 Jose's solo CD, Latin Images, a compilation of solo works from the Hispanic world (with two duos recorded with John Mantegna) has received critical praise. "Things get off to a good start with strong rhythmic attention to Lauro's Natalia with its engaging 3/4:6/8 patterns....the cross-string trills in the Scarlatti sonatas, often excluded from these pieces in favor of single-string ornamentation, are an artistic inclusion...this is an enjoyable recording with an interesting, entertaining and well-played programme." Music Web International, Review of Jose Lezcano's "Latin Images."
Jose's latest CD, "Latin Landscapes," was recently released in November 2008. In collaboration with Matthew Shubin, bassoonist, and Paul Schliffer, flutist, of the Rochester Folk Art Guild's Ensemble Resonance, Jose performs his original compositions and arrangements of Latin American composers for guitar and winds, including his most recent commissioned work, "Diarios," inspired by his travels and enthusiasm for the music of Cuba, the Andes, New York, and Brazil.
Lezcanos compositions are published by Alry and Tuscany. They include the Sonatina Tropical (for flute and guitar); Cuban Sketches (for guitar and two flutes); and Poemas Concertantes (for flute, guitar and chamber orchestra). His works have been performed by leading virtuosi such as William Bennett, Ricardo Cobo, and Antigoni Goni. Active also as an ethnomusicologist, Lezcano has published articles in Soundboard, the Latin American Music Review and the Latino Encyclopedia.
Equipment: Jose uses a 1972 Robert Ruck cedar top, Brazilian Rosewood sides, Classical guitar with D'Addario hard tension or Savarez Red cord and Galli sometimes. He also uses a 2001 Peter Oberg solid spruce top. |
Described by the New Millennium Guitar Magazine as "a superb guitarist as well as a first-rate composer and arranger" José Manuel Lezcano has captivated audiences on four continents. His programs featuring traditional and Latin American repertory, and his own original compositions have taken him as recitalist, collaborative musician, and concerto soloist from Carnegie Recital Hall and the North-South Consonance Series in New York City to major venues and festivals in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, China, the Czech Republic and Germany.
Born in Havana, Cuba in 1960, Lezcano was invited to join the faculty of Keene State College in New Hampshire in 1991, where he is Professor of Music and teaches courses in guitar, music theory, and Latin American music; he directs the Guitar Orchestra and Latin American ensemble. He earned degrees from Peabody Conservatory (BM), University of South Carolina (MM), and Florida State University (Ph.d. music theory) where his teachers included Aaron Shearer and Christopher Berg. He also participated in master classes taught by Michael Lorimer, Sharon Isbin, and Leo Brouwer the noted Cuban guitarist and composer who referred to him as "a magnificent guitarist --un guitarista magnifico."
Dr. Lezcano's own Guitar Concerto (2004), which he premiered in New York City as soloist with the North-South Consonance Chamber Orchestra directed by Max Lifschitz, has received critical acclaim after release on the North-South label in 2007 as "Remembrances/Recuerdos." Fanfare Magazine wrote, "Colorfully scored ... agreeable music, and dashingly performed by the composer." Turok's Choice wrote, "Lezcano's Guitar Concerto (is) a first-rate composition ... Lezcano is a fine guitarist in his own cause." And the American Record Guide wrote, "Amiability is the keynote in the latest collection .. by the excellent North-South Chamber Orchestra ... Lezcano's Guitar Concerto is a atmospheric, tuneful melange." In September, 2008, Dr. Lezcano performed his concerto with the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Peru. He has also performed it with orchestras in Ecuador, Colombia, and New Hampshire.
Dr. Lezcano's works include two additional concerti, a song cycle, a choral suite, chamber music, and solos, written in an eclectic, expressive, but accessible language that is praised for "energy" and "soaring melodies" (Flute Talk). His chamber works with guitar, published by Alry and Tuscany, have been performed by major artists including Ricardo Cobo, Antigoni Goni, Duo Fresco, the Alturas Duo, and William Bennet. A recent CD by Ms. Goni, "Songs from the New Village," on Koch International, includes José's Sonatina Tropical.
José has earned numerous awards, including first prize in the MTNA National Guitar Competition, the NH State Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship, NHMTA Composer of the Year (2002 & 07), KSC Distinguished Research Award, and a Fulbright Award to Ecuador where he performed as orchestral soloist and pursued research on indigenous guitar traditions. Jose's scholarly publications include Latin American Music Review, Soundboard, and the Latino Encyclopedia. He has lectured throughout the state for the NH Humanities Council on Ecuadorean indian guitar traditions, rituals, and mythology. Most recently in 2007, two additional works received New York premieres (Viola concerto, and Tango-Overture) by orchestras North-South Consonance and the Astoria Symphony with soloist Brett Deubner.
Among his numerous awards:
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