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New Strings

Sunday, March 16, 2 pm

Free

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Original Works for Guitar Solo and Violin-Guitar Duet

by Oscar Somersalo and Neal Learner

 

String-instrument lovers are invited to enjoy a unique recital of new works for guitar solo and violin-guitar duet by composers Oscar Somersalo (guitar) and Neal Learner (violin). The event promises something for everyone with virtuosic playing and delightful compositions that span musical genres from classical and jazz to pop and rock.

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About Oscar Somersalo

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Award-winning Finnish guitarist Oscar Somersalo performs as a soloist and chamber musician in America and Europe. In recent seasons Somersalo has appeared with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, and with Panama National Symphony Orchestra in Panama. His performance in Helsinki was described as "passionate virtuosity" in Helsingin Sanomat.

 

Somersalo won 1st prize in 2019 at ECU Guitar Competition in the USA. In 2017 he won 1st prize at Appalachian Guitar Fest Solo Guitar Competition and Philadelphia Classical Guitar Competition in the USA as well as 2nd prize in 2009 at the International Guitar Competition “Ciudad de Llerena” in Spain.

 

Somersalo earned the Master of Music degree and the Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he studied under international virtuoso Manuel Barrueco. He is also a graduate of the famed Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where he earned the Bachelor of Music degree. More: www.youtube.com/@oscarsomersalo9241

 

About Neal Learner

 

Neal Learner is a multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and composer whose work draws on many influences, from classical and musical theater to bluegrass and rock. 

 

In October 2021, he debuted a series of his violin-piano compositions in a performance with then Alexandria Poet Laureate KaNikki Jakarta called Poetry With Strings Attached. The recital this year features compositions that Learner wrote for violin and guitar.

 

His most recent musical theater work, TREES: A New Musical, had its world premiere in October 2023 by the Bethesda Little Theatre company. His other musical theater works include the operetta, Get Me Home, which debuted at the Athenaeum in November 2022, and the sung-through work "LIFE: A Comic Opera in Three Short Acts," which premiered at the 2017 Capital Fringe Festival.

 

Learner attended the University of Michigan School of Music as a violin performance major before earning his degrees in anthropology and political science. More: www.learnermusic.com