Nathan Granner
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Nathan Granner

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"Press Reviews"

Tenor duo prepares for MNU performance
By Kristin Babcock/The Olathe News
October 4, 2007

A classically trained tenor vocalist and guitarist are combining their talents to present a concert
Saturday at the Bell Cultural Events Center at MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Nathan Granner and Beau Bledsoe have gained attention on national and worldwide tours because of their unique musical combination.
“When you have an operatic tenor, they usually run around with piano or sing with a symphony,” Granner said. “You don’t have that many classical vocalists touring with guitarists. But it has a more intimate and beautiful, sexy sound.”
Bledsoe said he will bring a variety of guitars like flamenco, resonator and oud.

“It’s more like tenor and plucked strings rather than classical guitar,” Bledsoe said.

With the use of the guitar, Granner said the duo has performed some songs in a way likely comparable to how they originally were composed. For instance, the spiritual “Give Me Jesus” traditionally could have been played with a resonator guitar.

“We’re grounded in bringing world music for everyone,” Granner said.
“Once we set that bar, we turn it into a concert to be entertaining. We are seeing people in our audience almost having whiplash from the variety.”

And the variety of their repertoire has exposed audiences to an array of international sounds.

“We’ve had a great response from the whole thing. Delving into the world of music can only make us better artists,” Granner said.

Granner and Bledsoe trained at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Both live in Kansas City, Mo., and develop their music within the area. The performers recently returned from performing in Russia and now tour colleges and clubs across the United States.

“We’ve paid our dues in the cafés here” Granner said. “It’s a slow growth, but a growth all the same. We’re always working on new projects to present to Kansas City and then take a piece of Kansas City out into the world.”

Granner said they usually perform in the Kansas City area once a year.
Dennis Crocker, MNU director of fine arts, said the unexpected music combo will be “uniquely suited for the performing arts hall.”

“They are both classically trained musicians, but it is not the standard solo recital format,” Crocker said. “I think they offer a widely varied program. They fit right in with the wide range of culture we’re trying to put on this campus.”

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GRANNER-BLEDSOE
By Andrew Miller
October 4, 2007

Many classically trained musicians dream of playing prestigious theaters before attentive audiences. Having accomplished this goal on a national scale, Kansas City singer-and-guitarist duo Nathan Granner and Beau Bledsoe celebrated by lending sophistication to the rock-club scene: They played the Brick. "A dream came true," raved Granner, a member of the American Tenors, on his MySpace page. Granner and Bledsoe return to the curtained stage on Saturday night to perform a set that draws largely from 2005's Departure. On this album, Granner delivers romantic lines with mellifluous resonance. Bledsoe picks his guitar gently during the ballads and lullabies, but he plays flamenco with passionate flair during the uptempo numbers and the enchanting instrumental "Mi Tierra." Granner promises that this will be the last opportunity to hear much of the duo's early material: "It should be an emotional time as we say goodbye to these songs, our friends that have helped provide us with sustained work and further opportunities, but the new must prevail."

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CLASSICAL MUSIC, NOW WITH A TWIST

By CLIFTON J. NOBLE JR.
Music writer, The Springfield Republican
Thursday, March 22, 2007

Advancing provocative slogans like "Mozart was a punk," and "How to Make Classical Music Not Suck" to promote their appearance on Sunday at the Iron Horse Music Hall virtually assures tenor Nathan Granner and guitarist Beau Bledsoe of a sold-out house full of curious, eclectic-minded music fans.

The classical music "establishment" may not be among them, but that is OK by Granner and Bledsoe, who are, by their own admission in a recent telephone interview, "after the elusive demographic that hasn't been coming out to the concert hall venues that we played last year." The slogans are "more of an attitude than anything," Granner laughed. "If we were to actually go around playing Mozart (they don't) then that would mean that we were totally predictable, which is almost what we are."

In fact, the duo is anything BUT predictable, and therein lies its fascination.

Granner is an operatic tenor with a voice of chameleon-esque versatility who croons his way into spirituals, relishes the elegant delicacy of English lute songs, and pum - Press


"Quotes Regarding Nathan Granner and Beau Bledsoe"

“His voice is vibrant and flexible, and he sings with fire”
The Boston Globe

“Nathan Granner was a delight.” John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

“Granner, effective, big-voiced …the singing was inspired.”
The Boston Herald

“Nathan Granner and the rest of the cast were wonderful.”
Anthony Tommassini, New York Times

“Bledsoe's guitar work would be diminished by calling it "accompaniment." This was
more of a musical partnership between guitar and voice. ”
Tulsa World

“Nathan Granner was stalwart….” The Washington Post

“Exceptional talent, youthful good looks and remarkable stage presence.” PBS

“Granner sings beautifully, catching all the nuances of the song. This song provides a start for what is to come from him on the rest of the album. His voice is well showcased by McNamara’s expert arrangement and the song is given a beautiful treatment all around.” PollStar

"Departure" -- 3 1/2 stars
There is crossover and there is real musical range. There is sentimentality and there is
imagination. There is Andrea Bocelli
and thereis Nathan Granner."
News and Observer
- various publications


"Venues"

Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, PA

Tulsa Performing Arts Center, Tulsa, OK

Tulsa Center for the Performing Arts Center, Tampa, FL

Metropolitan Opera, New York, NY

Kodak Center, Hollywood, CA

Redlands Theater, Redlands, CA

Baltimore Symphony Hall, Baltimore, MD

Subway 1/9 59th ,14th St, NY, NY

St. Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic

Outside the Hoffbreu Haus, Munich, Germany

Augsburg, Germany

City Courthouse Festival Space, various venues, Rio de Janiero

The Helix, Dublin Ireland

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA

Barns of Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA (Wash. DC)

The Filene Center, Vienna, Virginia (Wash. DC)

Rose Studio, Lincoln Center, NY, NY

University of Tulsa, Tulsa Oklahoma

Midland Performing Arts Center, Midland, TX

Carnegie Hall, NY, NY

Music Hall, Kansas City, MO

The Lyric, Kansas City, MO

Yardley Hall, Johnson County, KS

Unity Temple on the Plaza, Kansas City, MO

White Hall, Washburn University, Topeka, KS

Glimmerglass Opera Theater, Cooperstown, NY
- Venues


Discography

Nathan and Beau combined all that they learned about life, music, and people into a painstakingly crafted recording, ‘Departure’. A beautiful album of varied and highly emotive music where one travels from the evocative art of Villa-Lobos into the austere sexuality of John Dowland, until finally being snapped into the fever-pitched passion of traditional Flamenco. There's also a little southern comfort thrown in for good measure!

1 Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Heitor Villa-Lobos
2 Give me Jesus: traditional spiritual
3 The Ash Grove: traditional Welsh song
4 Sally Gardens: William Butler Yeats
5 Go Crystal Tears: John Dowland
6 Come Again: John Dowland
7-9 Three Lullabies: Brad Cox
10 Mi Tierra (granaina): Pepe Habichuela
11 CafeFederico Garci12 E Lucevan le Stelle: Giacomo Puccini
13 Sevillanas del Siglo: XVIII Federico Garcia Lorca

Photos

Bio

Nathan Granner and Beau Bledsoe

Close friends and musical compatriots with a fearless attitude toward classical music, Nathan Granner and Beau Bledsoe are earning standing ovations everywhere they go.

These two young masters have consistently challenged audiences throughout the world with programs that include new commissioned works, innovative transcriptions of classical and popular song as well as genre-bending renditions of American Spirituals and traditional Flamenco.

Nathan Granner's old school timbre and natural qualities are distinctive and rare. He is currently performing both nationally and internationally with the Sony Classical recording trio, The American Tenors. The CD reached top five in the Classical charts.

Mr. Granner has received national acclaim on such programs as PBS, RTE1’s The Late Late Show, CNN, Fox News, E! Hollywood Extra as well as press from The Times of London, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Opera News, Opera Now and more.

"Granner has an irrepressible sense of good
humor and showmanship, doing all sorts of
different accents, getting members of the
audience involved in some on-stage
shenanigans and the like. Yet when it came
time for the music to start, Granner
channeled all that energy and personality
into his singing." - Tulsa World

Beau Bledsoe is constantly evolving by exploring new repertoire, cultures and programming. His studies in southern Spain and involvement with the tango scene of Buenos Aires have led him to create a large body of evocative arrangements, transcriptions and compositions.

Mr. Bledsoe has worked extensively with the Guthrie Theater, classical violinist Gregory Sandomirsky and with the Argentine Tango quintet Tango Lorca, as well as Flamenco dancers Miel Castagna and Rey Duran. His music is regularly programmed on radio1 BBC, “Segovia a Yupanki” Radio Nacional Argentina, and “All Songs Considered” on NPR.

“Bledsoe's guitar work would be diminished by
calling it "accompaniment." This was more of a
musical partnership between guitar and voice. ”
-Tulsa World