Profile
Canadian classical guitarist Alexander Dunn has performed to enthusiastic acclaim in Canada, the USA, Cuba, New Zealand, Mexico, Brasil, Southeast Asia, China, South Africa, western and eastern Europe, and Russia. In solo recital, concerto, and chamber music he is consistently praised for his musicality, technique and rich sound. An experienced chamber musician, he has worked with principal players from the Pacific Baroque Orchestra (Vancouver), Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik (Toronto), in duo concerts with guitarists Pepe Romero, David Tanenbaum, with tenor Benjamin Butterfield, and with many other musicians and vocalists. He has been a featured soloist with the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, La Jolla Symphony, Malaga Sinfonico, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, New England Symphony, and many major US orchestras as a guest artist with Los Romeros.
Feature recitals at major music festivals include the Aspen Music Festival, Darmstadt's Ferienkurs für Neue Musik (in the premiere of Spin-Curve Foci, dedicated to him), Salzburg's Sommerakademie der Hochschule Mozarteum, Vancouver New Music (in the premiere of Noche de Ronda, a Canada Council commission for him), International Guitar and Lute Institute, Stetson International Guitar Workshop, Guitar Foundation of America International Conference, Northwest Guitar Festival, the Paracho Festival de Guitarra, the Vancouver Festival, Early Music Society of the Islands, CBC Festival de Printemps, Zihuatenejo International Guitar Festival and many others. He has collaborated with numerous musicians on nineteenth-century instruments and vocalists and is regarded as one of the finest performers on period guitars.
Performances over past seasons include featured performances at the Guitar Foundation of America International Festival, the Boston Guitar Festival, Northeastern Guitar Festival, and the Northwest Guitar Festival. Additionally, he has toured with the Victoria Symphony and throughout many countries with the University of Victoria Chamber Singers. He premiered Ligeti’s Guitar Sonata, the Canadian premiere of Reich’s Nagoya Guitars with guitarist David Tanenbaum, and recorded Beethoven’s Op. 8 and 25 Serenades with members of the Lafayette Quartet. More recently, he performed Beethoven duos with David Tanenbaum, toured Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and China with the UVic Chamber Singers, appeared as concerto soloist with the Victoria Symphony and Pacific Baroque Orchestras, as well as participating in numerous chamber music programs and early music concerts.
This and past season saw him in an all-Regondi program in New York City and concerts in Mexico, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and Russia. This season Mr. Dunn will perform with the Winnipeg Symphony, at the Guitar Foundation of America International Conference in San Francisco, the Boston and Appalachian Guitar Festivals, and as a judge the Singapore Youth Music Festival. Mr. Dunn holds a Masters Degree in Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of California, San Diego, where he was a protégé of Pepe Romero; his extensive summer studies were at the Aspen Music Festival under Oscar Ghiglia and at the Salzburg Mozarteum.
Mr. Dunn is on the Board of Examiners for the Royal Conservatory of Music Toronto, and currently heads what is considered one of Canada’s top guitar programs at the University of Victoria and the Victoria Conservatory of Music.