Striking a chord

Hear music to soothe your soul when Michael Chapdelaine performs three shows in the Reno-Tahoe area this weekend. Chapdelaine plays on steel string and classical guitars, and his repertoire includes a wide range of music from blues to classical compositions to his original work. He is the only guitarist to win first prize in the world’s top competitions in the classical and fingerstyle genres: the Guitar Foundation of America International Classical Guitar Competition and the National Fingerstyle Championships at the Walnut Valley Bluegrass Festival in Winfield, Kans. He started off playing in a rock band as a teen, but he decided to study classical guitar after enrolling at Florida State University in 1975. He also briefly studied under the Spanish maestro Andrés Segovia, who is considered the father of the modern classical guitar movement. During the 1980s and 1990s, Chapdelaine won several prestigious awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts Solo Recitalist Grant and a silver medal in Venezuela’s Concurso Internacional de Guitarra Alirio Diaz. In 1992, he recorded the Sonata Romantica CD (re-released as Mexico), which some music critics consider to be one of the definitive recordings of the classical guitar. In 1994, he recorded Time-Life Music’s Guitar by Moonlight collection, which sold 250,000 copies in its first two years of circulation. Since 1989, he has released 11 albums of covers and originals. Chapdelaine and opening act Classical Guitarists of Northern Nevada perform 7 p.m. April 7 at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, 341 Village Blvd., Incline Village. They’ll also perform at 7:30 p.m. April 8 at the Brewery Arts Center, 449 W. King St., Carson City, and 3 p.m. April 9 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 200 Island Ave. Tickets are $15-$20. Call 338-1671.