Pepe Romero Program
Here is Pepe’s program for this Saturday night!
If you still need tickets, click here.
I thought it would be fun to add links to some performances of some of this great for anyone who’d like to head into the show whistling the tunes!
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Saturday, October 5, Pepe Romero Concert Program:
Fantasía XVI by Luys Milan (1500-c.1561)
Performed by Pablo Garibay:
Danzas españolas by Gaspar Sanz (1645-c.1721)
Pavana con partidas al aire español, Españoleta [No.1], Gallarda, Villano, Zarabanda, Rujero y Paradetas, Torneo, La esfachata de Napoles, La miñona de Cataluña, Canarios
Performed by Pepe Romero
Variations on a theme from the Magic Flute by Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Performed by jason Vieaux:
Capricho Árabe & Gran Jota by Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
Fandango by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Sonatina by Federico M. Torroba (1891-1982)
Fantasía Sevillana by Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)
Serenata española by Joaquín Malats
Performed by Pepe Romero:
Suite Andaluza by Celedonio Romero (1913-1996)
--
Enjoy. And see you Saturday night!
Matt
Pepe Romero Program
Here is Pepe’s program for this Saturday night!
If you still need tickets, click here.
I thought it would be fun to add links to some performances of some of this great for anyone who’d like to head into the show whistling the tunes!
--
Saturday, October 5, Pepe Romero Concert Program:
Fantasía XVI by Luys Milan (1500-c.1561)
Performed by Pablo Garibay:
Danzas españolas by Gaspar Sanz (1645-c.1721)
Pavana con partidas al aire español, Españoleta [No.1], Gallarda, Villano, Zarabanda, Rujero y Paradetas, Torneo, La esfachata de Napoles, La miñona de Cataluña, Canarios
Performed by Pepe Romero
Variations on a theme from the Magic Flute by Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Performed by jason Vieaux:
Capricho Árabe & Gran Jota by Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
Fandango by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Sonatina by Federico M. Torroba (1891-1982)
Fantasía Sevillana by Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)
Serenata española by Joaquín Malats
Performed by Pepe Romero:
Suite Andaluza by Celedonio Romero (1913-1996)
--
Enjoy. And see you Saturday night!
Matt
Pepe Romero Program
Here is Pepe’s program for this Saturday night!
If you still need tickets, click here.
I thought it would be fun to add links to some performances of some of this great for anyone who’d like to head into the show whistling the tunes!
--
Saturday, October 5, Pepe Romero Concert Program:
Fantasía XVI by Luys Milan (1500-c.1561)
Performed by Pablo Garibay:
Danzas españolas by Gaspar Sanz (1645-c.1721)
Pavana con partidas al aire español, Españoleta [No.1], Gallarda, Villano, Zarabanda, Rujero y Paradetas, Torneo, La esfachata de Napoles, La miñona de Cataluña, Canarios
Performed by Pepe Romero (Españoleta):
Variations on a theme from the Magic Flute by Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Performed by Jason Vieaux:
Capricho Árabe & Gran Jota by Francisco Tárrega (1852-1909)
Fandango by Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999)
Sonatina by Federico M. Torroba (1891-1982)
Fantasía Sevillana by Joaquín Turina (1882-1949)
Serenata española by Joaquín Malats
Performed by Pepe Romero:
Suite Andaluza by Celedonio Romero (1913-1996)
--
Enjoy. And see you Saturday night!
Matt
Mesquite Guitar
I played a guitar today with Mesquite back and sides.
Our adult ensembles and our youth orchestra met for the first time. 25 kids with parents and siblings, along with our adult players, meant the reception was full and bustling - with guitar cases lining the walls and snacks disappearing rapidly from the tables!
A young man from Istanbul came just to say goodbye. He’s been in Austin for three years doing a bio-med post-doc at UT and joined our Community Guitarists shortly after he arrived. He’s going home now, and he wanted everyone to know how much he’ll miss making music with the group.
I met the father of a young man who began playing guitar at one of our middle schools with our Assistant Director of Education Jeremy Osborne. His son enjoyed it so much he chose McCallum Fine Arts Academy for guitar (he’s now a junior), and signed up for Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra when he heard about it this year.
Joe Williams began today’s youth orchestra rehearsal focusing on tone, dynamics and unity. He asked for extreme soft, and perfect togetherness. He asked for crescendo first with words, and then only by conducting. The ensemble was instantly connected to him and to each other in pursuit of refinement, all before they even started the Albeniz and Vivaldi on today’s schedule.
Each student got a card with either a guitarist’s name or a matching fun fact when they walked into the reception. The idea was they’d find their match, learn something about their partner, and do a quick intro to the group.
One student has visited 3 countries. Another has been to all 50 states!
I was helping find matches, and one boy told me he’d hoped the cards would have more music theory facts, or information on scales and modes on them. He didn’t find his match and ended up introducing himself. His fun fact? “I help out at my school as a teaching assistant for the guitar classes.”
Two girls are in the group from the same school. Their classroom teacher encouraged them to audition. They got in, and today, Sunday, that amazing teacher drove them to rehearsal herself so they could attend.
One of those girls has even been doing video interviews of some of our famous guest artists for FretBuzz magazine! Here she is with Grammy winner Andrew York. And the boy who’s been to fifty states? He wrote a Fretbuzz article too!
Two women came together. Both have had guitar in their lives for decades. Laura I’ve known from the ensemble for years – I’d never met her friend Ginny. It turns out that it was a guitar - and a Bach Bouree on a music stand - at Ginny’s house several years back that had gotten Laura really playing again. And now it was her turn to return the favor, by bringing Ginny today to join the group.
Laura spent the last year or so building her first guitar. Selecting, cutting and molding the wood, gluing, clamping, finishing – and many things I’m sure I can’t even imagine. She brought it today, and showed it to me – which is how I got to play a guitar with Mesquite back and sides! It plays beautifully.
“I’d like to donate that guitar to your program,” she said. “Do you think it’s good enough, that a young student in one of your schools might be able to use it?”
And it struck me. Isn’t that what it’s all about? Isn’t that how our precious culture is passed along and shared? Isn’t it people coming together with their time, their energy, their knowledge, their generosity, their inquisitiveness… their passion?
I believe it is. And it was a beautiful thing to witness this afternoon.
Back To School
With school beginning next week, we're busily preparing for what will be the highest demand ever for our educational services. So we thought we'd take a moment to give you some of the latest news about the outreach that your support makes possible.
Changing Lives ACG builds and supports high quality classroom guitar programs in schools - over 35 this fall in Austin alone with more than 1,500 diverse students. We train, provide curriculum and music, team teach, provide free lessons for economically eligible students. In all, we'll spend over 120 hours per week on site in schools this year.
In the spring a high school teacher of a struggling student wrote: "[My student] started his guitar lessons a few weeks back, and since starting he has brought most of his grades up to passing and his attendance and behavior have improved as well. His lessons are making a difference." A teacher in an East Austin charter school wrote: "I have worked with a lot of youth in difficult situations...We brought ACG to our school and it was an incredible asset - we soon had students enjoying school for probably the first time in their lives. One student admitted to me that coming to guitar class was what motivated him to make it in to school each day."
Building the Core Our program has grown from 1 school with 15 students to more than 35 schools with over 1,800 students! In addition, there are hundreds of teachers around the world - from Nicaragua to Canada, from Taiwan to Nepal - who are building programs in their communities based on our work here. Would you like to see it?
Visit GuitarCurriculum.com and take a video tour of the resource you helped us build that not only powers our programs here, but programs near and far! One teacher in Boston wrote: "GuitarCurriculum.com was for me (and I'm sure for many other teachers) like emergency oxygen while swimming in a deep dark sea without a tank! The classical guitar in United States has a new face of hope."
FretBuzz Be it letters, spoken comments, or written assignments in reaction to guest artist performances, we found that our students think deeply and write eloquently about classical music on the guitar. In a letter to his new district's Fine Arts Director (after leaving an Austin school that had guitar program) one middle school student wrote, "If only students here could be touched by the divine power of music as I have."
So we launched an online magazine "by young guitarists, for young guitarists!" FretBuzz is a place for young people to publish their thoughts about classical guitar, and read each other's writing. This week's article came from a high school senior in Baltimore who wrote about his college auditioning experience. Austin students also produce video interviews with world famous artists who come to town for our major series. Check it out at FretBuzz.org!
Helping Others August 1st through 3rd was our first-ever national teacher training. More than 60 educators from 10 states participated in 16 hours of intense training. A Houston high school teacher wrote: "After I attended the training, I realized that the GuitarCurriculum.com repertoire and methodology gives me the tools to reduce my workload AND stress level every day and with every student! What could be more directly helpful than to make a teacher's work easier and more fun?" A career music educator from San Francisco wrote: "The curriculum presented was well thought out and expertly presented, and the sense of community you've created was truly inspirational!"
The Team Led by Director of Education Travis Marcum, our dedicated team is Jeremy Osborne (Assistant Director), and Eric Pearson (Community Guitarists Director), along with curriculum and education experts Chris Lee, Joseph Ikner, Brent Ferguson, Toby Rodriguez, Jeremy Coleman, Joseph Williams, Tom Echols, Remington Griffin, and many more. We have one aim above all others: To lead the students we serve to beautiful, confident and expressive music making experiences each and every time they play guitar.
Your Role Our program simply wouldn't exist without you. High quality education, and the sharing of something as precious, temporal, fragile and beautiful as art and cultural expression simply "takes a village." Your belief in ACG, and in the power of great music to change people's lives, is the fuel that powers our educators, our guest artists, our curriculum development and training, the teachers we serve, and ultimately, thousands of young people in Austin and around the world. Thank you.
From Matt: Our New Season
It’s my tenth year as Executive Director of Austin Classical Guitar.
At Isaac’s concert Saturday a woman grabbed my arm at intermission and told me she’d just experienced the most beautiful music on the guitar she had ever heard. At the close of our first-ever national teacher training earlier Saturday afternoon, a teacher told me “I’ve been in public school education for 18 years, and this is by far the best training session I’ve ever attended.” In an interview last Tuesday the founder of Austin’s iconic Alamo Drafthouse, Tim League, said “We have the hands-down best classical guitar society in the world here in Austin.”
You make all of this possible. Without you we could not have built more than 30 area guitar programs that have served thousands of amazing, diverse kids. Without you we could not have created Austin Goes Classical, Austin Pictures, “The Unknown,” John Williams in concert, and so many more events of deep cultural significance. Without you I could not have had the privilege of service these last ten years.
Thank you.
Our new season includes icons like Pepe Romero, Niño de Pura, Tomatito and so much more.
I am particularly excited about Joseph V. Williams II joining us as our Composer in Residence. He is already writing two major works, one to be premiered by our new Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra, and the other for Les Freres Meduses.
And this season we proudly introduce Insights, guided tours to the art and artists featured in our major concerts. We could think of no better tour guide than Dr. Tom Echols whose infectious intellectual curiosity and stunningly broad knowledge of music, art and literature will provide a rich framework to deepen your familiarity and appreciation for classical guitar.
Classes are Wednesday evenings from 7-9PM, last for four weeks, and directly precede the event they pertain to. The first course we’re offering is Pepe Romero & Guitar Music of Spain (9/11-10/2)!
I look forward to sharing this new season with you.
In gratitude,
Matt
Dinner with Hinsley, Williams & Echols
I’m so excited about our 2013-2014 season!
Among other things, it’s my tenth season with Austin Classical Guitar as Executive Director.
I am especially pumped that we’ve brought on board two of the most exciting musicians and intellects I know: Dr. Joseph V. Williams II and Dr. Thomas Echols.
Meet us for dinner next Saturday night at Gusto Italian Kitchen at 5:45! Gusto is doing one more tasty $17 prix fixe dinner this summer – this time before our Pablo Garibay concert (menu below).
For dinner reservations, call Gusto at (512) 458-1100. Concert info here.
Joe is a brilliant composer and guitarist, he wrote Austin Pictures for us in 2011, and rarely have I been so excited as when he accepted my offer to become our first-ever Composer In Residence. Get ready for magic!
Tom is one of the most engaging, broadly educated and creative people I’ve ever met, and he will be sharing his knowledge, and his infectious enthusiasm for excellence in art, in our new Insights classes – which I hope to attend myself!
Tom’s Insights classes will be Wednesday evenings from 7-9PM, last for four weeks, and will directly precede the event they pertain to. So stay tuned, we’ll have them up online for registration soon. His first course will be: Pepe Romero & Guitar Music of Spain (9/11-10/2)!
So c’mon out to dinner Saturday and meet these extraordinary guys, and then we’ll all head over for a great concert by one of Mexico’s greatest young classical guitar stars.
$17 Prix Fixe Gusto Dinner - Join Me There!
Our friends at Gusto Italian Kitchen are offering $17 Prix Fixe menus before our concerts all summer long! They're just minutes from GT Austin and the food is de-lish!
So I'm going this Saturday night before Badi's concert, and I hope you'll join me! I'm planning to arrive around 6.
For reservations, call Gusto at (512) 458-1100. Here's the menu:
Spotlight: Oliver Custom Homes
Sponsor Spotlight: Oliver Custom Homes
I recently had an extraordinary experience performing an intimate concert for about 50 guests at the home of renowned golf instructor Dave Pelz and his wife JoAnn. Dave and JoAnn were kind enough to host a concert at their astonishing home in Dripping Springs, Texas, that’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal and on various TV specials.
Not only is the home beautiful and the vista breathtaking, but Dave loves to talk about its total energy and water independence (e.g. 75,000 gallon rainwater cistern), and an ingenious system of heat exchangers that heat and cool the home with the pools and water features rather than air conditioning, but in the back yard there are also seven golf holes – some modeled on his favorite holes from around the world – that are at once his research center and also a golfer’s paradise.
This one-of-a-kind home, and golf oasis, was built by Matt and Paul Oliver of Oliver Custom Homes. Matt and Paul build incredible things! And they are generously helping us to build Austin Classical Guitar too.
Matt and Paul have a deep connection to Brazil and so, in addition to being one of our sponsors of our private concert at the Pelz, they offered to help us with our presentation of Brazilian superstar world musician Badi Assad on July 20th at GT Austin.
Tickets are online here or call us at 512-300-2247.
I had the opportunity to talk with Matt Oliver and learn about custom home construction, and why he chooses to support Austin Classical Guitar.
Matthew Hinsley: You make extraordinary spaces a reality, working closely with architects in the process. Having been in some of your creations I'm struck that your process is in some ways similar to a musician interpreting and bringing to life a written composition. What do you love about what you do?
Matt Oliver: Like music, visual art can soothe the soul. I love orchestrating in the construction process, bringing together the skill that can produce the best interpretation of what a homeowner is looking for.
MH: Recently you co-sponsored a wonderful evening at a home you created - the home of Dave and JoAnn Pelz - and next week you are sponsoring our concert featuring Badi Assad. What is it about Austin Classical Guitar that you feel is worthy of your support?
MO: Austin Classical Guitar brings us together in a very special way to enjoy great musical art. We choose to support Austin Classical Guitar because of the impact it has in changing lives at an early age through its educational program.
MH: Tell be about your connection to Brazil?
MO: Paul and I grew up in Brazil and are both married to Brazilians. We love samba, soccer and just about anything that comes from Brazil.
MH: Could you tell me a bit about your collaboration with Eddie Pelz and DPSynscapes?
MO: DPSynscapes is an artificial turf company that built Dave Pelz's back yard. We are partners in this company along with Dave Pelz and Eddie Pelz.
MH: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
MO: Oliver Custom Homes LLC has been building "One of a kind, One at a time" homes in the Austin area for 28 years. Still having fun doing it! We particularly love the lifelong friendships we’ve made along the way.
My Thank You to Representative Elliott Naishtat
On May 27th, the Texas State House of Representatives passed House Resolution 3029 about my work in education and community service through music. I was honored, of course, but it turns out the resolution could not possibly have come at a better time. Here is my letter of thanks.
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Dear Representative Naishtat,
I was deeply honored to learn of the passing of House Resolution 3029 on May 27th in the Texas State House of Representatives concerning my work in service through music to our Central Texas Community. One copy of the beautifully-prepared resolution is proudly displayed by my desk in my office at the Austin Classical Guitar Society.
I flew this week with my second copy to Sandusky, Ohio on the occasion of my grandfather’s 100th birthday. Born on June 21st, 1913, Dr. Harold Eugene Snedden has had a rich life of hard work, dedicated service, and rich devotion to faith and family. He went go to medical school and became an orthopedic surgeon in 1941, and enlisted immediately in the Air Force where he served in England as a flight surgeon during World War II in the 357th Fighter Group. He had a long and distinguished career as a surgeon in North-Eastern Ohio, and has had an incredibly active retirement blessed with great health, and dedicated focus on everything from making furniture to dancing and honing his pool game.
He became ill just weeks before his 100th birthday, and while it was a wondrous gift to celebrate the day with him, and many of my relatives, our visit this week may very well have been our last. His eyes, along with most other parts, are old and tired and often a little painful these days.
I thought of things that might bring him joy and, with his deep service to our country (and his time in San Antonio, Texas, before shipping out to England), I thought he might particularly enjoy seeing House Resolution 3029. When I gave it to him, I thought I might describe it briefly and hopefully get a smile. But instead he put on his glasses and read every single word of that resolution – pausing for fifteen to thirty seconds between paragraphs to rest his eyes. Seeing his smile, and his healing, powerful old hands grasping that document is something I’ll never forget. When he finally finished he looked me in the eyes and asked, “Can I have that?” Of course I said yes, and - as was always his way - he carefully instructed me precisely where he’d like it kept.
I cannot thank you enough, Representative Naishtat, for this wonderful honor that has come at such an important time,
Dr. Matthew Hinsley
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Read the full text of the resolution here.
