Glise on Guitar

Dear Friends,
The Missouri Western Guitar Program, directed by Jason Riley and Anthony Glise, will present a concert on Wednesday, April 30, 7:00 PM at Thompson Potter Theater in the Western Fine Arts Building.

The concert will feature the full Western Guitar Ensemble (over a dozen guitarists), the Western Guitar Quartet, the Western Rock Ensemble and several soloists from the guitar program.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Missouri Western State University Department of Music at (816) 271-4420.

Dear Friends,

As founder and director of the St. Joseph International Guitar Festival & Competition I’m very sorry to announce that the festival will not take place this year as planned for May, 2008.

There have been logistic issues in the time line for presenting the 2008 festival that have made it impossible to produce the festival this year at the level of professionalism that we have in the past.

Rather than risk having the festival not live up to the tremendous reputation that we have developed internationally, it is necessary to cancel this year in hopes that the event can be relaunched in the future.

I look forward to keep you apprised of further developments and I remain,

With Best Regards,
Anthony Glise,
Director,
St. Joseph International
Guitar Festival & Competition

The public is invited to a free Guitar Masterclass at Café Acoustic, 2605 Frederick Ave., Wednesday, April 9, beginning at 6:30 PM, featuring guitar majors from the music department at Missouri Western State University.

Local guitarists are also invited to bring their guitars and receive a free coaching. All ages and musical styles are welcome.

The Masterclass will be taught by Anthony Glise, who was the 2006 recipient of the Missouri Arts Council’s award as “Individual Artist of the Year,” presented at the State Capital by Governor Matt Blunt.

A Masterclass is an open music lesson where students perform for an audience and are then coached in front of the audience by a professor on various musical subjects including technique, stage presence, anatomy, historical performance practice and musicianship as well as discussions on career development, management, recording and publishing contracts, etc.

The Nova Project will be appearing in concert on:
Thursday, February 7, 2008 - 9:00 PM
at Café Acoustic
http://www.cafe-acoustic.com
2605 Frederick Ave. (St. Joseph, MO).

The Nova Project will perform contemporary music for classical, electric and improvising guitars with 6-string electric ‘cello and percussion from their upcoming CDs with AME Recordings (Lyon, France).

Musicians for this concert are

• Anthony Glise — classical guitarist / composer / vocals
• Jason Riley — electric / acoustic rock and jazz guitarist,
• James Kew — 6-string electric ‘cello,
• Nick Baker — percussion.

The Nova Project, founded by American-born musicians, Anthony Glise and Jason Riley, is one of the most original prog ensembles on the music scene today. The group has one simple goal: to combine different musical and historical styles with traditional classical music under the banner of electric classical prog.

Part classical, part rock and part jazz, their music also uses 16th-Century poems sung by Glise with North African rhythms and compositional structure from 19th-Century Vienna. The ensemble has received tremendous attention throughout Europe. This concert of The Nova Project promises to be a highlight for anyone interested in some of the most progressive alternative music today.

The program is being sponsored by THE CAFÉ ACOUSTIC.

Suggested donation: $5.00 at the door.
For further information, contact Café Acoustic: (816) 671-1141

The Nova Project will be appearing in concert on:
Saturday, February 9, 2008 8:00 PM
at Westport Coffee House, 4010 Pensylvania (Westport, Kansas City, MO).

The Nova Project will perform contemporary music for classical, electric and improvising guitars with 6-string electric ‘cello and percussion from their CDs from AME Recordings (Lyon, France).

Musicians for this concert are

• Anthony Glise — classical guitarist / composer,
• Jason Riley — electric / acoustic rock and jazz guitarist,
• James Kew — 6-string electric cello,
• Nick Baker — percussion.

The Nova Project, founded by American-born musicians, Anthony Glise and Jason Riley, is one of the most original prog ensembles on the music scene today. The group has one simple goal: to combine different musical and historical styles with traditional classical music under the banner of electric classical prog.

Part classical, part rock and part jazz, their music also uses 16th-Century poems sung by Glise with North African rhythms and compositional structure from 19th-Century Vienna. The ensemble has received rave reviews throughout Europe. This concert of The Nova Project promises to be a highlight for anyone interested in some of the most progressive alternative music today.

The program is being sponsored by THE WESTPORT COFFEE HOUSE.

Tickets are $15.00 available at the door.
For further information, contact Westport Coffee House: (816) 756-3221

The SJMF is thrilled to announce that the benefit concert, “Ward-Stock” on Saturday, December 8, 2007 surpassed all expectations.

Several times during the day, people were being turned away because we were already at legal capacity and the hosting venue, Last Call, documented that they had the highest sales in the history of the club.

The money raised for the Ward family to help support the financial strain of their sudden loss, was beyond all expectations.

Our sincere thanks to the volunteer participation of nearly every band in our area, the support of music critic, Blake Hannon at the St. Joseph News Press, Dave Ledden of Kansas City radio stations, KYYS, The Buzz and The Rock, the event venue, Last Call Bar and Grill and our many sponsors (cf. below) who helped make this one of the most successful events in the musical history of St. Joseph.

We feel confident that this unbelievable response and support of the Foundation activities will continue to grow throughout St. Joseph and our branch divisions that are already underway in California, Oregon, Arizona and France.

In the words of Dave Ledden of Entercom (owner of the three Kansas City radio stations) “…this is an incredible example of musicians taking care of their own… one entrance fee, 13 bands, two stages and one cause…”

Thank you for being a part of this tremendous success and we look forward to seeing you at our next event!

Sincerely,
The St. Joseph Music Foundation
Board of Directors

Dear Friends,
Café Acoustic will host a free Guitar Masterclass, October 10 at 6:00, sponsored in part by the St. Joseph Music Foundation in conjunction with the St. Joseph International Guitar Festival.

The class will be directed by Anthony Glise, head of the guitar program at Missouri Western and will feature guitarists from the university. The class is free and open to the public. Additional guitarists from the region are invited to bring their guitars and take advantage of this evening of free lessons and coaching on the instrument and to hear the diverse repertoire performed by the students.

The newly founded St. Joseph Music Foundation, like the Guitar Festival, is dedicated to various community outreach activities and professional support for musicians and music lovers throughout the region. A representative from the Foundation will be at the Café to answer questions about the upcoming Foundation activities.

For further information contact:
Café Acoustic: (816) 671-1141
Websites: http://www.stjosephmusicfoundation.org/
http://www.missouriwestern.edu/guitarfestival

I personally wanted to let you know that a number of professional / free-lance musicians in St. Joseph, lead by guitarist, Michael Fuson, have recently founded the St. Joseph Music Foundation, a 501.c.3 (not-for-profit) organization.

SJMF Prospectus (pdf)

The SJMF membership is open to all musicians (professional, student and amateur) and music lovers of all ages. The foundation is designed to offer various means of support (per solidarity, legal, contracting issues, community outreach activities and health insurance as well as various career development classes and residual support).

The first, open-to-the-public meeting will be this Thursday, (September 13) 7:00 PM at Café Acoustic, 2605 Frederick Ave., St. Joseph, Missouri (telephone: [816]-671-1141).

This foundation is, beyond question, the most professionally-organized support organization that I have ever seen and I sincerely hope that you will take the time to visit the meeting this Thursday at 7:00 to get a closer view of how the SJMF will help further develop the music scene in St. Joseph.

Sincerely,
Anthony GLISE

The 5th Annual St. Joseph International Guitar Festival and Competition will be from May 16-20, 2007 in St. Joseph Missouri, USA. As well as various masterclasses, career development seminars, jam sessions and concerts, the competition offers:

• FREE HOME HOSTING (for competitors AND out-of-town auditors - including free airport pickup)
• NO AGE LIMIT
• NO REQUIRED PIECES
• OVER $8000 PRIZE MONEY, MERCHANDISE and
• PAID PRIZE CONCERTS IN ST. JOSEPH, BOSTON AND HOUSTON.

In addition, because of the tremendous following and local support, THIS YEAR WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO REDUCE FEES:

• Competitors/Performers: $250.
• Auditors: $150.

Application and information is available at: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/guitarfestival/

We’re extremely proud that our festival has been host to some of the leading musicians from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Cyprus, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Uruguay and throughout the US and we look forward to hosting the same diversity and tremendous level of international artists this year.

I greatly look forward to seeing you in St. Joseph this May and remain,

With Very Best Regards,
Anthony Glise,
Festival Founder and Director

The 5th annual ST. JOSEPH INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL & COMPETITION is currently taking applications for home-hosts for the US and international musicians that will arrive in St. Joseph from May 16-20, 2007.

Home hosting is an opportunity to become personally involved in the festival and get to know some of these brilliant artists on a personal level in exchange for 2 full complimentary tickets valid for entrance to all festival events (a $300 total value).

More importantly, this is a chance to introduce our tremendous community to the foreign and US musicians that come to St. Joseph every year for this monumental event.

Former guests to our festival have come from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Costa Rica, Cyprus, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine, Uruguay and throughout the US. Naturally, hosts with varied language skills are a great asset, but a majority of our guests speak English fluently.

The prize money and gifts for this year’s competition are in excess of $8000 which places us among the top 4 classical guitar competitions in the US so the festival is expecting more competitors than ever before.

To receive a Home Hosting Application, please contact the Missouri Western State University Department of Music at:
(816) 271-4420

An application will then be sent to you by mail for you to complete and return.