 2006 11:00pm
Tue, May 9, 2006 5:00am
Wed, May 10, 2006 11:00am
Thu, May 11, 2006 2:00am
Fri, May 12, 2006 3:00pm
Sat, May 13, 2006 7:00pm
Sat, May 13, 2006 10:00pm
Sun, May 13, 2006 3:00pm
Program:
1. Sortija for solo guitar by Pablo Victor Ortiz (World premiere)
2. La Guitarra (on poetry by F.G. Lorca) for soprano, guitar,
and percussion by Robert Strizich (World premiere)
3. Shenandoah for solo guitar by Robert Beaser
4. Stars (after M.C. Escher) for recorder and guitar by Anthony
Gilbert (U.S. premiere)
5. Be Kind All the Time for guitar and digital delay by Benjamin
Verdery (World premiere)
Gustavo Vazquez, video
Peter Elsea, digital images
David Lee Cuthbert, scenic/lighting design
Mesut Ozgen, guitar
Lauren Rasmussen, soprano
Annette Bauer, recorder
Read
the DVD Program Notes
Listen audio excerpts at
Sound Clips
Watch video excerpts at Video
Clips
View screen-captures at Photo
Gallery
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"New Dimensions in Classical Guitar," the multimedia
new music video by Mesut Özgen, has won a 2006 Bronze
Telly Award in the Music Video category at the prestigious
27th Annual Telly Awards, an international competition honoring
outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and
programs. A one-hour television program was prepared for UCTV
with selections from the "New Dimensions in Classical
Guitar" DVD produced by Mesut Özgen, soon to be
released on Golden Horn Records. The program was nominated
by UCTV for consideration by the Tellys.
Rounding off the "New Dimensions in Classical Guitar"
crew were: Video Editor Mesut Özgen, Assistant Editor
Zachary Davis, Video Production Director Mark Plummer, Video
Artist Gustavo Vazquez, Digital Graphics Artist Peter Elsea,
and Scenic/Lighting Designer David Lee Cuthbert.
The Telly Awards is a major competition in the US advertising,
television, and video production fields, considered the highest
honor given to non-network programming, and is one of the
most sought-after awards by leading industry firms, production
companies, and ad agencies. The 27th Telly Awards Competition
received over 12,000 entries this year. Designed by the same
firm that makes the Oscar® and Emmy®, the Telly statuette
weighs more than 4.5 pounds. Each year, the Telly Awards generates
millions of impressions in national and local media.
Read
the DVD Program Notes
Listen audio excerpts at Sound Clips
Watch video excerpts at Video
Clips
View screen-captures at Photo
Gallery
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Salome
Sandoval presented the "New Dimensions in
Classical Guitar" DVD in her lecture "Visuals and
Drama in the Classical Guitar Concert" at the Guitar
Foundation of America International Convention in Oberlin,
Ohio in October 2005.
Mesut's solo CD "Troubadour" is released on Golden
Horn Records. "Troubadour" features
classical guitar works inspired by various folk traditions,
including the premiere of "Sonata: Ondas do Mar de Vigo"
by Pratorius.
Read
the full program notes and order online at Turquoise Guitar
Editions
Amazon.com
CD
Baby
Golden Horn
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Mesut Özgen and friends in a Multimedia Performance
Visual Artists:
Gustavo Vazquez, video and stage choreography
Peter Elsea, digital images and multimedia design
David Lee Cuthbert, scenic/lighting design and stage choreography
Guest Artists: Deepak Ram (bansuri),
Annette Bauer (recorder),
Lauren Rasmussen (soprano)
Frequently collaborating with accomplished,
innovative composers, Mesut has long been a champion of new
music for guitar. His eclectic tastes, rooted predominantly
in traditional and folk musics of the world, have inspired
composers to combine avant-garde compositional techniques
with traditional tunes and rhythms. This concert features
world premiere performances of some of these works.
The program includes works by Anthony Gilbert, Anthony Newman, Benjamin
Verdery, Carlo Domeniconi, Christopher Pratorius, Deepak
Ram, Pablo Victor Ortiz, Robert Beaser, and
Robert Strizich.
New Dimensions in Classical Guitar is the collaborative effort of a multidisciplinary artistic team. Each musical composition is accompanied by a visual composition comprising video, interactive computer images, and particularized lighting design and stage choreography.
The video images support the music in various ways, setting an emotional mood through an abstract use of landscapes, animate and inanimate objects. Vazquez has prepared the video footage, exploring the relationship of sound as vibration and image as color temperature, which appears to be an abstraction to our rationality in many ways.
Elsea creates animated digital image patterns and manipulates them during the performance. His Visualizations Project is an exploration of methods to make visual images and performed music cohesive by generating and modifying images with the sound. A computer program analyzes the sound of the performer for volume, pitch, and timbre during the performance. This information is then used to produce the projected images.
The scenery and lighting design also set the mood of each piece and support the music by transforming the stage subtly during the performance according to the changing musical content, both between and within the same piece. Cuthbert's interest in multimedia as a theatrical device for story telling for years has led him to develop new design approaches for the New Dimensions in Classical Guitar .
This interdisciplinary collaboration between several art forms (music, visual arts, digital media, and theatre arts) aims to push the traditional boundaries of these art forms to explore visually enhanced stage presentations in classical music performance.
The first three performances of New Dimensions in Classical
Guitar are presented to California central coast audiences
in March 2004.
Read
more about the program, visuals, repertoire, and composers
Featured in articles on:
Metroactive
Music: "The Wizardry of Oz"
Sentinel: "Classical Guitar Unleashed"
Currents
Online: "Faculty collaborate for innovative, multimedia classical guitar concert"
GuitArt
International: "Glimps inside the future of concert art"
Read a Concert Review on Register-Pajaronian: "Colorful 20th-century musical extravaganza"
Read a DVD Review on Classical
Guitar Magazine
Also, read a related article on Light
Millennium
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Mesut has become an Artist in Residence for the Mello
Center of Pajaro Valley Performing Arts Association
in 2004. The residency activities include concerts, workshops,
and lectures in Watsonville, California.
Featured in articles:
"Artists in Residence boosts theater in Pajaro Valley" Santa Cruz Sentinel
"Turkey's Mesut Ozgen to perform multimedia classical
guitar concert" Register-Pajaronian
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