Duo Transatlantique
by Tom Keener
Combining the talents of guitarists Benjamin Beirs and Maud Laforest, Duo Transatlantique celebrates the power of music and its ability to transcend cultures and national boundaries. Duo Transatlantique presents a free concert 3:00 pm, Sunday, March 18, at the Allen Public Library.
This duo performs at a variety of venues throughout the year, including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as well as the Festival des Chapelles in Brittany, the Festival de la Rochepot in Bourgogne and churches throughout Paris.
Graduates of the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, the two decided to form a guitar duo under the guidance of Faculty Chairman Julian Gray. In 2005, they garnered first prize in the Union Francaise des Artistes Musiciens Guitar Duo competition.
A performer, teacher and composer, Benjamin Biers won First Prize at the 2010 University of Texas at Dallas Guitar Competition and First Prize in the 2008 Appalachian Guitar Fest Competition. Maud appeared on the National Public Radio show "From the Top" in America and in "Dans la Cour des Grands," a French national radio program hosted by Gaëlle le Gallic. Two of her recitals in the prestigious Petit Palais in Paris were also aired nationally.
Duo Transatlantique recorded a debut album entitled "Le Gris et le Vert" (The grey and the green) which includes music of Debussy, Scarlatti, Petit, Albeniz, and Villoldo.
Johns Hopkins President Dr. William R. Brody declared, "They played not only with technical perfection, but also with passion and feeling, keeping an uncanny, delicate balance between them. They were received with enormous enthusiasm and my office received a number of requests for their contact information in the days following this performance."
For more information about this program sponsored by Bach to Books, call 214-509-4911.
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