October 15 • 6 pm
Palmer Lake Town Hall
Masakazu Ito is recognized as one of today’s premiere guitarists
… acclaimed by musicians, composers, conductors and critics for his mastery of the instrument and its repertoire.
Following his professional solo debut in Tokyo 1987, Ito won top prizes in seven major international guitar competitions, including the Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition, the Tokyo International Guitar Competition, the Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition and the Seto-Ohashi International Competition. A performance of Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo with the National Repertory Orchestra marked his concerto debut in 1990.
He has performed diverse repertories with numerous symphony orchestras, including the diabolical Concierto para una Fiesta by Rodrigo. Of his engagement with the Colorado Symphony in 2006, the Denver Post wrote, “Guitarist Masakazu Ito further contributed to the overall spellbinding performance.”
A solo concert in Germany marked Ito’s 1995 European debut. The following year, he performed at the Luckman Theatre in Los Angeles. Of this performance, the Los Angeles Times wrote, “Ito displayed conspicuous skill and tonal range… [he] proved himself to be a clean and technically adroit player, whizzing through thorny passages with aplomb.”
The Japanese government has invited Ito to perform solo concerts in honor of two historic milestones – 150 years of US-Japan diplomatic relations in 2003, and the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2015. The latter was attended by the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, representatives of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, among others.
Most recently Ito traveled extensively in Spain giving solo concerts and clinics 2019, including a performance as the featured soloist for the Andrés Segovia International Guitar Festival in Linares, the birthplace of Segovia.
His vast repertoire includes works by Spanish composers, which are among his favorites. London’s Classical Guitar magazine called Ito’s 1998 recording ¡España! Music from Spain “a recording of depth… most musically satisfying.” In his recent compilation Poesía Pura, Ito performs compositions influenced by poesía pura, a Spanish poetic style introduced by Juan Ramón Jiménez (1881-1958), featuring works by Federico Moreno Torroba, Eduardo Sainz de la Maza and Antonio José.
masakazuito.com