Of Dr. Trent’s exciting
performances the press has said:
“They (with Pamela Swenson Trent) perform
together as if one and the same person. Beautiful!”
CLASSICAL MUSIC -TAIWAN,
ROC.
“His interpretations are dignified, formal,
and carefully thought out, with a sense of structural integrity that
informs every passing tone.”
NEW YORK TIMES
“A SEASONED ARTIST STRUMS THE DEPTHS
(headline) “.... he seemed most intent on using his sweet,
crystalline sound to plumb the emotional depths of each work.”
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER
“Both performers (with Pamela Swenson
Trent) are virtuosos, and the playing is so "Vulcan Mind Meld" tight, so that it is often hard to tell which instrument is which.”
EARLYROMANTICGUITAR.COM
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BIO
Classical Guitar soloist, performer of chamber music and concerti, Robert Trent has performed on the continents of North and South America and in Europe. Dr. Trent performs on modern guitar, Renaissance lute and on an original French guitar from the early 19th c. and a reproduction of a 10-string double-necked Romantic guitar of Scherzer.
He has been a first prize winner in numerous National and International competitions including; the Webb National Guitar Competition, the Masterworks Young Artist Competition and the chamber music prize at the International Competition “Arturo Toscanini” in Italy.
He has appeared in chamber music recitals or concerti with The Audubon Quartet, the Kandinsky Trio, Blue Mountain Ensemble and the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra among others.
He is frequently sought after in masterclasses, performances and as an adjudicator at such institutions and festivals as Johns Hopkins University (Peabody Institute), University of South Carolina, Westminster Choir College, St. Joseph Guitar Festival, Rantucci International Guitar Festival, Guitar Foundation of America Festival, Festival Chartres, (France), Festival Condrogianos (Italy), Zevener Gitarrenwöch (Germany), Concours International de Guitar –Maurice Ohana (Paris).
In addition to his in solo recitals he performs regularly with fortepianist Pamela Swenson (as Duo Firenze). In past summers he and fortepianist Pamela Swenson Trent have been in residence as performers and teachers in period instrument performance at the “Accademia L’Ottocento” in Rome and Verbania. Duo Firenze is the recent recipient of numerous awards including: unprecedented two Career grants from The Johns Hopkins University - Peabody Conservatory, two Faculty Development Grant from Radford University, twice from the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
He is a recording artist for Dorian Records© as a member of Duo Firenze. Their first Dorian CD is entitled “Italian Nocturnes: Early Romantic Music for Guitar and Fortepiano (catalogue no: DIS 80156)
www.dorian.com . No stranger to new music, he is featured in three works in the recording CD “Traveler’s Tales” Capstone Records (CPS-8776)
www.capstonerecords.org/CPS-8776.html works by American Composer Byron Petty entitled.
Recent tours have taken Dr. Trent to Russia, Brazil, Germany and France. Sought after as an expert in performance practice of the early nineteenth-century, he has contributed improvised cadenzas in the style of Fernando Sor to the “Complete Sonatas of Diabelli, Giuliani and Sor, Vol. 1” published by Mel Bay text (melbay.com)
The first recipient of the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in guitar from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Trent is Professor of Music and Director of Guitar and Renaissance Lute studies at the College of Visual and Performing Arts of Radford University.
Video featuring Robert Trent
Le
Gondolier by J. K. Mertz
Pamela Swenson Trent
BIO
Following studies with Seymour
Bernstein and fortepianist Stephen Lubin, performances have taken Pamela
Swenson Trent throughout the United States and in Europe. She has been
an Artist-in-Residence in the United States and at the Accademia
L’Ottocento in Italy. Having been on the faculty of Radford University
and Westminster Choir College-Conservatory she is fortepianist for Duo
Firenze, Director of Kindermusik of the New River Valley, Director of
Music for Christ Episcopal Church in Blacksburg, VA, maintains a
thriving piano studio and is a highly sought after teacher and
collaborative artist.
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a major force in the discovery and authentic performance of early
19th-century music for guitar and fortepiano duet. Touring with their
own period Viennese fortepiano and 19th-century guitars, they give
audiences a rare visual and sonic experience. The duo was formed in 1990
after a discovery of works for the medium of guitar and fortepiano duo.
Duo Firenze takes it name from the Italian city of Florence, the
birthplace of the fortepiano and where the six-stringed guitar
flourished. Duo Firenze was the prizewinner in the Concorso
Internazional “Arturo Toscanini” for chamber music in Italy. Since that
time Duo Firenze has not only dedicated themselves to giving revival
performances to this once forgotten art, but has succeeded in delighting
audiences in the United States and Europe.
In addition to historical performance, Duo
Firenze performs on modern piano and modern guitar or on split programs
combining old and new. Bringing this once fantastically popular medium
to audiences both new and underserved is a particular mission of Duo
Firenze.
In past summers, Duo Firenze has been
in residence as performers and teachers in period instrument performance
at the Accademia L’Ottocento in Rome and Verbania.
Duo Firenze is the receipient of grants from Radford University, Johns
Hopkins, Peabody Conservatory and from the
Virginia Commission for the
Arts (VCA) having been on the VCA’s touring roster for five seasons.
Their compact disc “Italian Nocturnes: Early Romantic Music for
fortepiano and guitar” (DIS80156), featuring world premieres has
received accolades from the US to the Far East and is available
internationally on the Dorian label (Dorian 80156 www.dorian.com).
Videos by Duo Firenze
Variations on Beethoven's Op. 66 by Ferdinando
Carulli
(Mvt. 1) Nocturne Op. 36 by Francesco Molino
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