Ray Zhou:
Chicken Pickin' for Classical Guitar (clinic)
Saturday, Mar 10: 10:30 – 11:20
Evergreen Valley HS: Room F115
Learn how to play “Jerry’s Breakdown” which utilizes many of the trademarks of the chicken pickin’ style. Learn the licks and tricks used for soloing over the changes in this tune. Full transcription and practice track will be provided to help you practice and master this tune! D’Addario will be donating strings, tuners, capos, humidifiers, thumbpicks, and string cutters to the people attending.
Ray Zhou is a gifted and versatile musician and a dazzling and expressive performer. Ray came to the United States from China when he was eight and his talent for guitar took off from there. Before arriving on scholarship at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he won the Steve Vai Scholarship and took 1st place in the Folsom Live Great American Guitar Competition, twice in both electric and classical guitar.
By virtue of receiving the 2012 Avanti Award granted by the Joseph and Frances Brucia Foundation, Ray is equipped to record his debut solo album. Having worked with many of the world’s best guitarists, he shares his experience as a faculty member of the National Guitar Workshop.
Ray received his Bachelor Degree in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Grammy-Award winning guitarist/composer Sergio Assad and David Tanenbaum. He has studied electric guitar with Carl Verheyen and Dave Martone and has performed in classical guitar master classes for Manuel Barrueco, Odair Assad, Pavel Steidl, David Russell, Ben Verdery, Roland Dyens, Adam Holzman, Katona Twins, Marcin Dylla, Julian Gray and Martha Masters.
Aside from touring with the Martine Donovan Band, Ray maintains an active program of performing as a soloist and a sideman in the San Francisco Bay Area on top of maintaining a private teaching studio. Ray plays a Waylin Carpenter 7-string classical guitar and is also an endorser and artist for Kremona Orpheus Valley Guitars, D'Addario Strings and Mono Cases.
