Our next meeting is Sunday, 1 November 2020.

Our featured performer will be Michael Stoop. Michael will be playing a programme of his own compositions for solo guitar. He will include pieces from his 2017 album Landscapes, as well as some more recent works.

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4:15—4:45

Sight-reading/ensemble

Our programme will start with a sight-reading piece (if available). 

From the 2020 ensemble booklet: Cameroon arr. by Richard Charlton (p. 38); Imagine by John Lennon (p. 8); If My Complaints by John Dowland (p. 2); Adagio by W. A. Mozart (p. 20); and Noches de Luna arr. by Andrew Forest (subject to time).

4:50—5:15

Solo/small ensemble playing

A chance to perform / try out new pieces or revise/perfect your current playlist.  All are welcome to join in.

5:30—6:30

Performance—Michael Stoop

Michael will be playing a programme of his own compositions for solo guitar. He will include pieces from his 2017 album Landscapes, as well as some more recent works.

Michael Stoop is a Wellington-based guitarist, composer, and teacher. He studied classical guitar performance at the New Zealand School of Music with Matthew Marshall and Dr. Jane Curry, and completed his Bachelor of Music in 2012.

Since graduating, Michael has dedicated a lot of time to composing new music for the guitar. His debut album Landscapes was released on Bandcamp in June 2017: https://michaelstoop.bandcamp.com/releases.  Consisting entirely of original compositions for solo guitar, many of the pieces on ‘Landscapes’ were inspired by the dramatic scenery of Wellington. Michael gave performances of many of these works around Wellington, including a lunchtime concert at Expressions in Upper Hutt, in June 2016.

Since Landscapes, Michael has completed a number of new compositions for solo guitar. Many of these have been filmed and performed, and the videos can be viewed on Michael’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwyd1OLZUWU0TKFg9AxqNFw 

Michael competed in the Biennial New Zealand International Classical Guitar Competition in December 2018, and played a programme of his own compositions. He won the Prize for the Best Performance of a New Zealand Work, with his piece ‘Resurrecting the Dream’. Michael became a SOUNZ composer in early 2019, and a growing number of his compositions are now published by SOUNZ. They are available for purchase here: https://www.sounz.org.nz/contributors/44

In January 2020, Michael won the New Zealand Aspiring Guitarist Award. Recipients of this award are given the opportunity to perform a solo recital at the Taranaki Classical Guitar Summer School, and also to perform in a master class with one of the international artists attending the event. Michael’s recital programme consisted entirely of his own compositions, and his master class was with Slava Grigoryan.

Michael teaches guitar to students of all ages, levels, and styles at his home studio in Khandallah, Wellington.