The GUITAR from Rock to Classic - KarazwLaimoon

Monday 3 March 2014 (7:00 - 8:00 pm - Open to all)
Language: English and Arabic

The Guitar is a pervasive instrument used in most musical genres is surprising. No other instrument has been adopted by so many genres, except maybe, the piano and the human voice. Jad will take us on a musical trip weaving in and out of rock, flamenco, pop, classical, jazz and even folk music. Since he is an established classical guitarist, he will use 3 different guitars (acoustic, classical and electric) to demonstrate various styles or genres.
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Jad Karim Azkoul: The Jeunesses Musicales du Liban sponsored the first major concert by world renowned classical guitarist Jad Azkoul. It took place at the Salle Montaigne in 1980. Since then he has been performing in many parts of the world, often as guest artist at many international music festivals, including the Al-Bustan.

Amongst the awards that Jad has received are the Affiliate Artists Award (New York) in 1985, and the Lebanese Order of the Cedar.

Jad'd CDs "Latin Illustrations for Guitar" and "De Granada a Buenos Aires" have been widely acclaimed and are available on iTunes and from Amazon.  Several composers have dedicated works to him.

Jad was born on June 8, 1948 in New York while his father Karim was representing Lebanon to the United Nations. He began the guitar in Australia at age 12, and when he came to Lebanon played mostly rock music. It wasn't until he was 23--while he was finishing his MA in psychology at AUB--that he was formally introduced to the classical guitar by professor Joseph Ishkhanian.

Jad then studied jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston before a total turnover to classical music, which he pursued in Paris, studying composition and orchestration under Pierre Petit and Nadia Boulanger, and guitar under Alexandre Lagoya, Oscar Cáceres and Alberto Ponce.

In 1978, invited by the great Uruguayan virtuoso and composer Abel Carlevaro, Jad went to Montevideo, where for three years he perfected his technique. He later became one of Carlevaro’s principle teaching assistants.

Jad has published many articles in music journals in the US, France, Italy and England. He has been on the guitar faculty in Geneva at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique, Danse et Théâtre, and in Washington, DC at the American and the Catholic Universities.

In addition to concertizing, some of Jad's upcoming activities include two workshops in France and a clinic for guitar teachers in England, as well as a series of 10 articles on guitar pedagogy requested for publication by the British monthly "Classical Guitar".

Jad now lives in London and teaches at the London College of Music. He has two sons: Julian who is a professional violinist in London, and Michael (aka Dr Koul) who is a hip-hop artist in Switzerland.

"Azkoul can make his instrument sing. This is a skill far more important than the ability to whip out thousands of notes per minute accurately and expressively, which he also can do".
The Washington Post

Discography: Jad has two released CDs shown below:

       

And here is a gallery of photos of Jihad in action . . . . (The violonist is Jad's successful son: Julian)