The 10th Anniversary Season of the Portland Classic Guitar Series presents Emmy-Nominated musician and storyteller John Doan with his acclaimed “Homage to Fernando Sor” program.
Imagine stepping into a time machine with Doctor Who to experience the world that shaped the beginnings of the classical guitar and the life of its most revered player, Fernando Sor.
That is what it may feel like as you hear the very sounds of 200 years ago on period instruments that Sor would have known but are rarely if ever heard today followed by John’s own inspired compositions that try to unveil the meaning and feeling behind what Sor himself tried to convey within his own musical language. Yesterday becomes today as history comes to life again.
In addition to the music you will see the world as Sor would have seen it through a multimedia presentation of period paintings both during the show and pre-show. John guides his audience in an immersion experience by playing themes of Sor’s on one of the first guitars made in England in 1819 perhaps at the commission of Sor himself. He then follows with his own haunting music inspired by Sor’s themes on a rare Bog Oak guitar – English maker Gary Southwell’s first guitar made from wood 5,500 years old!
Come experience a concert that contemplates the mystery of time passing, the drama of living in challenging times where the stakes are high in love and war and where moments of beauty connects the past to our present.
For the past decade, John Doan’s research and studies into the history, life, and music of Fernando Sor has produced two successful albums, “The Lost Music of Fernando Sor,” and the tribute to Sor, “Homage to Sor.” Few people in the world have studied the man behind the modern guitar and have the ability to bring his story to life life like John Doan in this musical journey.
The homage is aptly described as having been ‘conceived in waking dreams,’ as it reflects a pervasive dream-like quality throughout. It’s lovely. In addition to that dreaminess, there’s a kind of ‘organic’ quality about the sound, something almost tangible, that conveys the sense that this is the work of a person who is genuinely and honestly attempting to reach and touch others in a meaningful way. I can imagine Sor smiling with satisfaction at what he has inspired in you, and taking it as the sincere homage you intended, while also managing to retain his sense of lyrical beauty in your ‘dreaming. This music is a treasure.
Jeffrey Elliott – Luthier
To read more about this work go to, check out the Homage to Sor album information.