Reviews

"Mr. Ferrara is an excellent musician; his way with the guitar is subtle, intimate and inherently musical. He expertly built Bach's famous Chaconne block by block into a magisterial musical statement and did equally well by some less ambitious works by Sor and Dowland. And Ned Rorem's Suite for Guitar, a succession of attractive vignettes, expertly crafted for the instrument, allowed Mr. Ferrara to prove his modernist credentials."

The New York Times

"But beyond merely fingering the instrument well, Ferrara played everything with elegant grace and a notably serious feeling for introspection. He played for nobility rather than bravura effects, although where called for, he could dazzle with his perfectly controlled virtuosity. It is just that he never stooped to making an issue of that dexterity."

San Francisco Chronicle

"Ferrara has an exception style, pure and sweet, rhythmically precise yet supple. He played expressively but made no fuss, went to no excess. One always hears about passionate Latins, but there has also always been a notable Classic streak in the music of Spain."

Peninsula Time Tribune

"Both heart-wrenching and uplifting, depending on one's emotional resources, the moving piece, as played by Ferrara with such controlled virtuosity, was the mirror through which we were able to examine our souls on this cold rainy day and at the same time find renewed vigor and inspiration in the gorgeous ensemble playing."

THE TIMES, San Mateo

"The pieces on the program could hardly have been more diverse or much better played. Even a work by the remote Milton Babbitt, Composition for Guitar (1986), sounded pleasing and provocative in the sensitive performance by Lawrence Ferrara...Ferrara caught the delicate textures and contrasts and the work's wholeness."

San Francisco Chronicle

"Lawrence Ferrara played most sensitively "Changes" (1983) that is simply the most fascinating, delicate contemporary guitar piece I've heard."

San Francisco Chronicle

"The guitarist, who has won several important prizes, now teaches at several local schools: San Francisco Conservatory, City College and the University of California. And as one might expect from a musician with this background, technical matters Sunday were rock solid.

San Francisco Chronicle

"A true classical approach is a rare commodity on today's music scene. So the discovery of a fine classicist like guitarist Lawrence Ferrara, who offered an afternoon of self effacing purity Sunday in Old First Church, is to be cherished. [It was] an amazing display of tender dedicated playing."

San Francisco Chronicle

“Lawrence Ferrara, guitar soloist, played an impeccable concerto — calm, sure and attentive to every musical nuance.”

San Ramon Valley Times

"Thank you Lawrence Ferrara for such beautiful playing."

Elliott Carter

"Your performance of the "Suite for Guitar" is perceptive and sensitive."

Ned Rorem

"Larry has breathed a unique and wonderful life into my music. "

Dusan Bogdanovic