About William Feasley

William Feasley is rapidly becoming recognized as one of today's top classical guitarists. The first guitarist to be awarded the Peabody Conservatory's coveted Artist Diploma, Mr. Feasley has since been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards: a gold medal in the 1987 Panhellenic Guitar Competition in Athens, the 1990 and 1995 Baltimore Chamber Music Awards and a 1996 Governor's Citation for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts in Maryland. Selected to play for Andrés Segovia at the master's historic last class at the University of Southern California in 1986, he was later featured on the CBS special Eulogy of Segovia.

Since making his debut in 1980 with the San Francisco Ballet, performing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez for Lou Christenson's ballet, Don Juan, William Feasley has maintained an active international touring schedule. He has appeared in the Ohrid Spoleto Festival in Macedonia and venues such as St. Martin in the Fields in London, the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Washington National Cathedral and Yale University. He has toured with the Russian Chamber Orchestra, Music Viva (Alexander Rudin, Conductor), performed live on ABC International Radio in Australia, and with New York's Bachanalia Ensemble under the direction of Nina Beilina and Washington's 20th Century Consort. Recent tours have included Spain, the Caribbean, Greece, Yugoslavia, New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Iceland.

William Feasley has released two critically acclaimed discs for the Sonora label: Simplicity with his partner in the D'Amore Duo, oboist Vladimir Lande, and American Sketches -- musical Americana with rags, Gershwin and Coplandesque landscapes. Another unusual program is Echos of Goya -- a multimedia presentation on the life of the famous painter and his impact on several generations of composers.

Mr. Feasley in currently Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is the faculty of the Levine School of Washington, D.C.

"Feasley's guitar sounded, in the words of Segovia, like "a small orchestra" in its variety of colors..."

-- Joseph McLellan,
The Washington Post

"He is gifted with a dominating technique and a sharp intellect."

Guitar Review Magazine

"Gem of a concert... Feasley's consummate artistry prevailed."

Annapolis Capitol

"Feasley's own transcription of Bach's lengthy first violin Sonata was so adroit that the piece sounded like music written for the guitar. He had the solidity of taste and style to make a guitar transcription sound like real Bach, played so well that he conveyed new insights into the work to a listener who thought he knew the original fairly well."

Albuquerque Journal

"Feasley is a virtuoso. He has an incredibly high level of technique, and the ability to perform a piece in the mood in which it was composed. The sound of his guitar is warm, sweet, and full of musical truth."

NEA Newspaper, Xania, Greece

"... a commanding performance... dispatching each virtuosic work with panache and an unerring sense of style... an extremely polished and satisfying recital.

The Press
Christchurch, New Zealand

"William Feasley is one of those musicians who, while not deliberately setting out to 'wow' the audience, succeeds in doing just that... the whole recital was consumed as a glass of sparkling water on a hot summer's night."

Politika Ekspress,
Belgrade, Yugoslavia