Classical guitarist Peter Fletcher brings the music home in Sunday recital

Mark Gresham | 07 FEB 2019

This Sunday afternoon, American classical guitarist and native Atlantan Peter Fletcher performs a solo recital of music by Paganini, Walton, Vivaldi, Mozart and Bach as part of the Pro-Mozart Society Concert Series at St. John United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The concert honors his late aunt, Renée Fletcher Shackelford, an Atlanta arts patron, on the eve of the anniversary of her passing last year at age 93.

Fletcher’s performance will feature Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring and the Lute Suite No. 1 by J. S. Bach; Caprice No. 24 by Niccolò Paganini; Five Bagatelles by British composer William Walton; Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Spanish guitarist and composer Francisco Tárrega; Concerto in D Major by Antonio Vivaldi; and two original transcriptions from his critically acclaimed 2002 album, Fedrico Mompou (Centaur, CRC 2588). Fletcher’s Mozart selection will be “Praise Ye the Lord” from Laudate Dominum, K. 339.

Fletcher is in the midst of a national tour that began in Wilmington, Delaware on January 26. Prior to coming to Atlanta, he performed on Tuesday, February 5 at the South Baldwin Community Theatre in Gulf Shores, Alabama under the auspices of the Coastal Ballet. For his next concert, on Saturday, February 16, Fletcher will travel to Leesburg, Florida. His complete tour appearances can be found on his website, www.peterfletcher.com.

The 50-year-old Fletcher began guitar study at the age of seven under classical guitar instructor, John Sutherland. In December, 1983, he made his formal debut at the age of fifteen. When not out performing on tour, Fletcher resides in Detroit and New York City. ■