Guitarist visits Waldron center

Close your eyes. The steep mountain path below your feet climbs toward the sky. Suddenly, you are walking under the hot sun in a small forgotten village. Then, you are staring up into the starry sky on a warm summer night. Every strum and pluck of Paul Vondiziano's guitar evokes a different fresco, a different village, a different verdant landscape.\nVondiziano, born in Lamaca, Cyprus, began studying the guitar at the age of eight. \n"Guitar was the concurring of different factors for me," he said. \nPlucked stringed instruments are a big part of the culture in Cyprus, Vondiziano said. He was surrounded by music as a boy and developed a passion early on. He came to the United States to study guitar and philosophy at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa. \nToday, he is an internationally recognized soloist who has performed in Germany, Cyprus, Scotland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and all over the United States. He has also performed with the Cyprus National Chamber Orchestra, The Boise Philharmonic, Opera Grand Rapids and many Greek music ensembles. He has also been featured in many television and radio programs throughout the world. \nAt 8 p.m. tonight, Paul Vondiziano brings his unique guitar stylings to the John Waldron Arts Center at 122 S. Walnut St. He is one of three guitarists featured in a series sponsored by the Bloomington Classical Guitar Society and the Bloomington Area Arts Council. Throughout the year, their performances will highlight three different styles of guitar playing.\n"We are bringing Paul because we think he really complements the other performers," Kaira Hogle of the JWAC said. Vondiziano will focus on namely European styles of playing with a heavy emphasis on the Mediterranean.\nThe program will feature a "Partita" or one variation contained in a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, "Three Pieces" by Isaac Albeniz and "Koyunbaba" by Carlo Domeniconi, along with a few shorter works. The pieces span more than 200 years of guitar music. Most interesting on the program is Koyunbaba which uses non-standard tuning to re-create the sound of Middle Eastern lute playing. The work is deeply steeped in the folk music of Vondiziano's homeland. \n"Classical music allows me to explore so many different things," Vondiziano said. "I approach music as an intellectual person, with a lot of emotion."\nOn top of performing, Vondiziano said he loves philosophy and poetry. To express this love, he is also presenting a free lecture on philosophical approaches to music at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Monroe County Historical Museum.\nTickets for tonight's performance are $12 for general admission or $10 for seniors and students. They are available at the JWAC. Tickets are also available for the other two concerts in the series. For more information about the concert, visit the Bloomington Area Arts Council at www.artlives.org or call 334-3100. For more information about Paul Vondiziano visit www.paulvondiziano.com. \n-- Contact staff writer Josh Millrod at jmillrod@indiana.edu.