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Contact:
Tom Davis
Troy Office of University Relations
334/670-3196
tomdavis@troy.edu
Office of University Relations
253 Adams Administration
Troy, AL 36082
(334) 670-3196
(334) 670-3274 (fax)
| Classical guitar duo to give Jan. 26 concert at TSU |
| Award-winning
guitar duo Douglas Back and Michael Johnson will present the
concert "Grand Guitar and Brilliant Banjo" at Troy State University
on Friday, Jan. 26. Sponsored by TSU's John M. Long School of Music, the concert is set for 7:30 p.m. in the Hawkins Adams Long Hall of Honor. The performance is open to the public and is free of charge. For additional information, call (334) 670-3322. Back and Johnson feature the unique combination of classical guitar and banjo in their concerts, according to Dr. William Denison, director of the John M. Long School of Music. They have performed at music festivals and in concert throughout the United States, Australia, Canada, Spain and the Philippines. Their upcoming performance at TSU represents a special opportunity for area music fans, Dr. Denison said. "Douglas Back has proven to be an outstanding guitarist in his previous recitals at TSU," he said. "We're excited this year to also have Michael Johnson, with the revival of a forgotten early 20th-century American musical genre, the classical banjo. "This will be a unique concert," he said, "and one that should not be missed." Back and Johnson will perform works by Chopin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Bacon and Von Suppe, as well as famed American guitarist William Foden. Back, an adjunct professor of music at TSU, has received acclaim for his research and performance of 19th-century American guitar and banjo music. He is the author of four anthologies and companion compact discs of guitar music for Mel Bay Publications, and was the first person to record the solo guitar music of William Foden in the critically acclaimed album "American Pioneers of the Classical Guitar." He has published articles in Guitar Review, Soundboard, The Five-Stringer and other music journals. A member of the Alabama State Arts Council Touring Artists Roster, Back is also director of the guitar program at Baldwin Junior High Arts Magnet School in Montgomery. Described by The Birmingham News as a "superb classical guitarist," Johnson has published compositions for bass and guitar in the United States and England. The principal bassist for the Huntsville and Tuscaloosa symphony orchestras, he holds degrees in music composition and guitar performance from the University of Alabama and Florida State University. |