Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux, “among the elite of today’s classical guitarists” (Gramophone), is the guitarist that goes beyond the classical. NPR describes Vieaux as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.” Among his extensive discography is the 2015 Grammy Award winning album for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, Play.
Vieaux has earned a reputation for putting his expressiveness and virtuosity at the service of a remarkably wide range of music, and his schedule of performing, and recording commitments is distinguished throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Jason Vieaux has performed as concerto soloist with over 100 orchestras, including Cleveland, Toronto, Houston, Nashville, San Diego, Buffalo, Auckland Philharmonia, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Recent and upcoming highlights include performances at Caramoor Festival as Artist-in-Residence, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, Curtis Presents, Phillips Collection, National Gallery of Art, San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York’s 92Y, Domaine Forget International Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, and Ravinia Festival.
He has forged his reputation as a first-rate chamber musician and programmer through performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Bard Music Festival, Music@Menlo, San Francisco Performances, Cleveland Chamber Music Society, Strings Music Festival, Grand Teton, and many others. Chamber music collaborators include the Escher Quartet; Grammy-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke; violinists Anne Akiko Meyers, Kristin Lee, and Tessa Lark; acclaimed harpist Yolanda Kondonassis; and accordion/bandoneon virtuoso Julien Labro.
Vieaux’s passion for new music has fostered premieres of works by Jonathan Leshnoff, Avner Dorman, Jeff Beal, Dan Visconti, David Ludwig, Vivian Fung, José Luis Merlin, Mark Mancina, and more. Jason recently premiered Visconti’s “Living Language” Guitar Concerto with the California Symphony and has performed the work over a dozen times since.
Vieaux’s latest CD release, Dance (Azica) with the Escher Quartet, includes works by Boccherini, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Aaron Jay Kernis. His premiere recording of Jonathan Leshnoff’s Guitar Concerto with the Nashville Symphony (Naxos) was also released in 2019. Later this season, he will release a new solo Bach album on Azica. In addition to his Grammy-winning solo release Play, his previous albums include Jeff Beal’s “Six Sixteen” Guitar Concerto with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (BIS); Infusion (Azica) with accordionist/bandoneonist Julien Labro; Ginastera’s Guitar Sonata, on Ginastera: One Hundred (Oberlin Music) produced by harpist Yolanda Kondonassis; Together (Azica), a duo album with Kondonassis; a recording of Astor Piazzolla’s music with Julien Labro and A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra; Bach: Works for Lute, Vol. 1; Images of Metheny; and Sevilla: The Music of Isaac Albeniz. Vieaux was the first classical musician to be featured on NPR’s popular “Tiny Desk” series.
In 2012, the Jason Vieaux School of Classical Guitar was launched with ArtistWorks Inc., an unprecedented technological interface that provides one-on-one online study with Vieaux for guitar students around the world. In 2011, he co-founded the guitar department at the Curtis Institute of Music, and in 2015 was invited to inaugurate the guitar program at the Eastern Music Festival. Vieaux has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music since 1997, heading the guitar department since 2001.
Vieaux is affiliated with Philadelphia’s Astral Artists. In 1992 he was awarded the prestigious GFA International Guitar Competition First Prize, the event’s youngest winner ever. He is also honored with a Naumburg Foundation top prize, a Cleveland Institute of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, and a Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant. In 1995, Vieaux was an Artistic Ambassador of the U.S. to Southeast Asia. His primary teachers were Jeremy Sparks and John Holmquist.
Jason Vieaux is represented by Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd and plays a 2013 Gernot Wagner guitar with Augustine strings.
Quotes
virtuosic, flamboyant, dashing and, sometimes ineffably lyrical.The New York Times
perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.NPR
[a] spirited and expressive guitaristThe New Yorker
Vieaux ... makes everything look and sound easy. An uncommonly relaxed figure onstage, he seems immersed entirely in the moment. Every note comes out fully formed, but nothing he does feels premeditated, and the music, just a little understated, speaks eloquently for itself.Washington Post
This terrific guitarist, a Philadelphia favorite, worked wonders with Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez... he played with elegance and fine-tuned precision… a marvel.The Philadelphia Inquirer
masterful ease, and great panache.San Francisco Classical Voice
Vieaux’s new recording Play is not only like pop iTunes, it is part of the revitalized interest in the classical guitar.The Huffington Post
Vieaux [was] nimble-fingered in a Vivaldi Concerto that was remarkable for its variety of colors.Boston Globe
The writing for the solo instrument was fantastic— lyrical, virtuosic, tender, and passionate all at once. Vieaux proved to be an ideal soloist. [Leshnoff Concerto, Nashville Symphony]American Record Guide
Vieaux excelled in its flamenco-style flourishes, ethereal high notes and spiraling passage work. [Villa-Lobos Concerto, San Diego Symphony]San Diego Union Tribune
Vieaux showed why he is among the most talented guitarists of his generation, a player whose effortless technique and fluidity gave the concerto a singing voice.Tampa Tribune
...one of America's premier guitarists... Vieaux's performance spun magic. Rarely has a single instrument so clearly painted such cinematic vistas and searching introspectionFort-Worth Star-Telegram
Vieaux was first-class. One movement of Ponce’s Concierto del sur made me want to hear more of his work, such was the range of sounds he drew from his instrument.New Zealand Herald
…among the elite of today’s classical guitarists.Gramophone