Anthony
Bez, guitar
Anthony Bez, ASCAP composer, began guitar studies at the
age of five. He began performing on a regular basis at the age of
nine. As a member of the Power Memorial Academy Orchestra, he
appeared at Alice Tully Hall yearly during High School. Classical guitar debuts
were made in his early teens at the Westchester Classical Guitar Society and in
area churches. Since then, he has performed throughout the country
as well as in Europe.
Mr. Bez has studied with guitarists Alice Artzt, Frank Koonce,
Fredric Lehrman, Stephen
Bell, Michael Dadap and Jorge
Morel. He has been influenced by leading classical
musicians and musicians of other genres as well as attending numerous master
classes. After meeting and playing for such flamenco greats and educators
as Serranito, Manolo Sanlucar, Carlos Montoya and Brook Zern,
he began to incorporate flamenco into his repertoire. Learning from friends like Antonio David
and then studying with Ramon el Morro he began to appear locally and accompany
the dance classes of Maraquita Flores.
He has been featured as Flamenco Dance TheaterÕs guest soloist and
accompanist as well. He has performed with ÒI Giulari di PiazzaÓ of the
St. John the Divine Cathedral in New York City specializing in Medieval,
Renaissance, and Southern Italian music. He has performed off-Broadway
with MCC Theater, with the DiCapo Opera, with TIPA (Towards International Peace
through the Arts), with the
New Jersey Shakespeare Festival as well as in
the homes of renowned artists, state legislators and diplomats.
Mr. Bez is a recipient of the Medal
of Merit from the Costa Rican Consulate for his outstanding musical efforts in
conjunction with the
Rainforest Alliance. He was the on-stage music for the award
winning ÒSouls Breaking FreeÓ with the William Carlos William Poetry Symposium
and has received an Artist Award from the New Jersey Theater Alliance for his
work with the Actors Shakespeare Company. ASCAP composer and a recipient
of a grant from ÒMeet the ComposerÓ, he has been the
Music Master/Composer and Director of the ActorÕs Shakespeare Company
Consort at New Jersey City University since 2005.
Mr. Bez is a devoted teacher and has
served on the faculty of the American
Institute of Guitar, the Manhattan Institute of
Guitar, the Woodbridge Academy of Music and presently
at New York Music School and the Hudson School. His articles have
appeared in Soundboard Magazine, the publication of the Guitar Foundation of America, Guitar Review and NYlon
Review.
Mr. Bez is
presently the Executive Secretary on the Board of the New York City Classical Guitar
Society. His
CD Holy Mountain of his own compositions has been featured on WNYCÕs ÒNew SoundsÓ and on
Public Radio here in the United States and in Canada. Other productions
include a follow up solo CD Return to
Mountain also recorded at the Dai Bosatsu International Zendo. He is an alumnus of Berklee College of
Music, Arizona State University and Mannes College of Music.