Department of Music
Faculty
David Rogers
Guitar & Lute
Recently termed, 'a prominent guitarist,' by the New York Times, David Rogers maintains an active solo and ensemble performance career as a classical guitarist and performer on early plucked strings. He is guitarist and lutenist with the Terra Nova Consort, ensemble in residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and faculty member at Southern Oregon University.
As lead guitarist with the Terra Nova Consort, he made his European debut at the Tage Alter und Neuer Musik Regensburg 2000 Festival. The Washington Post has praised his 'astonishingly florid' solo improvisational passage work. He has been called a 'modern master' of the classical guitar' by 20th Century Guitar, Classicstoday.com has praised his 'first rate instrumental artistry,' and the Lute Society of America Quarterly has called his technique 'formidable.'
His solo and ensemble performances have been broadcast on American National Public Radio and Bayrische Rundfunk, including both the nationally syndicated Performance Today and Harmonia programs. Mr. Rogers has recorded for Dorian, Callisto and Focus Recordings. He has given recitals and conducted master classes throughout North America, including performances and classes at the San Francisco Conservatory and the University of Southern California. He has also performed with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra; Vieri Bottazzini, flutist; Angelo Manzotti, sopranist (counter-tenor); Sospirando; with Nancy Elliott in the ensemble Duo Ruggiero; and as a continuo player under the direction of Andrew Parrott. Mr. Rogers has studied historical plucked strings with Hopkinson Smith and Eugen Dombois at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland; with Thomas Binkley at Indiana University; and with Lyle Nordstrom at Oakland University. He has studied guitar with Joseph Fava at Wayne State University.
David Rogers endorses GHS Strings
For downloads of David's playing go to:
The Lone Wild Bird
3 Guitars
"…Playing the vihuela (a guitar relative), David Rogers held everything together with a few poignant plucks, vigorous strumming and the occasional astonishingly florid solo…"
Washington Post
"music to listen to, be amazed by, and to dream upon"
Akustik Gitarre 6/07, page 30
"A modern master of the classical guitar…David Rogers has a remarkable grasp of 16th Century Baroque guitar music"
20th Century Guitar
"…David Rogers played his vihuela (a 16th-century precursor to the guitar) not in the tasteful, restrained way of early music groups, but like a lead guitarist in a rock band. He laced the likes of 'De el pobo' with improvised, speedy solos way up into the wailing region of the fingerboard…"
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"…first rate instrumental artistry…"
Classics today.com review of Terra Nova Consort Baylado CD
(Performance as ensemble ‘lead’ guitarist)
…Rogers' lute sprinkled beautifully modulated notes about the concert hall…
Chico News and Review
"Guitarist David Rogers displayed dual talents by performing his own transcription of Bach's 'Violin Partita No. 2 in D Minor.' The extraordinary fit between the contemplative textures of the writing and the guitar's expressive voice combined with long shafts of late afternoon sun to create a striking aural and visual effect."
The Kalamazoo Gazette
"…Clearly, Rogers is an accomplished player who handles this music with skill. His clear execution of the formidable bass lines found in the music of Gianoncelli is particularly noteworthy. Gianoncelli’s full use of the diapasons for melodic writing places no small demand on the performer and Rogers' technique is up to the task (his performance of Baletti Primo-Quinto is the high point of the CD). His musicality is apparent throughout, particularly in his performance of Zamboni’s Sonata No.10…"
Lute Society of America Quarterly
(review of The Italian Archlute)
"…Guitarist David Rogers looks smashing as a Spaniard, and as always plays beautifully…"
Lithiagraph (from a review of an Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of
Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding)
"Highly Recommended"
Continuo MarketPlace
(CD catalog endorsement of The Italian Archlute by Matthew Redsell,
Editor of Continuo Marketplace)
"…The music on the album is by Kapsperger, Gianoncelli, and Zamboni and gives a good picture of the development of Italian lute music in the course of the Baroque. Rogers plays on an archlute, which allows for a more sonorous bass than the ordinary lute. Kapsperger's Toccatas, Gagliardas and Correntes have all the fire and changeability of the early Italian baroque; Gianoncelli’s 'Tastegiatas' and dances of 1650 are in a slightly later style which emphasizes a trio sonata like texture (as is pointed out in Rogers’ own helpful notes); while Zamboni's Suite from 1718 is in a Weiss-like high Baroque style with hints of galante lightness and elegance. Rogers is at his best in Kapsperger’s improvisatory music, through which he exhibits a good feeling for pacing and for employing the unique resonances of his instrument. The faster dances are made lively by inventive rhythmic shadings…"
Continuo magazine
(review of The Italian Archlute by Scott Patterson)
"…Mr. Rogers plays it, like all the other pieces, with technical grace and musical sensitivity…"
Cantus Firmus
(Review of Del Rosal Sale La Rosa)
"He’s a mad dog of the archlute up there"
anonymous Oregon Shakespeare patron
"Magnificent Recital”, “Subtle Ecstacy"
Solo Recital Patrons
"His performances are always stellar"
David Hochoy, Artistic Director of the Indianapolis based modern dance company, Dance Kaleidoscope
"He plays incredibly well"
Paul McCandless, OREGON
