Titles by: BRIAN TOROSIAN
BRIAN TOROSIAN
Brian Torosian is an active soloist and chamber musician best known for his work relating to 19th-century guitarist and composer J. K. Mertz. In addition to a standard six-string guitar, he plays baroque guitar, Terz guitar, and 10-string guitar replicas, the latter two including those made for him by R. E. Brune after 19th-century Viennese instruments. Brian is the President of the Chicago Classical Guitar Society and directs the guitar program of Northeastern Illinois University where he is a multiple recipient of the Instructor Excellence Award. He received bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees from Northwestern University as a student of Anne Waller and studied with Oscar Ghiglia in Italy at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana where he received the Diploma of Merit. Concert performances include appearances with Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, and Chicago Opera Theater. Cited as "the world's foremost Mertz scholar," Brian's published editions include the first complete edition of Mertz's Opern-Revue, Mertz's Divertissement, Op. 32 (DGA Editions), an anthology of operatic concert works entitled Selected Operatic Fantasies of Mertz (Mel Bay), as well as new editions of Mertz's selected works published by Chanterelle Verlag, Heidelberg. His recordings include a collection of Mertz's guitar and piano duos, and a CD of concert works by Mertz based on operas of Bellini.