Biographical Highlights

Judy Handler, guitar - Judy has given concerts & workshops throughout the United States. Her solo playing spans diverse genres of music including classical, Latin American, Brazilian, and jazz arrangements. She has performed with many prominent guitarists including Charlie Byrd and Oscar Ghiglia. Judy has received numerous awards including an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Greater Hartford Arts Council in 2000.

Judy's studies began in her hometown, Chicago and she went on to earn a Bachelor of Music in guitar from the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, a Master of Music from the Hartt School of Music, and certificates from summer studies at schools in Aspen, Spain and Italy. She teaches guitar at the University of Connecticut and at a private studio in Vernon, Connecticut. Judy is co-founder of the Connecticut Classical Guitar Society, one of the largest organizations of its kind in the country.

Mark Levesque, mandolin and guitar - Mark started playing guitar at age 13 and soon began working with rock and blues bands. He also became interested in other styles of guitar music including jazz, classical and international. Mark has composed songs and instrumental music, worked with synthesizer orchestration, and learned the art of studio recording.

Mark plays an array of guitars including a classical, a jazz archtop, a 12 string, an electric and a gypsy guitar. He also has several mandolins, a Brazilian mandolin (bandolim) and a Puerto Rican cuatro. His versatility has given him the opportunity to play in groups ranging from duos to big bands. Mark's passion for guitar and mandolin music has led him to research music from throughout the world and his creative ideas have been the stimulus for most of the arrangements performed by the group.

Recent Performances

• The International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven
• The Chateaugay Lakes Arts Association in New York
• The Bushnell Autorino Great Hall in Hartford
• The University of Connecticut
• Roger Williams University in Rhode Island: The American Mandolin & Guitar Summer Program
• The University of Hartford
• Saint Joseph College

Performance Rosters

• New England Foundation for the Arts
• Connecticut Commission on the Arts
• The Connecticut Library Consortium
• The Connecticut Classical Guitar Society

Recordings

*The Greater Hartford Arts Council used "Acoustic Blend" as a premiere gift for donors to the United Arts Campaign of 2003.