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Brian Prunka
Awards
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs/Brooklyn Arts Council Grant, 2008
Gear
Guitars: Gibson ES165, D'Angelico EX-DC, Gibson L4ces, Prisloe/Pavan TP-20, quarter-tone modified Fender Strat.
Ouds: 1924 Shukri al-Mulki (Syria), 1998 Viken Najarian, 1932 Nahat modified by Najib Shaheen.
Buzuq: 2007 Ibrahim Sukkar (Syria)
Tags
Take Five With Brian Prunka
by Brian Prunka
Meet Brian Prunka:Prior to moving to Brooklyn in 2003, Brian was living and performing in New Orleans, where he spent his formative years honing his musical skills while being immersed in the jazz community. Although his background was in jazz, rock and blues, Brian has always found himself drawn to a wide range of music without regard to boundaries. In the late '90s, fate introduced him to the oud, and he had an instant and profound connection with ...
read moreOud Awakening: Nashaz Furthers the Tradition of Blending of Jazz and Arabic Music
Source:
rock paper scissors, inc.
A puzzling and intriguing challenge from an Egyptian cab driver in New Orleans inspires an impulse purchase of an alluring album in a used CD store. The album inspires a search for a difficult to find instrument, which in turn takes a jazz player to a radically different approach. This unlikely turn of events ultimately led jazz guitarist Brian Prunka to switch gears, obsessively learn as much about Arabic music as he possibly can, and begin down two paths: a ...
read more
Primary Instrument
Oud
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Former jazz guitar instructor at Loyola University, Brian is accepting beginning to advanced students on guitar and oud.
Credentials:
Education:
B.M. Loyola University 1997
M.M. University of New Orleans 2001
Arabic Arts Institute Arabic Music Retreat: Summer 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2011
Banff International Jazz and Creative Music Workshop, 2006
Studied jazz with Steve Masakowski, Ed Petersen, Michael Pellera, Johnny Vidacovich
Studied oud and Arabic music with Simon Shaheen, Bassam Saba, Ali Jihad Racy, Najib Shaheen
Teaching Experience:
Adjunct Professor, Loyola University, F2008-S2009
Teaches jazz guitar, jazz combo
Adjunct Professor, Delgado Community College, S2001-S2003
Taught music theory, jazz guitar, group guitar, jazz theory, music appreciation