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Hear what Akademia Music Awards calls one of the years best Jazz Albums........to experience the superbly performed 2Believe is to immerse yourself in the classy ambiance of a Jazz Age ballroom complete with furs, dinner jackets and long handled cigarette holders...
A musical journey with a guitar as the guide. This timeless instrument is found in solo, vocal and chamber settings, a must for all guitar aficionados. Coming soon to Amazon and iTunes, but in the mean time... Find this on Spotify!
Melodic and Progressive Etudes Op. 60 with fingerings by Aaron Shearer and performance notes by Thomas Kikta, Kami Rowan and Ricardo Cobo
Thomas Kikta works extensively with classic guitar students around the world on Skype. For more information on a private lesson contact him.
Hear what Akademia Music Awards calls one of the years best Jazz Albums........to experience the superbly performed 2Believe is to immerse yourself in the classy ambiance of a Jazz Age ballroom complete with furs, dinner jackets and long handled cigarette holders...
A musical journey with a guitar as the guide. This timeless instrument is found in solo, vocal and chamber settings, a must for all guitar aficionados. Coming soon to Amazon and iTunes, but in the mean time... Find this on Spotify!
Melodic and Progressive Etudes Op. 60 with fingerings by Aaron Shearer and performance notes by Thomas Kikta, Kami Rowan and Ricardo Cobo
The Shearer Method Classic Guitar Foundations is the first in a series of works that define Aaron Shearers approach to playing the classic guitar. The work by this legendary figure, with videos by Thomas Kikta and compositions by Dr. Alan Hirsh, stands out in starting the student to read and play while following a graduated step-by-step curriculum that supports positive habits for efficient study. This innovative method is rooted in a common-sense approach and includes musical offerings in a rich variety of styles, sensitively composed to support technical development. Areas of focus include: optimal hand position, visualization, sympathetic motion, arpeggios, finger alternation, left-hand coordination, and chords. With 63 videos shot in high definition, 74 new solo and duet compositions and arrangements as well as works by Sor, Carcassi, Giuliani and more, 35 recorded tracks with TNT Technology plus the Shearer Online Supplement, Classic Guitar Foundations is not just a book but a media experience.
Discover why the Guitar Foundation of America has called Aaron Shearer the most prominent pedagogue of the twentieth century
A must have to complete the library of any classic or finger-style guitar player!
Don't forget to check out the Movie Trailer and the
Music Video, too!
The second in a series of Shearer's guitar methodology video link cover is on line blue book. Check out the Movie Trailer!
The third in a series of Shearer's guitar methodology- perfect for advanced students as a sight reading tool or beginners just starting to ascend the neck. video link you will find in my announcements. cover is in line green book. Check out the Movie Trailer!
Aaron Shearer's Classic Guitar Technique has long been the core guitar method used by generations of classical guitarists. Alfred Music Publishing is proud to present Aaron's first fully revised and re-edited edition of this benchmark work. In addition to new exercises and music, Aaron and co-author Thomas Kikta have included critical new insights into core guitar techniques. Plus, for the first time, the book now comes with a demonstration and play-along CD. Students will be able to hear and emulate the tone and feel of the CD recording and they will have the opportunity to play their pieces as duets with the included recording. In addition, insert the CD into the CD-ROM drive of your computer and our exclusive "TNT" software allows you to changes tempos, mute the student part, and even loop sections for repeated practice.
Perfect for any guitarist who wants to explore classical music. If you enjoy Taylor, Jorma, Mayer, or Hedges and want to step it up to Bach, Giuliani, Tarrega and Segovia then this book is for you. Thomas Kikta of Duquesne University teaches classical fingerstyle technique in the context of some of the most beautiful classical guitar repertoire ever assembled. This book comes with two CDs that contain recordings of every piece and our exclusive TNT software that lets you play along, slow tracks down, and loop sections for practice. Music in written in standard notation and TAB. Composers covered include Sor, Carcassi, Bach, Aguado, Tarrega, Albeniz, Pachelbel, and more.
Most family memories are private experiences. But one Pittsburgh family is about to create an unforgettable moment on one of the world's biggest stages at a high-profile event in one of the largest cities in the world....{read on}
Thomas Kikta may be best known in the classical guitar world for his contributions to a number of book and video extrapolations on the guitar...{read on}
As sometimes happens, the most original ideas came from the least talked-about choreographer, Peter Walker, a member of the corps de ballet. On the surface, Ten in Seven, set to a jazzy, electric-guitar-heavy score by Thomas Kikta father of Emily Kikta, who danced in the piece...{read on}
Peter Walker of NYCB debuts his new work, Ten in Seven, Tuesday with music by Thomas Kikta, father of NYCB dancer Emily Kikta...{read on}
The stage acquires a very different look for Walkers ten in seven. Composer-guitarist Thomas Kikta; guest keyboard player, Arkadiy Figlin; and NYCB Orchestras Raymond Mase (trumpet) and James Saporito (percussion) are on high scaffolding that extends from stage left in an L along the back for a short distance....{read on}
Peter Walker, who joined the company in 2012, has created a very different ballet. ten in seven (the title is a reference to the ten dancer cast being divided among the seven segments of the ballet) is choreographed to a commissioned score by Thomas Kikta, a classical guitarist and professor of music at Duquesne University who has collaborated with dance choreographers previously....{read on}
Corps de ballet member Peter Walker's ten in seven (set to a jazzy score by Thomas Kikta, father of corps member Emily Kikta) had none of the ambitions of the other works on the program and that was the charm....{read on}
If you're a subscriber to FinancialTimes, you can read the review {here}
As a Classical Guitarist, Vocalist, Composer, Pedagogue, Producer, Audio Engineer and Author Thomas Kikta is a versatile artist who has been the director of the Classical Guitar and Recording Arts and Sciences at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. for thirty years.
A native of Pittsburgh, he studied Classic Guitar performance with Aaron Shearer at both the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has performed around the country, including collaborations with the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, Ricardo Cobo, Manuel Barrueco and for such dignitaries as Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison. As an audio engineer and producer Mr. Kiktas credits include The New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Visa /Mastercard, Seth MacFarlane/Family Guy, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Dr John, MCG Jazz, BMG Classics, Leonard Bernstein, Pepe Romero, Sean Jones, Jacob TV, Jeff Bergman and the New Century Saxophone Quartet, to name a few. As an artist on the Alanna Records Label he is a writer and performing member of the duo group Colourtime Project.
After working closely with Aaron Shearer for over 28 years, he with Mr. Shearer coauthored the 3rd edition of the best selling and benchmark work Classic Guitar Technique Vol 1 published by Alfred Publications, which was nominated for Best Instructional Book or Video for 2009 by Music and Sound Retailer. He was invited to write The Complete Idiots Guide to Classical Guitar Favorites which was published by Alfred Publications in 2010. This work provides supplementary lessons to 30 favorite selections for a student working with a method book. It also gives historical perspective to the composers and selections with fun facts and a guitar historical time line. His most recent works are The Shearer Method Classic Guitar Foundations, The Shearer Method Classic Guitar Developments and The Shearer Method Learning the Fingerboard all multimedia experiences with over 140 high definition videos, 150 new compositions by Alan Hirsh, active online support and new writings by Aaron Shearer prior to his passing in 2008. Published in cooperation with The Aaron Shearer Foundation and Alfred Publishing this book stands out in starting the student to read and play while following a graduated step-by-step curriculum that supports positive habits for efficient study. Mr. Kikta has also written for Alfreds Masterwork Editions, Carcassi: Melodic and Progressive Etudes Op.60 (2016) exploring the fingerings, lessons and performance notes from the perspective of Aaron Shearers teachings.
Mr Kikta is also active in the dance community working for Twyla Tharp, Hubbard Street Dance, Lynn Stanford, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and The New York Choreographic Institute. In 2014 The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center commissioned Kikta to write the music for a new ballet. The ballet Inverno premiered at Lincoln Center for the 2015 Winter Ball; featuring 20 dancers and choreographed by Peter Walker, it set the record for funds raised at an SAB gala event. In 2016 Mr Kikta has been commissioned to write a ballet for The New York City Ballet, again paired with Peter Walker, the ballet will premiere at Lincoln Center at the Fall Gala event and will continue to be performed in NYCBs 2016-2017 season.
As an Alanna Records Recording Artist, Thomas Kikta has recorded on numerous internationally released albums with the New Century Saxophone Quartet, Stephen Pollock, Amanda Ford, and Ken Karsh. Working with six time Grammy Award winning engineer Jay Dudt, Kikta wrote, performed and produced the 2015 released album 2Believe with the Colourtime Project, winner of Best Jazz Album and Best Music Video by the Akademia Music Awards.
As Vice-President of the Aaron Shearer Foundation, Mr Kikta lectures around the country at conservatories, conventions and music festivals including The Shearer Summer Institute at Zion National Park, a weeklong festival that combines guitar and the love of high country hiking into one amazing event.
Thomas Kikta is an artist endorsee for Alfred Publishing, Alhambra Guitars, DAddario Strings, Line 6 and Fishman Electronics. As a Co-founder and Board Chairman of the Guitar Society of Fine Arts, Pittsburgh audiences enjoyed a decade of world class guitar music as well as free music lessons for underprivileged children. Thomas Kikta along with members of the Shearer family founded The Aaron Shearer Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving and propagating the teachings and legacy of the revolutionary guitar pedagogue, Aaron Shearer.