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Guitarist Gary Wittner has been delighting audiences worldwide for many years. His performance career spans four decades, 25 countries, and five continents worldwide. Twice selected as a Kennedy Center Jazz Ambassador, he has also received Fulbright Specialist and Maine Arts Commission grants. Gary has released six CDs and published one book, Thelonious Monk for Guitar. He has presented concert/lectures on Monk's music and life at many prestigious music schools around the world. In the late 1970s he started playing jazz standards, and in the 1990s began composing and performing original instrumental jazz. In 2003 he became interested in Latin music and developed groups with Cuban vocalist Raul Freyre (Dos Canosos), and Chilean percussionist Andres Espinoza (Grupo Mofongo). He also started yearly trips to Ecuador, where he plays with local musicians. Recently, Gary has been studying voice, and writing original songs with lyrics; his vocal music has been heard in local concerts and on Portland’s WMPG and Maine’s public radio station, MPBN.
Gideon Forbes, a native of Vermont, is a saxophonist and composer living in Maine. Gideon is an active instrumentalist in New England and the mid-Atlantic, and has worked with such organizations as the Portland Jazz Orchestra, Maine State Musical Theater, the New Hampshire Music Festival, and the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Gideon has performed with notable musicians and bands such as Scott Reeves, Steve Grover (winner of the Thelonious Monk Institute/BMI Jazz Composers Competition), Kris Berg, The Rustic Overtones, Curtis Hasselbring, the Fogcutters (“Best Jazz Act of New England,” 2014 New England Music Awards) and OURBIGBAND. Gideon recently recorded his first album, "Forbes/Wilson," with drummer Jacob Forbes and keyboardist Jed Wilson. Gideon is an active composer, with recent projects such as his 10-part suite "The Frost Songs" (inspired by the poetry of Robert Frost). He has performed on MPBN’s Friday Night Jazz with Rich Tozier, with the Tom Luther Quintet, and the jazz piano trio ACRONYM. A recent graduate of the University of Southern Maine, Gideon is now enrolled in graduate studies in jazz composition at William Paterson University. Seating is limited; please reserve by calling 293-2280. Bearnstow is located at 84 Bearnstow Road in Mount Vernon, Maine. Admission free; contributions are gratefully accepted. Download PDF version of this page. |