Hailed as “one of the most brilliant guitarists of the new generation,” Canadian Andrew Mah is widely regarded for his virtuosity, versatility, and heartfelt musicality.

Born in Ottawa into a family of guitarists, he has performed professionally for more than 17 years, touring France in 1990 with the ensemble Guitares Nouvelle France and premiering some of the earliest work of Canadian guitarist/composer Patrick Roux. In 2003, the Governor General of Canada invited him to be the featured soloist at her Performing Arts Awards ceremony; in July 2005, he performed a concert for an audience of 3,000 at the residence of the Governor General as part of the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival.

In February 2005, Andrew Mah was the first musician from the Americas ever to tour the Republic of Cape Verde and returned there later the same year to research the regional guitar styles with Cape Verdean guitar legends Bau and Voginha. Mr. Mah was the first international guitarist ever to travel there for this purpose and in March 2006 he was invited to Yale University to perform two concerts of Cape Verdean and Brazilian music at in both solo and chamber music capacities.

In Nov. 2006 he traveled to the Czech Republic to produce the North Czech Philharmonic recording the symphonies of Vasco Martins, and later that month toured Atlantic Canada as a soloist under the auspices of the Debut Atlantic touring organization.

A recipient of two grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Mr. Mah is currently collaborating with composers Roddy Ellias (Ottawa) and Vasco Martins (Cape Verde - West Africa) helping to create and premiere exciting new music for solo guitar.

An avid arranger and ensemble musician, he specializes in transcribing complex music by ear. Mr. Mah’s arrangements for string orchestra have been performed for the PM of Portugal, Premier of China, General Pervez Musharraf, South African President Thabo Mbeki , US President George Bush, and UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. His work for various other ensemble configurations have been toured in Spain, Canada, United States, and Cape Verde.

Alongside his solo work, he performs in two primary ensembles: Duo Brazil, with internationally renowned soprano Donna Brown, and Duo Aperio, with virtuoso violinist Renee-Paule Gauthier.

'Historia' the debut CD release from Duo Aperio will be released this summer and his seventh CD, 'Cacique' featuring the solo works of Agustin Barrios Mangore is due to be released in early 2012.

*Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts

 

Presenting Andrew Mah

Danza Brazilera
Julia Florida
Vals no 4 op 8

La Catedral
-Preludio(saudade)
-Andante religioso
-Allegro Solemne

Caprice 24
Andante-Rondo
Chaconne
Fantasia
The Frogg Galliard

 

Music by Vasco Martins

deserto subtil (excerpt)
sattva
estudo
molto continuum(dedicated to Andrew Mah)

 

Music by Patrick Roux

Valse vertigo
D'un ciel a l'autre

Music by Roddy Ellias

'Emptying' Sonata for Guitar (dedicated to Andrew Mah)
live in Dartmouth NS

Calm
Shuffle Boogie
Chorale
Dancing

Music by Tarrega

Maria
Adelita

On guitar built by J. Mah

Andante (from Violin Sonata 2)
J.S. Bach arr. A. Mah)

 

PURCHASE:

If you would like to purchase CD's, email me and I will contact you with details within 24 hours .

 

You Tube Videos: Scroll down and click on the 'play' button

1. Jongo by Bellinati
2. Jorge do Fusa by Garoto
3. Valse sem nome by Baden Powell
4. Sons de Carrilhões by Joao de Pernambuco

 

 

Under construction

 

 

 

Friendly professional instruction of the highest quality, carefully tailored to the needs and interests of each individual.
Over 20 years of experience. I accept students of all ages and skill levels, provided they have a keen interest in making progress and improving their skills.

Specialties:

- classical guitar musicality and technique
- RCM exam preparation
- university audition preparation
- contest/exam preparation

Also teach:

- ear training / musicianship
- rock guitar
- Brazilian guitar
- beginner/intermediate jazz guitar
- fingerstyle technique
- reading standard notation / music theory
- improvisation


Rate: $35 per half hour, $55 full hour

Contact Andrew for more information.

 

 

For a printable PDF full version of the presskit click here. Includes one photo, long bio, short bio, , one sample program etc. (if you need the highest resolution photo please download below instead)

Bio: (doc format-includes reviews/quotes)

Bio (longer 377 words and comments/reviews)

Bio (short 247 words and comments/reviews)

Bio (short-french no comments/reviews)

 

Photos

5x7dt.tif 2,789.34 KB

8x10dt.tif 9,206.10 KB

8x10closed.tif 6,659.79 KB

Other photos

Tux Headshot BWtif 8x10 (6.5mb)
Older photo (tif 6.9 mb)

Sample programs:
(many more programs and combinations are available all Bach, Barrios etc) - please inquire)

Program 1(mixed/recital) Program 2(Canadian-Brazilian-Cape Verdean) Program 3 (Brazilian)

Technical requirements:

Armless chair of normal height. (Stool not acceptable).
Microphone and PA may be necessary depending on the specific circumstance of performance.
Please inquire. Small diaphraghm cardiod condenser mic preferred if possible. (AKG 451 or ULS series are
my favorite for guitar)

Lighting must be of stage type adequate to highlight a solo performer, but need not be a full professional lighting rig. In church venues, the standard existing stage lights are usually fine.

News articles-press clippings:


Personal Facts:
-Andrew performs concerts on guitars built by his father.
Check out his latest new guitar here.
-Andrew executed all sound engineering, production and mastering on 'Presenting Andrew Mah'.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting music and instrument related links:

Toronto Guitar Symposium (March 7-9/03) masterclasses and concerts
AMGUSS (June 2003) Study with Andrew Mah at the American Mandolin and Guitar Summer School
CD Baby
Canadian Musician Online
Clavier Baroques
Quebec City Summer Festival
Stew Mac Guitar parts
Ultrasound Acoustic Guitar Amplifiers
Guitar Solo Publications
Astor Piazzolla site
Sherry Brenner/Guitarra Magazine
Guitar Foundation of America
WorldGuitarist
brantford folk Club
Glenn Gould Studio
The Twelfth Fret
Stafford Guitar Centre
Toronto Guitar Society
New Guitar
Local Music Directory:A directory of musician and music business website links organized by category
Guitar Strings by Smart Sounds : A large and fantastic choice of strings for all instruments
You Can Play Guitar: Free daily guitar and bass guitar lessons. Purchase video instructionals and tab books online. Visit our music store today! Hosted by Billboard top rated instructor Scott Morris.

Musicians:

Marilynn Mair- world's finest classical mandolin player.
John Goulart
Karl Wohlwend
Jorge Morel/Cheska Music
Rico Stover and Querico Publications
Randall Avers
Victor Villadangos
Nick Goluses
Andrew York
Jeff Mcfadden
Ivan Rijos
Duo46
RemiBoucher
Norbert Kraft
Canadian Guitar Quartet
David Russell
Manuel Barrueco
Dale Kavanaugh
The Assad Family
Martha Masters
John Williams
Margarita Garcia Escarpa
The Astor Duo
The Eden Stell Duo

Non Classical:

Pigeonhole
The Piche family

 

Luthiers:

Oskar Graf
Paulino Bernabe
Greg Byers

Ottawa Music Links:

Tammy Raybould
Jan Jarvlepp
John Armstrong
Roddy Elias
Norteno
Sue Foley
Alain Morier
Ottawa Folklore Center
Patrick Cardy
Richard Todd's opus pocus
Colin Mills
Rasputins
Michael Murray
Tom McMahon

Website tools:

Sage-Queen of buttons
Dynamic Drive -Scripts

Non-musical links:

The Ironworks RPG site
Boxing info
National Capital Freenet
Aquarium care
Changing LINKS fun site! Randomized surfing.
datamusic A site dedicated to music on the net.

This is the links page for Canadian guitarist Andrew Mah.

To go to his homepage click here.

 

 

This is the 'Bear' page for Canadian guitarist Andrew Mah. To go to his homepage click here.

 

Hi everyone! I'd like to introduce you to my latest new guitar, 'Bear'.
(listen to 'Bear' here)----( See 'Bear in action here)

This guitar has a great story behind it:

My father (who happens to be 93 years old) has been building classical guitars for many, many years (since before I was born). His workmanship has always been high quality, and they were very good instruments, but they never quite did everything I needed them to. We had many long discussions (and disagreements:) about the nature of guitars and the sound they should make.

Dad looking over 'Bear' in his tiny workshop

I have always played his guitars but from 1993 had played a concert Bernabe (pb) as my main guitar. Our talks continued over the years. I had always wanted him to try redwood tops and as luck would have it he brought out (from his packrat menagerie:) several beautifully aged redwood boards that were of excellent quality. Kevin Hall (a very fine Ottawa Valley luthier) was kind enough to cut the boards into top blanks for us. I didn't think much about it at the time, but when the guitar was done, we were flabbergasted at what a good instrument he had made. It was very loud and produced a range of color far beyond anything he had ever done. Everything just fell into place. I had been playing some of the most challenging programs I had ever done and this guitar was so easy to play, and so responsive it just fit me like a glove. I used it for my first CD release concert on Dec. 16/01 and many people commented on what a fine instrument it was and how much character it had. Unfortunately, it later sprouted some odd buzzing in the top that we could not locate, even after weeks of searching. So we decided to retop it!!!

This operation tends to change a guitar completely. We were all very nervous. I participated in this as much as possible. Together we selected another piece of well aged redwood. and set to work. I removed the rosette and bridge from the first incarnation, and dad popped off the fingerboard. After a few weeks of work, it was ready, and just in time: I wanted to play it for a concert in Toronto on May 23. I couldn't wait and wanted to put strings on for a few minutes just before we finished it. We were disappointed. It just didn't have the clout of the first one (which blew us away immediately). It was quieter, and somewhat unrefined to say the least. This disappointment lasted for about 3 days and then suddenly on the 4th day it just came alive! It just seemed like a miracle! To make a long story short I played it for that concert, and am still playing it.

Here we are setting up the action

My dad loves to build and we are all very grateful that at 87 he still has the energy, motivation and health to do this activity. The fact that he's improving his instruments so much is just a super bonus. I cant wait to hear the next one and I'll put a feature up for that one too. So anyway, scroll down for pictures and videos of us working together, click here for video clips from the May 23 concert, and here for some other live audio recordings with my new guitar, 'Bear'.

PS. "Bear" was my family nickname when I was a kid. Most of the guitars built for my use have a little handwritten label hidden inside that says "BEAR". This guitar suited me so well I thought it was the most appropriate name. I'm working now on making the first labels for my dads guitars.

All photos by Jocelyn Umengan

 

 

 

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