Gregg’s fine arrangement of music from the movie Schindler’s List is played here by Duo Vitare.  The duo consists of Polish cellist Agnieszka Kotulska-Rahunen and Finnish classical guitarist Kimmo Rahunen.  Their website is Duo Vitare. These excellent musicians perform beautifully in the following video.  Enjoy!

Not everyone knows that, besides his excellent guitar playing and arranging, Gregg also does occasional jobs as a music copyist.  In December 2015, he did a big orchestral score copying job for a 4-day recording session at Abbey Road Studios in England.  The music that Gregg copied was written by composer Mark McKenzie for the forthcoming film Max and Me (summer 2016 release). The recording features an 85-piece orchestra, London Voices (a 32-voice choir), the Libera Boys Choir, violinist Joshua Bell and vocalist Clara Sanabras.

After Gregg finished the copying job, he sent the score and parts over to Abbey Road Studios.  Then he flew over to Abbey Road to make sure that everything went smoothly at the recording sessions.  You can see Gregg below at Abbey Road happily handing out an orchestral part for the sessions.

Clear Note has just released Gregg’s arrangement of Grieg’s Holberg Suite Op. 40. You can check out this new Grieg work for guitar and chamber ensemble at Clear Note here.

The five movements of the suite are:

Praeludium (Allegro vivace)
Sarabande (Andante)
Gavotte (Allegretto)
Air (Andante religioso)
Rigaudon (Allegro con brio)

The Holberg Suite, Op. 40, by Edvard Grieg, originally entitled “From Holberg’s Time”, and subtitled “Suite in olden style”, is in five movements that are reminiscent of eighteenth century dance forms. Grieg composed the work in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish-Norwegian humanist and playwright Ludvig Holberg.

The Holberg Suite, originally composed for piano, was later adapted by Grieg for string orchestra. This arrangement by Gregg Nestor adds the color of wind instruments and guitar, creating a chamber work that is both fun to play and refreshing to hear.

On 12/01/15 guitarist Giulio Tampalini premiered Gregg’s arrangement (for guitar and chamber orchestra) of the lighthearted folksong Aire de Joropo in Brescia, Italy.

Clear Note has very recently published two of Gregg’s Music Plus One arrangements for guitar and chamber orchestra that come with play-along CDs.  The first is the folk song Aire de Joropo and the second is Maxixe by Agustín Barrios.  Both arrangements also are available in performance editions with score and parts here.

Joropo is a musical style resembling the fandango, and an accompanying dance. It has African, Native South American and European influences and originated in parts of what is now Venezuela. It is a fundamental genre of música criolla (creole music) and is a very popular folk rhythm making use of polyrhythmic patterns, especially of hemiola, and alternation of 3/4 and 6/8 tempos.

Aire de joropo has been a popular folk song played by classical guitarists for a number of years. This guitar and orchestra fantasy was arranged by Gregg Nestor as an encore piece for a London concert in 1980.

This edition of Maxixe for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra includes a Music Plus One play-along recording. MPO recordings are engineered for educational use, personal enjoyment, live concerts, and casual performance.

“The genesis of this arrangement of Maxixe occurred in 1980 during my stay in England. I was playing the Manuel Ponce Guitar Concerto with a municipal orchestra and was asked to prepare two encore items. As the concerto I was playing was by Ponce I chose two short works in keeping with the Mexican and South American style, Maxixe by Agustín Barrios and the folk song Aire de joropo.”

Gregg Nestor – San Diego 2015

The Kennedy Center is presenting a concert of Jewish music on November 23, 2015 by Pro Musica Hebraica.  Pro Musica Hebraica is an organization devoted to presenting Jewish classical music—much of it believed lost, forgotten, or rarely performed—in a concert hall setting.

One of the featured performances will be Gregg’s arrangement of Cuatro Canciones Sefardíes (1965) for voice and guitar by Joaquín Rodrigo.  The songs will be performed by mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway and guitarist Adam Levin (photos below).

For a PDF brochure with more information about the Pro Musica Hebraica concert click here.

Gregg and Clear Note came up with a different angle for their guitar publications.  They recently put out several new arrangements for guitar with orchestra and guitar with harpsichord that feature scores as well as Music Plus One (MPO) CDs.   These special editions give the guitarist an excellent opportunity to practice or perform the music along with the accompanying recordings.

Here are the latest items:

Bach: Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring [Orch, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74637)

MacDowell: To A Wild Rose [Orch, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74638)

Massenet: Méditation from Opera Thaïs [Orch, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74634)

Tárrega: Recuerdos de la Alhambra [Orch, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74635)

Ponce: Preludio [Harpsichord, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74636)

Clear Note has published another set of Gregg’s arrangements. This set includes the following by Bartók, Ravel and Granados:

Bartók: 5 from MikroKosmos [Oboe, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74630)

Ravel: Deux Mélodies Hébraïques [Voice, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74632)

Ravel: Deux Mélodies Hébraïques [Vln, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74631)

Granados: Elegía Eterna [Voice, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74627)

Granados: Elegía Eterna [Vln, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74628)

Granados: Elegía Eterna [Cello, Gtr] New
arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74629)

Working Overtime!

Gregg at work

Gregg is working hard on his guitar chamber music arrangements. Clear Note is doing a great job of publishing them. Just recently, Clear Note put out five new guitar chamber music arrangements by Gregg.  These arrangements include works by Mahler, Chabrier, Mozart, Vivaldi and a set of pieces by three different Italian composers.  The works have been arranged for different instrumental combinations, including voice, guitar and chamber ensemble, violin and guitar, cello and guitar and two guitars. The level of difficulty ranges from intermediate to advanced.  Gregg has included some interesting background material about the composer(s) and the pieces in each of the publications.

Previews of New Guitar Chamber Music

Here are links for you to preview the new works and give you an opportunity to purchase:

Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn [Voice, Gtr, Ensemble]

arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74624)

Three Italian Gems [Vln, Gtr]

arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74626)

Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik [Vln, Gtr]

arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74623)

Vivaldi: Six Sonatas [Cello, Gtr]

arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74625)

Chabrier: España [Two Gtrs]

arr. Gregg Nestor (Clear Note Publications #74622)

Just this past June, several of Gregg’s guitar ensemble arrangements were featured in premiere performances at the highly respected 2014 Boston Guitarfest. Click on the links below to enjoy these excellent videos of the live performances:

Three American Pieces by Lukas Foss arranged for violin and guitar and performed by Duo Sonidos.

Two Portraits by Aaron Copland arranged for guitar quartet.

Two Pieces from “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin arranged for violin and guitar and performed by Duo Sonidos.