A large audience of classical music lovers listened in rapt delight to the enchanting music of the gifted Medina-Gracián Guitar Duo, presented by ¡Viva la Musica! at the Auditorio de la Ribera on Sunday, August 31.
Formed with the intention of making full use of the wide range of music that can be arranged for guitar, the duo – Sergio Medina and Hugo Ernest Gracián – are each soloists in their own right.
A graduate of the University of Guadalajara Music School, Medina received a scholarship from the government of France to study for six years at l’École Nationale de Musique, Paris. Specializing in Baroque and Renaissance music at the Conservatoire Nationale de Musique du Raincy, in 1987 he received the Diplome Supérieur de Musique Ancienne (Superior Diploma in Ancient Music). He is currently head of the Music School at the University of Guadalajara.
Gracián graduated from the University of Guadalajara as a music teacher and professor of guitar and subsequently took master classes with many eminent maestros. In 1997, he received the Virtuosismo Guitarrístico Award at the 7th International Guitar Festival in Morelia, Michoacán. He now divides his time between concert performances and as a professor at CEDART José Clemente Orozco and the University of Guadalajara.
The duo opened with “Córdoba,” originally written for piano as part of Albéniz’s “Chants d’Espagne.” Transcribed for guitar by Miguel Llobet, it is said to have been inspired by the Great Mosque of Córdoba, Andalusia.
Medina’s ten-string classical instrument contrasted beautifully with Gracián’s six-stringed guitar and the music certainly reflected an Arabian influence, particularly when the guitar-body was slapped, sounding like the traditional small tambour accompaniment.
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