Classical Guitarathon
Jared Waln, Miloš Sočanin, Ben Gateno, Cassius Stein, Daniel Volovets, and Henry Johnston.
Saturday, December 9, 2023
Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University
1531 Hewitt Ave, St Paul
7:30 pm
This event is past.
Our annual Classical Guitarathon, featuring friends of the MGS, old and new, from throughout Minnesota, returns this season on December 9. Plan to join us as we celebrate MGS’s 40th anniversary!
Jared Waln is an award-winning classical guitarist and music educator in the Twin Cities. Receiving his Master's in music education at the University of St. Thomas, Jared is the director of the award-winning guitar program at Southwest High School, and director of guitar and music professor at the University of St. Thomas. His career is primarily in music education, however he performs with the Minnesota Opera, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, La Crosse Symphony Orchestra, Lakes Area Music Festival, and musical theaters all around the Twin Cities. Jared was an original teaching artist for the Guitar In Our Schools program with MGS, teaching an adaptive guitar program for special education students at White Bear Lake High School. He has previously performed for the Minnesota Guitarathon in 2019 and May 2023. When Jared is not teaching or giving concerts, he loves to travel with his wife, eat at new restaurants, go hiking and trail running, and spend time with their two cats George and Izzie.
Miloš Sočanin is a 23 years old classical guitarist from Serbia. He won many competition prizes as well as participated in a number of classical music festivals in Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Hungary, Slovenia, USA (New York) etc. Having been told by his high school guitar teacher that there is nothing he can teach him anymore, he enrolled into the University in Belgrade at the age of 16. After obtaining his undergraduate, as well as a masters degree with prof. Vera Ogrizovićć, in 2022 he enrolled into the UMN school of music where he is studying at the moment with prof. Maja Radovanlija in pursuit of his second masters degree in classical guitar performance.
A native of southern Minnesota, guitarist Ben Gateno earned Master’s and Doctoral degrees in performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY. Following graduate school, Ben studied for one year with renowned teacher and performer Antigoni Goni in Brussels, Belgium. After his return to the US, Ben spent five years performing extensively as a member of the Minneapolis Guitar Quartet. A versatile musician, Ben enjoys presenting solo guitar programs that feature a wide range of styles and genres, with a special emphasis on classical, country blues, and ragtime. In 2020 he released A Time When Things Were New, an album featuring solo guitar music from the 1920’s. In 2021 Ben joined the roster of esteemed educators and performers at Stefan Grossman’s Guitar Workshop. For SGGW, Ben has produced two books of acoustic blues and ragtime transcriptions, and Stomping Along the Fretboard – a series of six extended video lessons. Since 2021 Ben has also been the electric guitarist for the Crop Circles, the backing band for singer-songwriter Luke Hendrickson. Ben resides in Rochester, MN where he maintains a busy private teaching schedule.
At age sixteen, Cassius Stein began his classical guitar studies with Kevin Carlson after being inspired by the “beauty and perfection” of several Christopher Parkening recordings. Cassius earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Minnesota, studying with Dr. James Flegel and Dr. Maja Radovanlija, as well as a Performer Diploma and Doctorate of Music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, under the guidance of Professors Petar Jankovic and Maestro Ernesto Bitetti. Dr. Stein has extensive teaching experience at various institutions including Anoka-Ramsey Community College, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, Indiana University–Bloomington, and the University of Indianapolis. Currently, Cassius teaches at Music Connection in Forest Lake, MN.
Daniel Volovets is a guitarist, composer, arranger, and instructor specializing in classical, flamenco, Latin-American, and jazz music. Although born in the United States, his music is informed first and foremost by his Ukrainian, Russian, and Jewish heritage. Daniel's mastery of many genres and aesthetics is evident in the breadth of his repertoire, which spans numerous countries and eras. He is an accomplished arranger and composer, exploring the harmonic possibilities of the guitar in solo and ensemble contexts. Daniel has released seven full-length albums as well as several EP-length releases. Daniel primarily plays guitars built by luthier Stephen Kakos. Daniel graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School with an M.D. and balances careers in medicine and music, now as a psychiatry resident at the Hennepin-Regions Psychiatry Training Program.
Henry Johnston began studying guitar at age 6 with his father, the esteemed teacher Alan Johnston. From a very young age, Henry has enjoyed success in international competitions. At age 12, he won second place in the 2009 Guitar Foundation of America's International Guitar Competition, competing in the junior division. Two years later, he performed at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St. Paul as one of five winners of MN Varsity, Minnesota Public Radio's 1st annual competition for young classical singers and instrumentalists. Later that same month, he became the youngest guitarist ever to win first prize in the Schubert Club Competition in St. Paul, competing against guitarists nearly twice his age. In 2013, he was a prizewinner in the senior division of the Guitar Foundation of America International Competition. Since then, he has won numerous prizes in international competitions and has given performances throughout the US and Europe.
While still in high school, he was the sole private student of the late guitarist John Holmquist. In 2015, he moved to Paris to study with French guitarist Judicaël Perroy and enrolled at the Conservatoire de Musique et de Danse in Aulnay-sous-Bois. In 2016 he returned to the US to earn a bachelor’s degree in classical guitar performance at the University of Texas at Austin. In May of 2022, he graduated with a master’s in classical guitar performance from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Grammy award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin.