New CD Traveling Sonata

May 6, 2013 By

The whole process of recording the Traveling Sonata was an amazing experience for me mainly because Jeremy Jouve is such a musical and exquisite guitarist.  He made the whole process a complete joy because making music with master musicians, for me, rates as one of life’s peak experiences.  We got together and rehearsed every day for 6 hours every day for a week before performing a couple concerts in the Bay Area.  Then we hit the studio.  But this wasn’t just any old studio, we recorded in the world’s top recording studio, George Lucas’ Skywalker Sound, the sound stage where all the Star Wars movies were recorded.  I have recorded a few albums here, but this experience of recording with Grammy Winning Engineer, Keith O. Johnson, was extra special.  It was a true honor to have been able to record in this space, with the inspiring rolling hills outside, with Jeremy as my musical partner and with Keith as our star engineer.  Life is so perfect sometimes!  We were invited to spend the night on the premises in the delightful Inn at Skywalker.  The whole weekend was such a treat.  The album was recently released and immediately it became San Francisco classical radio station KDFC’s “CD of the Week” along with Lang Lang and Alison Balsom.  Reference Recordings label is so easy to work with.  They have been a perfect partner, super dedicated and magnanimous.

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Traveling Sonata Back Cover

Traveling Sonata Back Cover

KPFA Interview Viviana Guzman & Jeremy Jouve

KPFA Interview Viviana Guzman & Jeremy Jouve

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Beijing, China

January 8, 2013 By

Program from the National Center
for the Performing Arts in Beijing

Our last stop in our Grand Asian Tour was Beijing.  Every time I visit China I’m surprised to see the incredible growth.  In my first visit, I was struck by all the bicycles.  Now, I was struck by all the automobile traffic.  The bicycles are gone, and everyone is wealthier and owns a car.  In Beijing we first performed at the Central Conservatory of Beijing and my Masterclass which was sponsored by Altus Flutes was presented in the Beijing Conservatory.  Our performance was filmed and apparently shown on TV.  We also did an extensive interview for Spanish Radio.  The highlight, of course, for us was visiting the Great Wall of China.  We visited the Ming Tombs first and then The Great Wall.  Although it was my 4th time to visit The Wall every time, is magical for me.  I love that it’s away from the city, in the peaceful, crisp, mountain air.

And then our tour sadly came to an end.  It was hectic, it was intense, it was wonderful and challenging all at once.  Mahani experienced some severe food poisoning twice.  And we were absolutely exhausted after the month.  It was a 5 star tour staying primarily in 5 top hotels and always being picked up in private limousines.  But it was quite grueling to land one day, perform the next day, teach the following day, and repeat.  Normally, I need at least one day to recover from just performing a concert.  This was a non-stop month tour.  But what really made our tour incredibly fruitful were all the noble and kind hearts we met along the way.  This, for us, was priceless.  We fell in love with Asia, it’s faces, it’s people.  We look forward to returning again very soon.

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Beijing Central Conservatory Recital Poster

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Seoul, Korea

January 8, 2013 By

We were so sad to leave Tokyo but were so happy to be received once again in the Residence of the Ambassador of Chile in Seoul.  Mr. Ricardo came to pick us up and took us out for a snack before we started our rehearsal in town.  In Seoul, we only stayed a mere 2 days.  So we flew in, rehearsed.  Next day, rehearsed, played concert.  And we were out by the third morning, early.  In Seoul we performed at the Korea Foundation to a sold out house.  The performance was filmed and you can view it here:

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Tokyo, Japan

January 8, 2013 By

We were so sad to leave Hanoi but were so happy to be received once again in the Residence of the Ambassador of Chile in Tokyo, Mr. and Mrs. Patricio Torres.  Here we were met by Patricio Becker the second in command at the Embassy of Chile in Japan and who is the twin brother of the Ambassador of Chile to Bangkok.  We had no doubts when we arrived spotting him.  In Tokyo, Keiko-san took me to the Conservatory where I sat in on a lesson given by the flute professor.  In the recital we performed to another full house, sponsored by Mitsui of Japan.  The following day the Ambassador, Patricio Torres and his lovely wife, Cecilia, showed us the sights on Tokyo, The Royal Palace, Ginza and then we were invited to an exclusive dinner at an empresario’s home.  About 30 businessmen were in attendance.  After dinner, in true Geisha style, we ladies were invited to perform for the businessmen.  It was a unique and special event, and in typical Japanese style.  Nothing compares to the respect and beauty of the Japanese people.  They are so gracious and noble.  The city is impeccable.  Most of all, I love the taxi drivers in their spotless taxi’s wearing those spotless white gloves.  Japan has beautifully preserved their traditions without too much western influence.  It’s always a pleasure to return to Japan and visit with it’s people.

Recital Poster in Tokyo, Japan

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Hanoi, Vietnam

January 8, 2013 By

Vietnam News

We were very sad to leave the comforts of our regal hotel only to find ourselves at another resplendent hotel, this time it was the Hotel Metropole (Sofitel) in Hanoi, Vietnam.  I have always found Vietnam to be very special as it gives us glimpses of Asia at the turn of the century.  Staying at the Metropole, I felt like I had stepped back in time.  There were two times that severely marked this hotel, the year it was built, and the years it was bombed (when the singer Joan Baez stayed and wrote a song to commemorate it).

 

In Hanoi we were met by the honorable and gracious gentleman, Alvaro Guzman who affectionately became my “cousin” given our common last name.  Alvaro introduced us to the luscious Vietnamese coffee drink, No Da coffee.  YUM!!!  I’m not a fan of coffee, but when the Vietnamese make it and drown it in condensed milk, it becomes quite a tasty concoction indeed.  I never have felt have had enough time in Vietnam.  I always leave craving more.  This time was no exception.

 

I presented a Masterclass at the Vietnam Conservatory of Music in Hanoi graciously presented by the beautiful Huong Thu Le.  She had lined up about 15 students who performed for me.  I was so endearing to present the elements of Beatbox to all these countries.  And to see the smiling faces of all the students was priceless.  Our concert was held at the Metropole Hotel where several of the students attended including a young and very beautiful young lady, Giang Nguyen Hoang Hien who has since become my Facebook friend.  She is lovely and I look forward to visiting with her again on my next trip to Hanoi.  Our last day in Hanoi, the Ambassador of Chile in Hanoi took us around to the Turtle Temple where at the bottom of the lake legend states there lives an ancient and wise turtle.  Mahani and I had dresses custom made at one of the tailors.  The traditional Vietnamese dress is so elegant and flattering to wear.  It was so nice when Alvaro took us to the Temple of Literature where we saw all the recent high school graduates wearing their traditional dress.  They looked spectacular.  Thanks to Facebook, again, I am now friends with several of these lovely young ladies as we ended up taking a few Flying Shots together.  What a memorable day this was for all of us!

Hanoi, Vietnam Recital Poster

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June/July 2012 Newsletter

December 30, 2012 By

San Francisco Flute Festival
Viviana Guzman, Artistic Director

 

 

Concerts in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Rome, Venice

Click here to view June/July 2012 Newsletter

 

 

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Funchal, Portugal & Cadiz, Melilla, Cartagena, Spain

December 28, 2012 By

Did I mention that it was my intention to cut down on my travels?  HA!  It may be my intention to travel less, but not to give it up altogether, no.  Instead of touring most of the time, I’m down to touring about 50% of the time.  I’m still trying to find my perfect balance between home and the road as this is still a work in progress.

So when my agent waved Funchal, Cadiz, Melilla (North African province of Spain) and Cartagena, Spain I said, “YES!”  I can’t help myself.  I love to travel.  Combine that with my other love, performing, and you have one happy camper named Viviana.  So off to these exotic lands I went.  My performances were very well attended and I got consistent standing ovations (yes, the Leo that resides inside of me believes this is very important).

The most interesting to me was Melilla with it’s Medieval Fortress and cobblestone streets.  Despite being a Spanish province, people looked more Arab and they spoke Arab and Spanish and French.  What an interesting place it was!

Playing in Cathedral in Spain YouTube Preview Image

 

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San Francisco Flute Festival

December 28, 2012 By

I started the San Francisco Flute Festival for several reasons.  First, I had been so impressed by the way Matej Zupan and Salvatore Lombardi ran their flute festivals in Slovenia and Milan respectively, that I thought someday I would like to return the favor and ask them to come to San Francisco to perform for us.  I’m feeling more and more called to start looking for reasons to keep me more at home rather than touring 95% of the time like I used to.

So in 2010, I decided to embark on producing the 1st San Francisco Flute Festival.  I invited Matej Zupan (Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra) as well as Bulent Evcil (Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra), Timothy Day (San Francisco Symphony) and Robin McKee (San Francisco Symphony) to join us in our inaugural event.   We held it in an oceanfront venue near my house in Half Moon Bay which was both charming and inspiring.

The event turned out to be so successful that we were thrilled to be able to launch the 2nd San Francisco Flute Festival this year, this time presented at the San Francisco Conservatory near the Civic Center in downtown San Francisco.  Our guest artists included Gary Schocker, Mario Caroli, Christina Jennings, Nicole Esposito, Linda Lukas (San Francisco Symphony) 6 flute choirs, and San Francisco local flutists Areon Flutes, Carol Alban, Rebecca Kleinmann, Lars Johannesson, Pamela Ravenelle, Teresa Orozco, Gail Edwards, Ai Goldsmith.

The event would not have been possible without the generous sponsorship of our Corporate Members, Linda Shum, Diane Sangster and the amazing Sue Rupp whose attention to detail and diligent work help launch us from a one day festival to a two day festival.  We had twice as many participants and attendees and loads of fun was had by all.

Viviana Guzman and Gary Schocker play Schocker YouTube Preview Image

Mario Caroli plays Bach YouTube Preview Image

Just Another Flutist, Joanna Tse’s review of the SF Flute Festival YouTube Preview Image

Christina Jennings plays Caprice Variations YouTube Preview Image

Nicole Esposito plays FLASH YouTube Preview Image

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From Canary Islands, Spain to Salvador, Brazil

December 15, 2011 By

Viviana in Canary Islands, Spain

It was a loooong trip:  San Francisco, London, Madrid, Canary Islands.  But what a pleasant surprise when I checked into the luxurious 5 star hotel!  The Santa Catalina is a historic 1890 hotel right on the port.  In the lobby of my exquisite hotel, the pianist played campy Spanish bullfighting music while foreign languages dissipated like smoke from every table.  The balmy Canary Island evening breeze caressed my face whilst I ate a magnificent meal in the terrace restaurant with the former Ambassador of Ghana in the United States that I met in the elevator.  I felt like I was in a James Bond movie!

The orchestra I played with was very good.  It was nice to see some familiar faces.  I got a standing ovation after performing for 2,000 people, yes!  This always puts a huge satisfying grin on my face.

Next was Salvador, Bahia, Brasil.  I wish all my audiences were Brazilian audiences!!!  WOW!!!!  What energy!  What enthusiasm!  What love of life!  The most supportive audiences of the world are the Brazilian audience, hands down!!  There is nothing more satisfying that performing for Brazilian and feeling the audience love in their standing ovation and cheers.  Thank you Brazil!!!  Watch the Brazilian audience response in this video:

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Welcome to FluteChats.com!

November 28, 2011 By

FluteChats.com interview with Paula Robison

I was scheduled to perform in Charlotte, NC at the National Flute Association Convention on Thursday.  My next concert was in Edinburgh, Scotland the following week.  Rather than going all the way home to San Francisco, I decided to come up with a small project that would keep me busy during the NFA week.  Ahhhh… that small project turned into a rather LARGE project… Ta Daaa!!  Welcome to FluteChats.com

 

I decided to take the opportunity to interview various flutists at the convention.  I throught I would create a new website where people could watch and hear advice from today’s leading Flute Stars.

 

As of the time of this posting, I have uploaded the following wonderful interviews:  Greg Pattillo, Paula Robison, Carol Wincenc, Robert Dick, Brad Garner, Fluterscooter, Nicole Esposito.  Coming up you will find Trevor Wye, Alexa Still, Jimmy Walker, Katherine Kemler, Christina Jennings, Lisa Schroeder, Annie Wu, and a few wonderful surprises, too.

 

Whew!  It has become quite the project involving loads of time and several trips to my awesome webmistress Linda Shum’s house (check out ShumDesign.com) to fix different frustrating issues.  I have learned so much from this whole process.  All in all, it has been very rewarding, even if highly labor intensive.

 

I hope you will feel inspired to visit often FluteChats.com, or even subscribe in iTunes here.  Be sure to rate and leave a comment!

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