Biography
Born in Los Angeles, GREGORY NEWTON began study of the guitar with Vahdah Olcott Bickford and attended the University of Southern California School of Music on scholarship, where he studied with Pepe Romero and from which he received B.M. and M.M. degrees with honors. His background also includes work with John Duarte in England, Jos? Tom?s in Spain, Alirio Diaz in Canada, classes with Andr?s Segovia, flamenco studies with Luis Maravilla and jazz studies with Laurindo Almeida and Lee Ritenour. He recently completed a doctoral degree at the University of California, Los Angeles.
He has given concerts and masterclasses throughout Great Britain, the USA, Canada, South America, the Middle East, Scandinavia, and Western and Eastern Europe. He was the first American guitarist to perform in Poland, returning several times, and was honored with a special diploma from the Silesian Guitar Autumn Festival. He has been a frequent festival performer, with appearances including Oatridge, Edinburgh, Harrogate, Buxton, Huddersfield, Cannington, Walthamstow, Horncastle, Tecla Symposium and the City of London Festival (UK), Il de Re (France), Musikfestival in Altm?hltal (Germany), Aalborg (Denmark), Brno (Czech Republic), Plovdiv (Bulgaria), Romania-America Music Days (Romania), Barquisimeto (Venezuela), Hermoupolis (Greece), Stradivari Series (Malta), Vrnjci Spa and Sabac (Serbia), Rust (Austria), Koscian and Tychy (Poland), Yizreel Valley (Israel) and the Guitar Foundation of America Festival (USA). Broadcasts include National Public Radio USA, United Airlines in-flight music, Digital Satellite Music Choice, Soundscapes television, BBC Radio, Bayerischen Rundfunk Bavaria, NRK Norwegian Radio, Danish Television, Serbia and Montenegro Radio and Television, Czech Television, Polish Radio and Television, Malta Radio, Telenews and TV Global (Brazil).
Although devoted to performance of music from around the world, Gregory Newton specializes in music of the USA and North America, and frequently gives concerts of exclusively American music. He is also an active composer and arranger, and has had numerous works of other composers dedicated to him. He has several recordings to his credit, including the Los Angeles Chamber Singers' Romancero Gitano, Jim Centorino's Portraits of America and Three Dreams, Deon Nielsen Price's SunRays, Filippo Voltaggio's Reel Italian, Tannoz Bahremand's The Feast of Lights, Elisabeth Waldo's Land of Golden Dreams and Song for the New World Peoples (video), Frederic Rawson's Le Guitare Magique and Le Flute Magique, World Disc's holiday music sampler Crystal Winter, and Frederick Noad's Solo Guitar Playing and Guitar Anthology series. He also performed the guitar solos for the CD accompanying The Music of William Foden, published by Mel Bay.
Dr. Newton is on the faculties of Los Angeles City College and Glendale College, teaching guitar, music theory and music appreciation. He is also the classical guitar instructor on
www.videoguitarlessons.com
a new educational website. He is president of the American Guitar Society, director of the AGS International Concert Series, a member of the Board of Directors of the Guitar Foundation of America, has been a frequent contributor to guitar periodicals, and adjudicates on national and international competitions. In 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005 he was awarded with inclusion in
Who's Who Among America's Teachers, and in 2006 was included in
Who's Who in America.
Reviews
about his performances:
"Gregory Newton is a calm guitarist who plays sensationally and brilliantly, without looking as though he is trying"
Edinburgh Evening News, Scotland
"Sharp dynamic contrasts and a strong sense of rhythm...the sort of playing that marks out genuine mastery"
The Sunday Times, Malta
"Technically faultless"
The Los Angeles Times, USA
"In the hands of Gregory Newton, the Rubio [guitar] came out with a lot of song, with a lot of dance, and, if not for Polish manners and decorum, the youngish audience would have boogied in the aisles...before long they were clapping their hands in rhythm with his music"
The Soundboard, U.S.A.
"NEWTON DESERVES CROWDS" [headline]...a dedicated and eclectic instrumentalist, who deserves a wide audience. His indigenous American programme is particularly interesting"
The Express, London, England
"AMERICANSK TOPPGITARIST" [headline] "Gregory Newton exhibits a solid technique in the handling of the instrument"
Udresfeavifen , Norway
"Gregory Newton is a professional artist with a personal style, which is nice to hear at a time like this, when much culture tends to be standardized. Let's hope that he will be given the opportunity to visit our part of the world again"
Arvika Nyheter, Sweden
"Newton displayed nimble fingers and judicious use of tonal contrasts"
Classical Guitar, Great Britain
"Obvious careful preparation"
The Times, London, England
"Technically and musically, Gregory Newton is a very accomplished guitarist exhibiting good rhythmic and tempo control and managing to keep string noise down to the lowest possible levels, very much in the Williams vein"
Classical Guitar, Great Britain
"He played with great care, giving an error free performance, his left hand technique was accurate without superfluous noises and his sound warm and well controlled...beautifully performed"
Guitar International, Great Britain
"When you listen to the music you see that it is very carefully shaped, every note and rest precise in its definition. Clarity is exceptionally good...excellent tone and careful observance of good musical values"
Classical Guitar, Great Britain
"A very nice tone and a wide range of dynamics. His comments and introductions, too, were excellent...the audience like Gregory Newton very much and the guitarist was persuaded to encore four times"
Guitar International, Great Britain
"Precision playing, good tempo and pleasant soft sound...this Polish tour was successful, and the American guitarist gave several encores everywhere he played - no fewer that five encores at his farewell concert in Koscian"
Classical Guitar, Great Britain
"Brilliant guitarist and wonderful musician"
Laurindo Almeida
About his compositions...
"A clear favorite of the audience was a piece composed by Newton entitled 12 1/2 Months"
The Harbinger, Alabama, USA
"Newton's own Enchantress with a Satie-like melody and some well thought-out harmony, made a good impression on the capacity audience"
Classical Guitar, Great Britain
American Guitar Society (Go
there...)
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