THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY College of Music presents
2025 Florida State University Guitar Festival
Kevin Manderville, Guitar
Xavier Jara, Guitar
Saturday November 8, 2025
7:30 p.m. | Dohnányi Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Tiento Antiguo Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999)
24 Preludes Bryan Johanson V. Tempo di valse lento (b. 1951)
X. Adagio cantabile
XVIII. Allegretto legato
XIX. Lento sostenuto
XXIII. Allegretto maestoso
Wherever You Are (2025)
Tres Colores Porteños
Matthew Cochran (b. 1976)
Claudia Montero Azul (1962–2021) Gris Rojo
Kevin Manderville, guitar Guitar by Altamira “Capriccio” Model, 2019
INTERMISSION
Three pieces for lute
John Dowland
A Fancy, P. 6 (1563–1626)
Lachrimae Pavane, P. 15
A Fantasie, P. 1A
Tonada por despedida
Juan Antonio Sánchez (b. 1965)
Guitar Makossa Francis Bebey (1929–2001)
The Magic Box
3 African Sketches
Dušan Bogdanović
I. Allegro ritmico (b. 1955)
II. Misterioso
III. Allegro ritmico
Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro, BWV 998
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Élégie Francis Bebey (1929–2001)
Xavier Jara, guitar
Kevin Manderville enjoys a multi-faceted career as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, teacher, and scholar. He has appeared in major cities and festivals throughout North America and Europe including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, The Guitar Foundation of America International Convention, the Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium, the Lone Star Guitar Festival, the Sauble Beach Guitar Festival, and the Hamilton International Guitar Festival in Canada, among others. An advocate for new music, his programs often feature rarely performed works as well as those written for him.
Manderville has won top prizes in several international competitions, including first prize at the Concours International de Guitare de Montreal, second prize at the Rantucci International Guitar Competition and consecutive top prizes at the Columbus Guitar Symposium Competition. In 2006, he was a recipient of the Florida Artist Enhancement Grant. His debut CD, Through the Centuries, was released on ClearNote in 2010.
Manderville began his classical guitar studies at the age of eighteen with James Chandler. He received the Bachelor of Music degree from Stetson University, where he studied with Stephen Robinson. He also received the Master of Music and Doctor of Music degrees from Florida State University under the tutelage of renowned pedagogue Bruce Holzman. A dedicated teacher, Manderville has taught in many diverse settings from universities to community programs. From 2008-2022, he directed the Classical Guitar program at Carver Elementary and Arts Magnet School in Montgomery, AL and was also on the faculty of Huntingdon College. He currently resides in Grapevine, TX, where he is Artist in Residence at The Guitar Studio Grapevine and is on the faculty at both Texas Wesleyan University and Tarrant County College-Northwest Campus.
Xavier Jara (1993) is an American guitarist of international acclaim. A sensitive artist whose repertoire spans from the Renaissance works of John Dowland to the contemporary works of the present day, Xavier creates expansive programs to ignite the imaginations of his listeners. As a precocious young student, Xavier studied with Alan Johnston at the MacPhail Center for Music in his hometown of Minneapolis until 2011, when he moved to Paris, France to study with guitarist Judicaël Perroy for the next six years. He completed his Bachelor’s degree at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he also studied with Olivier Chassain and lute master Eric Bellocq.
During this time, Xavier travelled around the world to compete in some of the most prestigious international competitions, garnering first place in a number of them, notably including: Viseu International Competition (2014, Portugal), the Boston Guitarfest (2014, USA), the Gargnano Competition (2015, Italy), the Ciudad de Coria Competition (2015, Spain), and the Tokyo International Competition (2016, Japan). In 2016, Xavier returned home to the United States to win the GFA’s Rose Augustine Grand Prize — he was the first American winner in 16 years. The win awarded him a sixty-concert tour, which began in September 2017. It spanned locations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Panama, including a concert at the historic Carnegie Hall in New York City.
In May 2020, Xavier returned to school to earn his Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. During that time, he performed with members of the San Francisco Symphony in their chamber music series. He continues to perform around the world, with recent solo and concerto performances bringing him to China, India, Japan, Korea, and throughout Europe. An active teacher as well, he previously served as the Adjunct Professor of Guitar at California State University Fullerton (Fullerton, CA) and recently taught the Spring 2022 semester at the University of Louisville (Louisville, KY), conducting and performing in Javier Farías’s literary-inspired piece Arauco with the U of L guitar ensemble. Xavier is sponsored by Augustine Strings and plays a guitar by Enrico Bottelli.
Sunday, November 9
10am-noon – Masterclasses: