Guitar Literature specialists
perform at William Carey

By Staff
special to The Star
Oct. 19, 2003
The Winters School of Music at William Carey College will present a concert by Pasquale Rucco and Douglas James, a guitar duo who specialize in the performance of the guitar literature of the early 19th century on authentic instruments of the period.
The concert is Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Lucile Parker Gallery on the Hattiesburg campus.
Rucco and James became friends at guitar festivals in northern Italy during the early 1990s. They have performed together in both the United States and Europe, entertaining crowds with their interpretations of music from the first true "golden age" of the guitar.
Recently they performed at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Guitar Houston, Piccolo Spoleto in Italy and the Stetson International Guitar Workshop. Rucco and James made their Austrian debut in 2002 with a five-concert tour in the eastern Alps. This season they will tour the U.S., Vienna, Rome and Naples.
The Rucco and James performance at Carey will include works from their first recording, "Early Romantic Music for Two Guitars," which features the work of Filipo Gragnani, Francois de Fossa, Mauro Giuliani, Joseph Hayden and Gioacchino Rossini.
Rucco is the winner of several European guitar competitions, including the Arturo Toscannini Solo Guitar Competition for the performance of 19th century music. James, director of guitar studies at Appalachian State University, has received numerous prizes and awards, including two National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Fellowships.
For more information about the concert call the Winters School of Music at (601) 318-6175. Tickets are $5 and $3 and are available at the door.