Guitar Sessions: Benjamin Verdery
Benjamin Verdery
Image courtesy of the artist
Guitar faculty member at the Yale University School of Music, artistic director for both the Yale Guitar Extravaganza and 92nd Street Y’s Art of the Guitar, Benjamin Verdery is hailed for his innovative and eclectic musical career.
Since 1980 Verdery has performed worldwide in theaters and at festivals, including Theatre Carré in Amsterdam, Maverick Concerts in New York, the International Guitar Festival in Havana, Wigmore Hall in London, Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Taxco in Mexico, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Metropolitan Opera in New York. His tours regularly take him throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia.
He has recorded and performed with such diverse artists as Andy Summers, Frederic Hand, William Coulter, Leo Kottke, Anthony Newman, Jessye Norman, Paco Peña, Hermann Prey, and John Williams.
Verdery has released more than 15 albums, his most recent being Happy Here with William Coulter, and Branches, featuring works of Bach, Strauss, Jimi Hendrix, Mozart, and the traditional "Amazing Grace." His CD Start Now won the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Award, while other recordings of note include Some Towns & Cities and his collaborations with John Williams (John Williams Plays Vivaldi) and Andy Summers, First You Build A Cloud.