Christopher Gotzen-Berg

by Simon · June 17, 2012

For nearly 20 years, Savage Classical Guitar Sponsored Artist Christopher Gotzen-Berg has shared his passion for the guitar through his performances, teaching, and original compositions. His concert programs include masterpieces from various Spanish composers, original compositions, and flamenco transcriptions. The Times Union newspaper (Albany, NY) complemented Christopher for his “sparkling original compositions”.

Christopher has performed throughout New York State including, 1st Night Binghamton, The Palace Theater (Albany, NY), Adirondack County Community College, Schenectady County Community College, Onondaga Community College, SUNY Albany, The College at St. Rose, The Classical Guitar Society of Upstate New York, The Long Island Classical Guitar Society, ZEB’s (NYC), YMCA The Boulton Center for the Performing Arts, The Lake George Music Festival, and the Linda Morris Auditorium (National Public Radio). Christopher’s debut recording “The Lingering Look” (Wepa Records) gained an award for it’s original compositions from ASCAP.

As a highly sought after guitar instructor, Christopher has taught and performed master classes at such locations as Adirondack County Community College, Blue Sky Studios (Delmar, NY), Mars Music of Albany, Burnt Hills Music Academy, and The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. His private students have performed in master classes with artists such as Thomas Viloteau,Ben Verdery, Jorge Caballero, and David Leisner; and have been to accepted to such institutions as Schenectady County Community College and Florida State University, as well as participating in competitions including The Guitar Foundation of America Competition and the Ithaca College Classical Guitar Competition.

Christopher began his classical guitar instruction at Schenectady County Community College as a student of Sten Isachsen. In 1999, he then went on to complete a B.M. in Guitar Performance at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam as a student of Dr. Douglas Rubio. Christopher returned to Crane in 2003 to complete a M.M. in Guitar Performance, and served as an adjunct instructor of “Functional Guitar”, teaching music education students how to incorporate the guitar into classroom music instruction. He has also performed in numerous master classes including, Sharon Isbin, Jason Vieux, Dennis Koster, Matthew Ardizzone, and David Tannenbaum.  During the summer of 2000, Christopher studied Spanish at La Academia Hispanola in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It was there that he met Flamenco Guitarist Sergio Basuerto and formed a deep passion for Flamenco music.

In the summer of 2011, Christopher became an official sponsored artist of Savage Classical Guitar, and received a brand new Kenny Hill “Signature” model guitar. He is also a featured artists for the Kenny Hill Guitar Company.

Always looking for diverse opportunities to perform, Christopher is also an active chamber musician. He has worked with Soprano Holly McCormack, Pianist Vincent Loccisano, Violinist Paul Little, Guitarists Alex Rubin and Jason Mainville, and is also the founding member of The Miriam Duo (Violin/Guitar). Recently, Christopher has also had the opportunity to perform in musical productions including “Ring of Fire” and “Annie”.