MEET THE ARTIST
WILLIAM FEASLEY
William Feasley’s guitar has been described by The Washington Post as sounding “in the words of Segovia, like a small orchestra in its variety of colors.”
Selected to perform for Andres Segovia at the maestro’s historic last master class at the University of Southern California in 1986, William Feasley was included the following year on the CBS special, Eulogy of Segovia. He was the first guitarist to be awarded Peabody Conservatory’s coveted Artist Diploma.
His 1980 professional debut was with the San Francisco Ballet where he performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and Fantasia para un Gentilhombre for Lou Christianson’s ballet, Don Juan. Since then, he has performed throughout the United States and internationally in such venues as Prague’s Klementinum Mirror Chapel, Lima’s ICNAP Auditorium, Athens’ American Center, London’s St Martin in the Fields, Sydney’s ABC International Radio Live, Christchurch’s Arts Centre, Tegucigalpa’s Teatro de Manuel Bonilla as well as Washington’s Phillips Collection, Strathmore Hall, National Gallery of Art, and various theaters of the Smithsonian.
William has collaborated with the United States State Department with organized tours and embassy performances in Greece, New Zealand, Australia, Ecuador, Peru, Honduras, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Iceland, and Poland. He has given master classes, lectures, workshops, and radio and television interviews internationally in both English and Spanish.
William has been a featured soloist at international guitar festivals including Bratislava’s Mertz Festival, Quito’s Encuentro de la Guitarra, Lima’s ICNAP Festival, the Czech Republic’s Stramberk Festival, the Gliwice Festival in Poland and Bolivia’s Cochabamba Festival.
He has toured with the Moyzes String Quartet (principals of the Slovak Philharmonic) as well as the Musica Viva Orchestra (centered in the Moscow Conservatory). He has performed in the Washington DC area with the Pan American Symphony, Annapolis Symphony, 20th Century Consort, and the Norman Scribner Chorale at the Kennedy Center. He has given multiple world premieres at the Forfest Festival in Kromeriz, Czech Republic and has been featured on theorbo and baroque guitar at the Montana Early Music Festival.
He has released four critically acclaimed albums for the Sonora label, including the Grammy-nominated Simplicity with the Russian oboist Vladimir Lande. His most recent release, Diferencias, focuses on Theme and Variation Technique starting with the music of the 16th century Spanish court. It moves to Bach’s Chaconne, then a rarely recorded piece by Francisco Tarrega, and finally two exiting works written for William: Peter Madlem’s exquisite Greensleeves Variations and Marcelo Ferraris’ Variations and Tango on Passion Dance by McCoy Tyner.
William Feasley records and performs exclusively on guitars made by the late Randy Angella of Concord, California.
“William Feasley is one of those virtuoso musicians who, while not deliberately setting out to astonish the audience, succeeds in doing just that.”
— Politika Ekspress
Awards & Recognitions
Photo by Mark Westing
First recipient of Peabody Conservatory’s coveted Artist Diploma
Selected to play for Andrés Segovia at the master’s historic last class at the University of Southern California (1986), he was later featured on the CBS special, Eulogy of Segovia
Gold medal in the PanHellenic Guitar Competition in Athens (1987)
Baltimore Chamber Music Awards (1990 and 1995)
Governor’s Citation for Outstanding Achievements in the Arts in Maryland (1996)
Since making his debut in 1980 with the San Francisco Ballet, performing Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez for Lou Christenson’s ballet, Don Juan, William Feasley has maintained an active international touring schedule.
Recent tours have included Spain, the Caribbean, Greece, Serbia, Italy, Ecuador, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Honduras, Peru, Bolivia, The Czech Republic, Slovenia, Bosnia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Iceland.
international appearances
“He is gifted with a dominating technique and a sharp intellect.”