Artist Bios 2021 in Alphabetical Order

Anibal Acosta
Anibal Acosta has received degrees in classical guitar performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts, the University of South Carolina, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music in New York. In 1987, he was awarded first prize at the Music Teachers National Association Student Composition Contest and the following year received a Rotary Foundation Scholarship to study classical guitar at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, Austria. In 1995, he gave his New York debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Other awards include the Doctoral Guitar Fellowship and the Andrés Segovia Award from Manhattan School of Music. His teachers have included Manuel Barrueco, Christopher Berg and Konrad Ragossnig. From 1993 to 1998, he was a member of the music faculty at the Diller-Quaile School of Music and the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory in New York. In 1998, he moved to the Hampton Roads area in Virginia, where he currently teaches, writes and performs. In 2005 he became adjunct professor at Old Dominion University. His recordings include Sonnet (Lute and Vihuela Music from the Renaissance), Music from the Lower Tree-House Tavern (Baroque Music for Recorder and Guitar), and Thrum (Music for Recorder, Viola and Guitar). In 2009, his Serenata for Violin and Guitar was published by Clear Note Publications.

Manuel Barreuco
For tickets and additional information visit: https://secure.vafest.org/1122/1124
Legendary guitarist Manuel Barrueco is internationally recognized as one of the most important guitarists of our time. His unique artistry has been continually described as that of a superb instrumentalist and a superior and elegant musician, possessing a seductive sound and uncommon lyrical gifts.
His career has been dedicated to bringing the guitar to the main musical centers of the world such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall in London, Philharmonie in Berlin, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. He has completed a dozen tours of Japan and made repeated appearances in Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, China, and Hong Kong, and in Latin America he has performed in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama and Puerto Rico.
Barrueco's commitment to contemporary music and to the expansion of the guitar repertoire has led him to collaborations with many distinguished composers such as Steven Stucky, Michael Daugherty, Roberto Sierra, Arvo Pärt, Jonathan Leshnoff, Gabriela Lena Frank, Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, and Toru Takemitsu.
Manuel Barrueco has appeared on a wide array of television programs including "CBS Sunday Morning," A&E's "Breakfast with the Arts," and "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on PBS. He was featured in a Lexus car commercial, and his work in music inspired Michael Lawrence’s biographical documentary: “Manuel Barrueco: A Gift and a Life.”
Barrueco’s recording catalogue includes over a dozen recordings for the EMI label. His recording of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with conductor and tenor Plácido Domingo and the Philharmonia Orchestra was cited as the best recording of that piece in Classic CD Magazine.
In 2007 Manuel Barrueco received a Grammy nomination for the “Best Instrumental Soloist Performance” for his Solo Piazzolla, the first recording to be released on his exclusive Manuel Barrueco Collection on Tonar Music. Tango Sensations and Sounds of the Americas followed in collaboration with the Cuarteto Latinoamericano, the latter received a Latin Grammy Award for “Inca Dances” by Gabriela Lena Frank for “Best Classical Contemporary Composition.” Subsecuently he released, Tárrega! which received a Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Album.” Medea was recorded with the Tenerife Symphony and Víctor Pablo Pérez conducting and includes Barrueco’s arrangement of the ballet by flamenco guitarist and composer Manolo Sanlúcar. It received a Latin Grammy nomination for “Best Classical Album.” China West, a recording of guitar trios with his protégés, the Beijing Guitar Duo came out in 2014 and his latest release is Fernando Sor: The Beethoven of the Guitar released in Dec. 2016.
Manuel Barrueco began playing the guitar at the age of eight in his native Cuba and he immigrated with his family to the United States in 1967 as political refugees. He completed his advanced studies at the Peabody Conservatory, where he now shares his love for music with a small number of exceptionally gifted young guitarists from all over the world.
In 2011, Manuel Barrueco received the United States Artist Fontanals Fellowship for Artistic Excellence.
Artist’s official website: Barrueco.com
Website for Recordings: TonarMusic.com
Facebook: Manuel Barrueco and TonarMusic
Twitter: @ManuelBarrueco and @TonarMusic
Instagram: @ManuelBarrueco

John Boyles
John Boyles is a versatile and accomplished guitarist, performing in many styles, and many venues. He has performed as a soloist and in various Chamber Ensembles throughout Virginia and Internationally. Mr. Boyles holds a Bachelor in Music Education in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master’s in Guitar Performance from Norfolk State, and an Educational Specialist degree from George Washington University. John Boyles resides in Newport News with his family where is retired as long time Adjunct Professor for Guitar and Guitar Orchestra at Christopher Newport University and as the Program Administrator for the Center for Arts and Communication at Woodside High School.

Wayla Chambo
Wayla Chambo is a versatile, committed performer of both new music for flute and the traditional repertoire. She is Associate Artistic Director and flutist with the Norfolk Chamber Consort, and has also performed with the Virginia Symphony, Virginia Chorale, Virginia Children’s Chorus, Christopher Newport University Opera, Dallas Festival of Modern Music, Allen Philharmonic Orchestra, and Dallas Wind Symphony, among others. Wayla was Program Chair of the 2016 Mid-Atlantic Flute Convention, serves on the Flute Society of Washington Board of Directors, and recently completed a term on the National Flute Association’s New Music Advisory Committee. Past appearances as a performer and clinician include the NFA and Mid-Atlantic Conventions as well as the Richmond Flute Fest, Hampton Roads Flute Faire, East Carolina University Flute Symposium, California St. University-Monterey Bay, University of California at Berkeley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sweet Briar College, June in Buffalo Festival, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. Wayla holds degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Bachelor of Music), CalArts (Master of Fine Arts), and the University of North Texas (Doctor of Musical Arts). She has served on the faculties of Eastern Mennonite University and Thomas Nelson Community College, and is currently a classical radio host and Assistant Program Director for 90.3 WHRO-FM.

Duo Thalassa
Duo Thalassa is a partnership between flutist Wayla Chambo and guitarist Todd Holcomb. Named for the Greek goddess who personifies the sea, the duo is based in Southeast Virginia, a region permeated by water in its many forms and moods. Duo Thalassa offers creative, engaging performances of a variety of repertoire including works by J. S. Bach, Ravi Shankar, Astor Piazzolla, Toru Takemitsu, and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. The ensemble’s recent performance engagements include the Norfolk Chamber Consort, Williamsburg Presbyterian Open Door Concert Series, Virginia Wesleyan University Concert Series, the Tidewater Classical Guitar Concert Series, Coastal Virginia Chamber Music, and the Jewish Museum and Cultural Center’s Zelma G. Riven Summer Music Series.

Sam Dorsey
Sam Dorsey is Professor of Music at Norfolk State University. He has studied guitar with Jesus Silva, Michael Lorimer, and has attended Master Classes with Andrés Segovia. As a founder of Tidewater Classical Guitar, he has been a moving force in bringing to the Tidewater area artists of international acclaim. He has performed with the Virginia Symphony, Virginia Opera, Virginia Stage Company, and the Virginia Beach Symphony. Additionally, he is the founder of the Tidewater Guitar Orchestra. As a solo artist he has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Mr. Dorsey has been heard in recital in the Teatro Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica, and the Cento Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City, Mexico. Mr. Dorsey recently completed his Ph.D. in Musicology from the Catholic University of America where he was the recipient of the Paul Furfey Hanley Scholarship.