RISE UP Presents: Ben Lahring and Ralph Maier

Wine and dine to an evening of fine music presented by Ben Lahring and Ralph Maier. The unique instrumental programme will span the centuries, with compositions played on a modern Canadian double-top guitar and period instruments such as the lute, vihuela and theorbo.

Ralph Maier has been engaging Canadian audiences for over thirty years with his sensitive interpretations and natural technical facility. His concert programs cover a broad range of periods from Renaissance to Contemporary, and he is active as a soloist, chamber musician, and member of the Oberon Guitar Trio. He is currently on faculty at the Mount Royal University Conservatory of Music where he conducts private lessons and ensemble classes, and at the University of Calgary where he heads the classical guitar studio and teaches classes in music history and popular music studies.

Ralph Maier concertizes frequently, and is in demand as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician on classical guitar and period instruments. He has appeared in Canada and abroad, and his performances have been broadcast on television and radio. Ralph completed his Ph.D. at the University of Calgary, specializing in sixteenth-century Spanish music for vihuela. His first solo CD, The Art of Vihuela, was released in the winter of 2008. Since then, Ralph has engineered, mixed, and mastered a wide range of recording projects for many local artists and ensembles. Recent projects include the recording, engineering and production of his most recent CD Variations, with performances on vihuela, baroque guitar, romantic guitar, classical guitar, and electric guitars. In addition to performing and recording, Ralph is a contributing author to The Cambridge Companion to the Rolling Stones (2019).

Ben Lahring was raised on the tropical northern coast of Australia surrounded by palm trees and crocodiles. After completing his undergraduate studies with Phil Moran and Heva Chan in Sydney, Australia, he moved to NYC where he taught guitar at several elite music schools, including the 92Y and the NY Conservatory of Music. In 2012, Ben released an album of solo classical guitar works called My Stage. Over the past decade he has worked as a worship director and pastor for churches across Alberta. He is currently enrolled in the Master of Music Program at the University of Calgary.