Frank Wallace, composer, guitarist, baritone, lutenist
Frank Wallace, composer/guitarist





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American Record Guide calls Frank Wallace's compositions "exciting, unpredictable, and fresh"; Fanfare has dubbed him a composer with "an authentic expressive voice" who writes with a "high standard of musical interest" and performs with "flawless technical proficiency".

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Videos: You Tube Blogs: Frank Wallace; Voice and Guitar

Listen to a wide sampling of compositions by Frank Wallace, for solo guitar, voice and guitar or lute, and many other chamber combinations including cello, violin, flute, English horn, viola and mandolin. Sheet music and CDs available at: Gyremusic.com.



BIOGRAPHY: Frank Wallace

composer; guitarist; baritone
member of Duo LiveOak
Founding Director of Festival 21
founder and former co-curator of Second Sundays Classical Guitar Series, NYC.

Download the most up-to-date bio here: Frank Wallace Bio, or a Spanish bio

American Record Guide calls Frank Wallace's compositions “exciting, unpredictable, and fresh”. Fanfare magazine has dubbed him a composer with “an authentic expressive voice” who writes with a “high standard of musical interest” and performs with “flawless technical proficiency”. New music reviewers have also honored Wallace's compositions: NewMusicBox.org calls it “contemporary musical emancipation”. Wallace's works showcase the classical guitar in solo, duo trio and quartet, as well as in chamber works with voice, flute and cello. His compositional style has many influences, from the blues and jazz to medieval and avant garde . His melodies are memorable, his harmonies and rhythms complex. Great passion and a sense of humor infuse his work.

Since 2001 Frank Wallace has become one of the most prolific composers of songs with classical guitar of our time.  He has written over 100 songs set to classical guitar, most of them in groups (cycles) ranging from six to fifteen songs, set to poetry from many sources, including Pulitzer-prize winning poet Theodore Roethke, Robert Creeley, Federico Garcia Lorca, Guillevic, Shem Tov Ben Palquera, Rumi, and Nancy Knowles. The richness and complexity of his song accompaniments and his compelling vocal melodies highlight the influence of his mentors, from Dowland to Schubert to Britten.

Wallace is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory. In the early 1980's Wallace left his guitar teaching post at the New England Conservatory to dedicate himself to performing music of the 12th-16th centuries. For two decades he toured extensively on both sides of the Atlantic as a vihuelist/lutenist and singer with Trio LiveOak and LiveOak and Company. In recent years, with mezzo-soprano/poet Nancy Knowles, he has been performing contemporary song repertoire as Duo LiveOak.

In addition to the New England Conservatory, Wallace has taught at Plymouth State College, Emmanuel College, Keene State College and Franklin Pierce College. He lives in the Monadnock region of New Hampshire, where he teaches at The Concord Community Muisc School and Two Rivers Music in Peterborough NH and privately.  See more on teaching here.

Frank Wallace's complete works as well as his recordings are available at www.gyremusic.com.  His compositions have also been published by Tuscany Publications, and Clear Note Publications. (PDFs available for download.)  His works have been featured in Guitar Review, Soundboard, Fingerstyle Magazine and The LSA Quarterly.

Wallace's compositions have been twice honored by the New Hampshire Council on the Arts' prestigious Artist Fellowship Award, in 2001 for Frank Wallace, his own new works (Gyre 10012), his debut recording on Gyre of his own compositions, and in 2006 for the Duo LiveOak CD Woman of the Water (Gyre 10082)

Frank Wallace currently performs and records on a Stephan Connor 10-string guitar from 2006 and an Aaron Green 6-string from 2011. He has recorded on various historical instruments including an 1854 Gutierrez, c. 1860 Soto y Solares, 1822 Panormo, 1964 Fleta and others.

Sample Program and Press Materials

Father Said: Songs and Solos by Frank Wallace

Photos:  both low and high res

Press Kit: sample press release, biography, reviews          [short and long], photo  [PDF-15 pages]

Short Press Release:  Word Document - 3 pages

 


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Go to Frank Wallace's extensive Soundcloud library.

Frank Wallace is the recipient of two Fellowships for composition for the New Hampshire Arts Council.

Frank Wallace is the recipient of two Artist Fellowship Awards from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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