Dr. Stanley Yates

Professor of Music

Dr. Stanley Yates, Professor of Music, directs guitar study at APSU. Recently elected to the Artistic Advisory Board of the Guitar Foundation of America, he has achieved wide recognition as virtuoso performer, recording artist, teacher, arranger and scholar. He is featured in the new edition of the important reference work, The Classical Guitar - Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1800 (5th ed. Ashley Mark Publishing, 2002). An in-depth interview dealing with Yates' teaching and performing philosophy appeared as the cover story in German magazine Guitarre Aktuel (Aug. 2002). Further interviews, review and articles have appeared in such international guitar journals (Il Fronimo, Classical Guitar, Soundboard, Guitart, Guitarre und Laute, Fingerstyle, Suonare, Ocho sonore, Gendai Guitar, etc.). He was the 2002 recipient of APSU's Hawkins Award for Excellence in Scholarly and Creative Achievement.

An international prize-winning performer (Myra Hess Award, London; Guitar Foundation of America, Pasadena), Yates has appeared in recital and concerto performances throughout the United States and Europe. These have included such festivals and concert series as the Guitar Foundation of America, the Guitar Festival of Great Britain, the Amsterdam Guitar Series, the San Antonio Early Music Festival, the Lagonegro Contemporary Music Festival (Italy) and the Music Educators National Conference, performances in Holland and Belgium sponsored by the Arts Council of Great Britain, and recitals sponsored by numerous colleges, universities, guitar societies and community arts organizations in both the United States and Europe.

He has been dedicatee and/or first performer of new music by such internationally-known guitar composers as Stepan Rak, John Duarte, Angelo Gilardino and Atanas Ourkouzounov, and has given first modern performances of several important rediscovered works, including the Villa-Lobos Valsa Concerto, the Premiere Concerto by Ernest Shand, and concertos by Vidal, Doisy and Viotti. He has also collaborated with APSU resident composer Jeffrey Wood on a number of new works for guitar: Habit of Grief, Four Songs of Sephardim, and Night (voice and guitar).

His recordings, for Heartdance Music, Aeloian Recordings and Reference Recordings, include his arrangements of the Bach Cello Suites (described by Classical Guitar as "a major landmark"), premiere recordings of major song cycles by John Rutter and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (with baritone Allen Henderson), the CD Postcards with the Turtle Creek Choral, a CD of music by Lennon and McCartney, and two discs of pedagogical repertoire.

A highly-experienced and in-demand teacher, he has presented masterclasses and lectures at such prestigious institutions as the Royal Academy of Music, London; the Glen Gould Professional School, Royal Conservatoire, Toronto; the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester; the Cleveland Institute of Music; the North Carolina School of the Arts; and the University of North Texas; and, in addition to APSU, has served on the faculties of the University of Liverpool and the University of North Texas. He has also served as an adjudicator in numerous performance competitions, including the Guitar Foundation of America, the Lagonegro International Competition for Contemporary Music Performance and Composition, the Rantucci Competition, and the Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artist Competition.

He is currently editing a comprehensive series of pedagogical materials for Mel Bay Publications, who established the Stanley Yates Series in 1998 (inviting him to their Artistic Advisory Board in 2000). The series includes such best-selling editions as his arrangements of the Bach Cello Suites and the piano music of Isaac Albeniz, along with editions of music by Stepan Rak and Ernest Shand, a collection of new music for guitar, a comprehensive anthology of nineteenth-century guitar sonatas, a graded repertoire series and several volumes of original student pieces.

He has authored several noted articles dealing with the music of J. S. Bach and Villa-Lobos, published in six languages internationally, in such journals as Il Fronimo, Cahiers de la Guitarre, Gitarre und Laute, 8 Sonoro, Gendai Guitar, Classical Guitar, and Soundboard. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of Guitar Forum - Journal of the European Guitar Teacher's Association.

British-born, he received performer's diplomas from Sandown College of Performing Arts, Liverpool, with the highest pass marks of any instrumentalist in the history of the college, and from Trinity College, London. He also holds graduate performance degrees from the University of Liverpool (M.mus), where he received the Wethered Music Scholarship, and the University of North Texas (DMA) - the largest music school in North America - where he received the Morgan Dissertation Award for Excellence in Music Performance.

Information about Stanley Yates' editions and recordings, along with press quotes, reviews, online articles, audio samples, and sheet music may be found at StanleyYates.com

E-mail: YatesS@apsu.edu
Phone: (931) 221-7351