The 10th Anniversary Season of the Portland Classic Guitar Series presents Emmy-Nominated musician and storyteller John Doan with his acclaimed “Homage to Fernando Sor” program.
Imagine stepping into a time machine with Doctor Who to experience the world that shaped the beginnings of the classical guitar and the life of its most revered player, Fernando Sor.
That is what it may feel like as you hear the very sounds of 200 years ago on period instruments that Sor would have known but are rarely if ever heard today followed by John’s own inspired compositions that try to unveil the meaning and feeling behind what Sor himself tried to convey within his own musical language. Yesterday becomes today as history comes to life again.
In addition to the music you will see the world as Sor would have seen it through a multimedia presentation of period paintings both during the show and pre-show. John guides his audience in an immersion experience by playing themes of Sor’s on one of the first guitars made in England in 1819 perhaps at the commission of Sor himself. He then follows with his own haunting music inspired by Sor’s themes on a rare Bog Oak guitar – English maker Gary Southwell’s first guitar made from wood 5,500 years old!
Come experience a concert that contemplates the mystery of time passing, the drama of living in challenging times where the stakes are high in love and war and where moments of beauty connects the past to our present. Continue reading
