This past spring, as part of our season finale, GIVE featuring Pepe Romero, three student quartet groups formed to perform with the guitar legend on The Rosette stage.
Now, one of those ambitious groups is going on an Austin library tour and we could not be more excited to invite you to join us for it!
The Baker 4, featuring incredible young artists Jianna Zamora, Greg Sonnier, Teddy McCoy, and their wonderful teaching artist, Alex Lew will be having performances at the Carver, Spicewood Springs, Southeast, and Howson branches beginning next week June 25 to July 2!
Find concert details here. Learn more about ACG Community Centered Art Making here.
Following their incredible collaboration with a world renown guitar legend, Pepe Romero, the Baker 4 had an ambitious desire and dedication to continue making music together.
They’re going on tour! They will be visiting four Austin Public Library branches over the next two weeks and we are so pumped to watch it happen.
The Baker 4 features three incredible guitarists, Jianna Zamora, Greg Sonnier, Teddy McCoy, and ACG Teaching Artist, Alex Lew.
They met through the ACG Youth Orchestra and were asked to prepare music to be performed alongside Pepe Romero in ACG’s season finale of 2025. In this setting, Alex was a place-holder for Pepe until the concerts took place. He worked with these three young artists deeply and helped shape their musicianship over the course of a year!
This week we had the opportunity to speak with Alex more about what this experience was like and this is what he had to share with us,
“I have had the honor of working with these three young artists on a weekly basis with intensive rehearsals that cover a variety of chamber music ideals. Some of the ideals consist of the art of matching tone and dynamics, lining up rhythmically, and making musical decisions that we all enjoy. I have enjoyed hearing the student’s opinions on how a phrase should be shaped and we make musical decisions democratically. To be able to perform in a chamber music setting requires a significant amount of preparation in order to sound as one unit and they would always show up prepared and ready to take the music to the next step!
Two moments really shine to me when I look back on my experiences with the Baker 4. The first was when I enlisted them to perform at my chamber music recital, which is in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree. I remember being on stage with them and feeling completely at ease. We all trust each other’s playing to the degree where we can relax and have fun making music, even in a high pressure situation. I was incredibly proud of this moment and it was truly inspiring to be a part of the group, let alone lead it.
Another special moment was when we were on the way back from the ACGYO’s West Texas tour. The three of them were sitting in the back of the van and spontaneously decided to compete in the Texas State guitar competition as a trio. In about one or two weeks, they were able to put together a program and perform it in a competition setting with no formal coaching. I was in awe when they ran through their program for me with how together they were and all of the deep musical choices that they incorporated to the piece. They ended up winning second place in the festival!
Our most recent project is to record a selection of music that will be used on the guitar curriculum website. These recordings will give the teachers and students an idea of how the music should sound and be performed regarding the balance of the parts, dynamics, rubato, and other musical characteristics. This repertoire is written in three parts, so the Baker 4 will be the Baker 3 in this session.
I’m really looking forward to playing our quartet music, as that has been a source of joy for me this last year. However, I’m more excited to be able to witness them perform as a trio without me. The growth that I have seen from these young artists has been tremendous in just a year’s time. To be able to play at this level takes an enormous amount of dedication and passion. These aspects are surely to be witnessed in their tour this summer.”
We’re so excited to continue to witness these young musicians perform beautiful music and grow into ambitious and hardworking young adults. We’d love to have you at any of the shows with us! Find details below:
Wednesday, June 25 at the Carver Branch from 5-6 pm
Thursday, June 26 at the Spicewood Springs Branch from 2-3 pm
Friday, June 27 at the Southeast Branch from 5:30-6:30 pm
Wednesday, July 2 at the Howson Branch from 6-7 pm
