When:

Bradley Kunda started playing the guitar at the age of six. Born and raised in Adelaide, he studied flamenco guitar for four years before furthering his classical studies with Hungarian-born guitarist András Tüské. In 2005, Bradley won the coveted National Undergraduate Scholarship at the Australian National University, where he completed a bachelor degree in music with first class honours under the notable Australian guitarist Tim Kain, while also studying for a bachelor degree in law. Bradley is currently a PhD candidate in guitar performance at the Australian National University. He is also preparing to complete specialist studies in early-19^th century guitar performance practice at the Accademia l’Ottocento (Italy), studying under Carlo Barone.

Bradley has won first prize in the Fifth International Competition “Festival de Córdoba” (Spain), and the audience prize in the Nikšić International Guitar Competition (Montenegro), determined by voters on live satellite television. He was awarded the 2007 Erika Haas Award for the most outstanding instrumental performance student at the Australian National University. He is currently the recipient of an Australian Professional Award.

Bradley is actively engaged in bringing a diverse and accessible range of chamber music to new audiences. As a member of the BREW Guitar Duo and contemporary music septet dominantSEVEN, he has commissioned significant new works by Australian composers including Robert Davidson and Richard Charlton. As a soloist and chamber musician, his performances have included concerts at the Córdoba International Guitar Festival (Spain), the Project Canción Española (Spain), the Nikšić International Guitar Festival (Montenegro), the Canberra International Chamber Music Festival and the Darwin International Guitar Festival (Australia). In 2009, Bradley joined Australia’s leading guitar quartet, Guitar Trek, which has pioneered new repertoire for the guitar family for over two decades under the leadership of Tim Kain. Bradley also enjoys collaborative projects with clarinettist Nicole Canham and soprano Rebecca MacCallion.

As a composer, Bradley has been featured in ABC Classic FM’s Young Australian Composers series celebrating “Australian Music Month.” His guitar works are regularly played on ABC Classic FM, and have been finalist entries in the 3^rd International Australian Guitar Composition Competition, and the ASME Young Composers’ Awards. In 2011, Bradley won the Canberra Classical Guitar Society Composition Competition, which awards him a commission to compose a new work for guitar orchestra. In addition to writing guitar music, Bradley’s work for carillon will soon be published in an upcoming volume of Australian carillon music. Bradley’s choral works have also been performed by the choir of the Wesley Uniting Church in Forrest, Canberra.

Bradley is on staff in the Guitar Department at the Australian National University School of Music, where he has also tutored and lectured in various undergraduate musicology subjects.

http://youtu.be/vNriDue0LWo

http://youtu.be/HeYsnks7LqM

Programme for Cooma Concert:

Bradley Kunda

Five Preludes (Heitor Villa-Lobos)

Selections from Los Caprichos de Goya (Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco)

• I – Francisco Goya y Lucientes, Pintor
• VIII – Dios la perdone; y era su madre
• XIII – ¿Quién más rendido?

In the Woods (Toru Takemitsu)

• Wainscot Pond
• Rosedale
• Muir Woods

Variations on a theme of Scriabin (Alexandre Tansman)

Sonata for solo guitar (Atanas Ourkouzounov)

• Allegro assai
• Adagio quasi canzone
• Vivo

Bradley Kunda and Matthew Withers are based in Canberra where they have been studying guitar for many years with Tim Kain. They gave a stellar performance in Cooma on Sunday 15 November. This concert was part of their “Songs & Dances Tour”. What a great concert! These guys put the fun back into classical music. The audience loved the rapport between these awesomely gifted young players. It was a varied and entertaining programme with music from Cuba, Venezuela, Spain and France, as well as contemporary Australian composers, Phillip Houghton and Richard Charlton. There was even a  great jazz standard ” Mr Sandman”, as well as some great arrangements of the Ralph McTell’s “Streets of London” and the Beatles’ song “The Fool on the Hill”.

Bradley and Matthew played together with wonderful precision and phrasing. There are many delightful melodies, flashes of technical brilliance, as well as subtle, delicate and beautiful musical gems. You also feel that these guitarists are having a lot of fun playing together.

Samples of the new CD may be heard on their website as well as information about their tour dates:

http://www.brewguitarduo.com/

Track Listing:

1. Dance from “La Vida Breve” – M. de Falla, arr E. Pujol
2. Streets of London – R. McTell, arr. J. Williams
3. Cuban Dance – J. Guimaraes (arr. Brew Guitar Duo)
4. The Fool on the Hill – J. Lennon & P. McCartney, arr. L. Brouwer
5. Spanish Romance – Traditional (arr. Brew Guitar Duo)
6. Mr Sandman – P. Ballard (arr. Brew Guitar Duo)
7. Que no te quiera mas – V. Sojo, arr. I. Kircher & A. Montes
8. Venezuelan Waltz No. 3 – A Lauro (arr. Brew Guitar Duo)
9. Spanish Dance No. 6 – E. Granados, arr. J. Williams
10. Recuerdos de la Alhambra – F. Tarrega, arr. J. Sagreras
11. Something Sweet (From “Two guitars dine out: a musical degustation”) – R. Charlton (commissioned by the Brew Guitar Duo)
12. Tournedos Rossini (From “Two guitars dine out: a musical degustation”) – R. Charlton (commissioned by the Brew Guitar Duo)
13. Sons de carrilhoes – J. Pernambuco, arr. H. Villa-Lobos
14. El Valsecito – V. Sojo, arr. I. Kircher & A. Montes
15. Gnossienne No. 1 – E. Satie

Available from:

Cooma School of Music
Shop 2, Parkview Arcade, 123 Sharp Street,
Cooma, NSW 2630
Phone: 02 6452 6067
Fax: 02 6452 4938
Email: allan@coomamusic.com.au

Bradley Kunda and Matthew Withers perform as the Brew Guitar Duo

Title: Brew Guitar Duo in Cooma!
Location: St Pauls Anglican Church Hall, 138 Commissioner St Cooma
Link out: http://www.brewguitarduo.com/
Description: Bradley Kunda and Matthew Withers perform as the Brew Guitar Duo as part of their NSW tour and CD launch. Bradley And Matthew are frequently heard on ABC Classic FM’s “Drive” programmme with Julia Lester. They have also been featured the ABC’s “Australia All Over” programme. The duo was also profiled on ABC “Stateline” in September 2008.
Start Time: 5.00 pm
Date: Sunday 15th November 2009

Tickets: $15 Concessions/ $20 Adult

Bradley Kunda & Matthew Withers performing as the Brew Guitar Duo

Title: ABC Sunday Live concert – BREW Guitar Duo
Location: Llewellyn Hall, School of Music ANU
Link out: Click here
Start Time: 3.00 pm
Date: Sunday 26th April 2009

The Brew Guitar Duo (Bradley Kunda and Matthew Withers) as part of the ABC live radio broadcast series coming from Llewellyn Hall.  Audience members must be in their seats 10 minutes prior to the start of the broadcast and be “very, very quiet…”