Erol Ozsever is a young guitarist from Fishers, Indiana with a penchant for things Spanish and Latin American. Today he focuses on the acoustic classical guitar, but it was the electric that first caught his fancy.
"One of my friends had one, and I couldn't wait until I had enough coins in the sock that I used for a bank to get my own. I took lessons for a couple of years and then my teacher started giving me classical pieces. The repertory just attracted me and I moved more and more to the classical guitar."
Although Oszever is still studying with IU's Ernesto Bitetti, he's already an award-winning guitarist who's released a thoughtfully programmed CD, Cancion: Music of Spain & Latin America.
"I wanted to appeal to the audience that still has affection for the music that Andres Segovia made so much a part of the repertoire. So there are pieces by Albeniz and Tarrega on the Spanish side of Cancion. At the same time there are plenty of contemporary composers that are writing beautiful available music, composers like Astor Piazzolla and Sergio Assad. I wanted to offer some of their music, so that's the Latin American side."
Much of Oszever ‘s repertoire is concert music by established classical composers, but he's not afraid to explore. "One of the pieces, 'Farewell,' by Sergio Assad, that's on my CD, is actually from a movie soundtrack."
Like many guitarists, he's also an arranger. "Recently I was playing in an intimate setting, and after my usual mix of Spanish and Latin American pieces, I played my own arrangement of one of the Beatles' tunes."