Guitarist and composer Ian O?Sullivan launches his newest CD, Songs for the North Shore, from HPR’s Atherton Studio on June 18, at 7:30 p.m. Original instrumental compositions inspired by the area in which he was raised, his latest work combines his classical training with Hawaiian music.
“I try to approach Hawaiian music like the classical composers who came before me," said O'Sullivan. "Francisco Tarrega, Augustin Barrios, and Heitor Villa-Lobos are just a handful of those who contributed to the classical music repertoire by combining it with their native music; thus creating some of the most popular guitar music performed today.”
Reservations for Ian O’Sullivan's CD launch event at the Atherton on June 18th may be made online at www.hprtickets.org or by calling the station (955-8821) during regular business hours. Tickets are $30 general, $25 for HPR members, and $15 for students with ID; plus online service charge. The Atherton Studio is located at Hawai?i Public Radio, 738 K?heka Street. Doors open at 7:00 p.m.; music begins at 7:30 p.m.
About the artist
Proclaimed by Classical Guitar as "thoughtful" and praised by The Honolulu Advertiser as "delightful," Ian O'Sullivan is a classically-trained guitarist and composer from the North Shore of O'ahu. Well-versed in Hawaiian slack key guitar and the ?ukulele, in addition to the Western classical repertoire, O’Sullivan has performed throughout the United States, including at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, New York Guitar Society, and Hawai?i Public Radio's Atherton Studio. His first solo album Born and Raised was nominated for three N? H?k? Hanohano Awards in 2014, including Instrumental Composition of the Year and Most Promising New Artist.
As a child, O?Sullivan began playing the ?ukulele by ear. He then experimented with electric guitar in a rock band during his high school years at the Kamehameha Schools. During his years at the University of Hawai?i, he grew from being a non-music-literate, garage-band guitarist into the first and only guitarist from Hawai?i to be accepted at Yale University’s School of Music, where he later received the Yale Elliot Fisk Award.
Since 2012, O?Sullivan has been a lecturer in classical guitar at UH M?noa. During the 2016 season, he will appear in performance at the New York Classical Guitar Society, Minnesota Guitar Society, The California Conservatory of Guitar, University of Indianapolis, The Cue-Concord, the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival, and Benjamin Verdery’s Maui Guitar Class.
A sample of music from Songs for the North Shore may be found in this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/M4t3Yf_Jkio","_id":"00000179-b3bd-d524-a77b-bfbdd68d0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/M4t3Yf_Jkio" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/M4t3Yf_Jkio","_id":"00000179-b3bd-d524-a77b-bfbdd68d0000","_type":"035d81d3-5be2-3ed2-bc8a-6da208e0d9e2"}">https://youtu.be/M4t3Yf_Jkio
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