An acclaimed MTSU School of Music alumnus will make his Carnegie Hall debut this Thursday night.

Matt Palmer
(photo by Mamta Popat)

Matt Palmer, a Tennessee native who now teaches classical guitar in Bowie, Md., will be presented during the D’Addario Performance Series in a special concert in the hallowed New York City venue. The concert is set in the Weill Recital Hall at 8 p.m. Eastern time Thursday, Feb. 27.

Palmer, a 2003 magna cum laude graduate of MTSU with a Bachelor of Music degree, is the only American musician to be presented this season on the D’Addario Performance Series at Carnegie Hall.

He also holds a master’s degree from Appalachian State University and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Arizona.

Palmer has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, Canada, South America and the Caribbean. A recipient of the 2010 “Up and Coming Guitarist of the Year” award by Guitar International Magazine, Palmer is a winner of numerous guitar competitions and author of “The Virtuoso Guitarist,” a book that explains his pioneering playing method.

Click on this poster to visit MTSU alumnus Matt Palmer’s website.

“This is a huge honor for Matt and quite a remarkable challenge,” said Dr. William Yelverton, a guitar professor in MTSU’s School of Music and Palmer’s first formal teacher.

“Many performers work for years to present a Carnegie Hall debut concert, and Matt was called to do this … because he is recognized as one of America’s leading young virtuoso guitarists.”

Thursday night’s performance also will include the debut of 19-year-old guitarist Hugo Moltó Medina of Spain, winner of the 2013 International Classical Guitar Competition XVII “Ciudad de Coria.”

A press release from the D’Addario Foundation noted that Palmer will open the concert, and his “program will showcase his technical virtuosity, heightened musicality and, more importantly, his soulful emotion.”

Palmer is expected to perform “Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa” by Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, which also is the title track of his debut CD, along with Sergio Assad’s “Eli’s Portrait” and “Sonata Mongoliana” by Rak.

“The incredible talent of this season’s young guitarists is like nothing we’ve seen before,” Suzanne D’Addario Brouder, director of the D’Addario Foundation, said in the release.

“Matt and Hugo perform with exceptional passion and mastery on par with the genre’s greatest players. We’re lucky to have them, not just for the concert but to help the D’Addario Foundation fulfill its primary goal of music education and inspiration.”

You can enjoy Palmer’s 2013 video performance of “Un tiempo fue Itálica famosa” below.

Ticket information for Thursday night’s concert at Carnegie Hall is available at http://bit.ly/19T1vGc.

Learn more about the MTSU School of Music anytime at www.MTSUmusic.com. You also can visit Palmer’s website at www.mattpalmerguitar.com.

— Gina E. Fann (gina.fann@mtsu.edu)