Education Progress Report
Summer 2013 Education Progress Report
In the last several years we have seen dramatic growth in our education program. In September 2011 we were serving 14 area schools with around 650 students compared with this past year when our responsibility grew to 30 area schools and over 1,500 students.
The challenge before our education team, then, has been to increase the scale of our services while ensuring delivery of the highest quality educational experiences possible to the children we serve. Where before we had been responsible for developing curriculum and directing guitar classes in each school, we have more recently needed to effectively train and support educators, and further refine our curriculum support structure, so that more and more programs will be highly successful.
Our approach to this challenge has been to:
- enhance our training and team-teaching systems
- create and launch an extensive video tutorial and benchmark library (over 50 tutorials launched in August, 2012 at GuitarCurriculum.com)
- develop high-quality audio recordings of the music library to serve as examples for both students and teachers (GuitarCurriculum.com)
- work with district administrators to develop evaluative systems analogous to those in place for choir, orchestra and band (e.g. District Sight Reading Contest)
It is in this context that I was overjoyed to review the video (available upon request) of our second-ever district Sight Reading contest (April 18th, 2013). Most importantly there is remarkable qualitative consistency throughout the performances. Some groups are playing simpler repertoire, and others more complex, but they are sitting with excellent posture, playing with excellent technique, producing robust and clear tone, and performing with confidence and nuanced musical expression.
Student outcomes in these specific forms has been our highest goal since the beginning of our Educational Outreach program, and to see it manifest in so many diverse schools – with both old and new classes – is deeply inspiring.
Also of significance is the fact that so few of the performances were conducted by our staff. As our responsibility has grown – now to 30 programs – it has become no longer practical for our faculty to directly run all classes like we did five years ago. This increase in responsibility has driven and tested our curriculum development (GuitarCurriculum.com) and our training practices. We provide more than 120 hours of direct service in schools every week, and we are now largely training and team-teaching to leverage our knowledge and materials to ensure student and educator success.
It’s working! And the result is nothing less than the creation of an entire new arts subject area in AISD that has powerfully attracted and retained thousands of diverse students to arts engagement, while maintaining rigorous educational and artistic standards.
For this report I asked for brief statements from our three full-time educators, who are in the field on a daily basis and have the best perspective on the evolution of our education services.
From our Education Director, Travis Marcum: This semester has been a landmark period for ACGS. The spring is now full of guitar events sponsored by the district, as well as outside organizations, including: All-City Guitar Ensemble, UIL Solo and Ensemble contest, AISD Solo and Ensemble contest, Large Ensemble Concert and Sight Reading Assessment, Individual school adjudicated guitar contests, State UIL Solo and Ensemble, Individual program Spring concerts, and the Hill Country Guitar Ensemble Competition.
These events galvanize the school guitar community and establish standards – in the same way they do for more established fields like choir, orchestra and band. Helping AISD – and soon the broader Texas community – to establish these evaluative events is a key part of our overall strategy.
This semester, I have been astonished at the quality of playing and teaching that is happening across the board for our programs. Students are engaged in meaningful music making experiences rooted in quality, expressive performance and joyful mastery of our art form. The AISD Concert and Sight Reading Assessment was especially impressive as 14 of our programs performed level appropriate repertoire from GuitarCurriculum.com in a seamless, well-executed concert full of expression and artistry. They were also required to sight read a challenging unfamiliar piece in a ten-minute time frame – and performed this test of musicianship skills exceptionally well in every case.
More personally, I have been overwhelmed with pride in my students at Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center. The relationships that I have with the students and staff there have become the most rewarding of my career. For many it is the first time they have experienced scholastic success, and after each performance it is truly inspiring to watch these kids stand a little bit taller than they ever have before as they receive a standing ovation from a crowd of 100+ audience members. We have had a number of students from this program successfully transition into external school programs at Crockett, Travis, and Akins High. Just this week a previous student, who is in an on-grounds transitional home, asked me if he could reenter my class as well as continue with his school program at Travis High because he enjoys playing so much and wants to improve.
From our Assistant Education Director, Jeremy Osborne: 2013 began with a mad dash to prepare Lamar Middle School’s performance for the International Concert Series with Vladimir Gorbach. This was the first time I had ever prepared a middle school in such a short amount of time, and it was quite the challenge for all of us. Needless to say the students played wonderfully and audience members were surprised to find out they were a middle school ensemble.
The Akins High Intermediate/Advanced Ensemble had a semester filled with a high level of playing and great artistic achievement - as well as some national accolades. We spent the semester learning a college-level program earning top honors at the AISD evaluation event as well as 2nd place in the Hill Country National Guitar Ensemble Competition. Not bad for a group of 2nd and 3rd year players!
For Guitars Under the Stars, we decided to try a new format for our student performance. Before we prepared a short performance by one program, but due to the consistent quality across all AISD’s programs, we felt it would be powerful to showcase several. This resulted in a 9-member group with the top 3 students from Akins, Crockett, and McCallum high school performing a Bach Fugue that they specifically requested we play.
For the FlamencoAustin pre-show, with over 1300 at the Long Center, we combined students from Akins, Crockett and McCallum into a large ensemble of 26. They put together a spirited performance of a Telemann concerto. I was inspired by how motivated and excited the students were to do this, especially so late in the semester. The performance was perfect, and I cannot begin to describe how amazing it felt to conduct these kids on the Long Center Stage. It was a moment that I will remember for a very long time.
At the AISD Evaluation Event I heard every performance, and the level of artistry achieved across the board gave me goose bumps! Each group exhibited characteristics found in all successful programs and you could tell that the kids were enjoying performing, regardless of the evaluation. It was a testament to the level of teaching achieved by the AISD directors, and a really proud day for our team.
From our Community Guitarists Director, Eric Pearson: A few of my assigned programs stood out this spring. Dixie Yoder at Webb Middle School is now in her second year running a guitar program and has show herself to be a leader in the district and an outstanding teacher and conductor. In addition to masterful preparation and outstanding musicianship of her guitar ensembles, she also started an additional mariachi group and organized a middle school guitar solo contest at Webb Middle School this spring in which every single student of the guitar program competed.
No other school has demonstrated the transformative power of rigorous guitar programs this year than Travis High School. Susan Rozanc has brought that guitar program from a pilot of 20 students to having the largest arts program enrollment in the school! The guitar ensemble has played for over a half dozen extra events this semester and gets increasing requests for collaboration from the administration and other faculty.
At Travis I have seen many students start to show incredible dedication to music and their studies both in and out of rehearsal. The guitar room has become the safe haven for many students and the place to come and practice and get encouragement from Ms. Rozanc. Numerous students have come for advice on getting extra help and tutoring so they can participate in the many music events that require “eligibility” through academic class grades. There are many instances where a student puts the needed effort into graduating or avoiding truancy after conferring with the music teachers and getting that extra perspective on the necessity of being responsible for their own success.
One student in particular has made a personal transformation before my eyes this year. Upon entering the guitar class in the fall, he was having extreme personal and family issues, was failing several classes and was demonstrating behavior problems in classes and rehearsals. Since joining the guitar class he became one of the students that would spend extra time in the music room practicing and doing extra rehearsals. His attitude in class, and toward school in general, improved immensely and he started taking responsibility for his schoolwork, personal choices, and future. Since earning the privilege of taking free private lessons provided by ACGS, he has become a positive influence in class, and a leader during rehearsals. He frequently leads sectionals, comes in for extra help, and offers help to the teachers and staff. While he was failing out of several classes and admittedly at risk of dropping out of school early in the year, he has pulled most of his grades up to passing, and is on track to graduate with his class.
Conclusion: With national registration, including over 25 elementary educators so far, for our August Teacher Training hosted at UT Austin, recent articles in American String Teacher, GFA Soundboard, Artistworks (online), Texas Exes Alcalde (online), and forthcoming in Music Educators Journal and Southwestern Musician, ACGS curriculum and training practices continue to have impact far beyond Austin. We are on track to update GuitarCurriculum.com technology, develop an elementary curriculum unit, develop our Braille adaptation, finish audio recording of our music library, and video tutorial integration. Our programs in the Texas School for the Blind and Juvenile Justice System are thriving – the latter is a model now for a new program being developed in South Texas. We have countless stories of personal success, including our annual full-scholarship recipient at ACC.
You make our work possible, and I cannot thank you enough. I hope we have continued to make you proud. I’d like to say a special thanks to our institutional supporters: The City of Austin, The Augustine Foundation, The George and Fay Young Foundation, The Webber Family Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation, Tobin Janel Levy and Michael R. Levy, The Kodosky Foundation, Austin Asset, H-E-B, Louise Epstein and John Henry McDonald Trust, The MFS Foundation, The 3M Foundation, The Shield-Ayres Foundation, Ameriprise Financial, The Union Pacific Foundation, The D’Addario Foundation, Silicon Labs, Volacci Corporation, The Kinney Company, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Please contact us any time with any questions you may have at 512-300-ACGS or email me at [email protected].
With deepest gratitude,
Dr. Matthew Hinsley
Williams interviews Andrew York
Joseph V. Williams II is ACGS’ Composer in Residence for the 2013-2014 season. Williams sat down yesterday with Grammy winning composer and guitarist Andrew York to talk about his remarkable career, his compositions, and tomorrow night’s concert.
…
Joe Williams: You have had a tremendous and rich career as a performer, composer, and collaborator. How did your relationship with music begin?
Andrew York: Growing up there was a lot of music - and the guitar was always there. My father is a guitar player, my mother sang professionally for a while, and my uncle was a guitar player too. In family gatherings, my father and uncle would always be playing folk music. Before I knew how to play, I would hold the guitar and pretend. Then one day, as the story goes, I was actually playing. My dad was my first teacher – sharing music was a great father-son bonding experience. He was very patient, and he gave to me his very deep love of music.
Some of my earliest memories are sonic, rather than visual. I remember hearing sounds before I could even talk or analyze them. I remember hearing them with qualities of pitch and timbre...of course I did not think in those terms, but I was very aware of sound, and would listen with great interest even as a small child. I would listen to records over and over. And I heard music then like I hear it now. Nothing has changed, except that I have learned the labels, what to name the intervals, the musical vocabulary. When I listen to music, I am running a real-time harmonic analysis. Its always been like that - and I actually thought everyone was that way - until I went to theory class in high school and realized everyone was not that way!
JW: How did you discover composing?
AY: Composing is a personality trait: the desire to make things or create things.
Composers have a desire to make something new or express something personal. A lot of musicians don’t have that impetus, but for me, the desire to create something new was always there even as a very small child. As soon as I could play, writing was the first thing I did.
JW: Do you remember the first piece you composed?
AY: I don't know that I remember the first one. Most of that early stuff is gone now, but I do have some old pieces in a collection of loose pages scribbled down on legal paper. I remember there is one that has mustard on the score. I must have been, as a little kid, eating a hot dog and writing - and I got mustard on the paper!
JW: The program for Saturday night features music from your new double album, Yamour (Yamour on itunes). Two of the selections, Glimmerings and Woven Harmony, are multi-movement works. Can you tell us about these pieces?
AY: Glimmering is a suite that I wrote for a friend’s 60th birthday party. He is a two-time cancer survivor and his wife commissioned me to write it as a surprise. I was invited to play the piece for a private concert as part of his party. It was very special.
The piece is in lute tuning (the 3rd string is tuned a half step down), with a capo on the second fret - so everything sounds at a higher pitch. I love lute tuning and I like to improvise in that tuning a lot. I wrote this suite with renaissance and jazz influence, not in an overt renaissance or jazz style - just mixing old and new, the way I like to do. They fit together nicely as an exploration of the tuning and sound.
The other suite, Woven Harmony, was commissioned by Robert Bluestone from Santa Fe, New Mexico. At the time, he and his wife were touring together. In addition to being a musician, she is a weaver, and they wanted a piece that combined the idea of weaving and guitar. That was an interesting challenge, and in the process she taught me how the loom works. So I wrote this piece based on “warp and weft”, the two threads involved in weaving.
The “warp” are the invisible threads. They are the structural ones that you don’t see in a carpet or a wall hanging. Since they are invisible, I wrote the movements related to warp in a more abstract way: as a type of invisible reality. Like when you think of particle physics of the quantum world: at first, it may not seem to make sense, but it is deep with order- just not one that’s intuitive to us. Those movements are from a more abstract place.
The weft threads are the threads we see. They hold the form, the color, and the image. I likened the weft-based movements to our perception of the natural world, our perception of beauty. So I wrote those in just an honestly beautiful way. I tried to make them without guile - just beautiful. They are simple, meditative, and lovely landscapes.
JW: You’ll also be playing some pieces by J.S. Bach. What will you play and why did you choose this piece?
AY: I’ll be playing four selections from the C minor Cello Suite. The guitar will be tuned down to be at the same pitch level as the cello. It’s a real challenge to play, and it’s a beautiful piece.
I love Bach. As a composer, you have to worship him. I certainly do. His music is freaky, because it’s so deep yet so beautiful at the same time. It’s so mathematically perfect, yet dripping with sheer beauty. That’s really hard to do and, in my mind, no one has been able to do it the same way since.
JW: Outside of music what inspires you?
AY: Observing nature inspires me: the infinite juxtaposition of patterns, an algorithmic process in which each moment is a frozen frame of processes, of endless and different lengths. At the moment of observation, you can see order going in both directions in time.
And music is very much like that, because it is an unfolding process. We hear it one frame at a time. As it goes by, we hold in our mind what we have heard and make predictions of what we will hear next. Music may be a way that we learn to understand the natural world.
The greater our ability to be aware of the way the world works, and how music works, the deeper we can delve. And music will go as deep as you want to go. Music is endless.
…
I hope you are as excited about tomorrow night’s concert as I am. Details about the show and the venue are online here.
Here’s a video of Andrew playing “Woven World”, a piece that he will play on tomorrow night’s concert. Enjoy – and we’ll see you tomorrow night!
Our New Concert Hall!
I’m super-excited about our debut concert this Saturday (June 22) at 7:30 in our new concert venue, GT Austin featuring Grammy-winning composer and guitarist Andrew York (tix online or call 512-300-2247)!
Where is it? Imagine driving east into town from Mopac on 2222 (AKA “Koenig Lane” or “Northland Drive”)… just past Shoal Creek, on the right side, there’s a church with beautiful stained glass and a roof that looks a bit like a ski jump? That’s the place (map here)!
The is plenty of on-site parking, comfy individual seating in the main auditorium (not pews), a contemporary feel with state of the art AV, and a spacious lobby!
Here are some pictures – huge thanks to our photographer Arlen Nydam.
We have a coffee bar!
Here’s a shot of the spacious lobby.
And a view of the stage from the balcony. We have about 700 seats total, with just over 100 in the balcony.
And this is what you’d see if you were Andrew York playing on the stage Saturday night!
Health, Musicians & Carolyn Schwarz
I came to Austin when I was twenty having just finished my undergraduate studies at Oberlin Conservatory, and in preparation to begin graduate work at UT. Already I’d spent three years organizing music events as the founder and president of a student music organization in college, and I had become passionate about the importance of arts presentation. I viewed, and still view, healthy nonprofit arts organizations as the ultimate antidote to the elephant-in-the-room missing link in our arts world that has led to the conventional wisdom that it’s extremely difficult to make a living in the arts.
As a student preparing, along with my colleagues, to enter the artistic “workforce” I dreamed of creating a dynamic organization that would pay musicians fairly for their extraordinary work and dedication. My personal mission has expanded since then, but this priority is still a core driving force for me.
Here we are living in the “Live Music Capital of the World”, a city that benefits economically and culturally from the varied and exceptional work of its many musicians, and yet it’s no secret that many musicians still struggle to make ends meet.
There is no organization more directly dedicated to the welfare of Austin musicians than the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (along with their sister org SIMS Foundation, which provides assistance for mental health and addiction recovery – on whose artistic advisory panel I happen to proudly serve).
HAAM is led by Carolyn Schwarz, one of the most effective and dedicated public servants I know. I was delighted to have a recent conversation with Carloyn and wanted to share some of it with you.
Matthew Hinsley (MH): Tell me about yourself and HAAM?
Carolyn Schwarz (CS): HAAM stands for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians and I am very fortunate to be the founding executive director. HAAM’s mission is to provide access to affordable healthcare for Austin’s low-income, uninsured working musicians with a focus on wellness and prevention.
Our founder, Robin Shivers, was a businesswoman and philanthropist who through her work in music management understood how much Austin’s musicians bring into our economy and how little they themselves earn. That, combined with her understanding and connections in our healthcare community, inspired her to found HAAM. It may surprise people to know that musicians bring in nearly $2 billion to the Austin economy yet the average income of musicians served by HAAM is $17,000/year!
I was lucky enough to meet Robin just as she was pulling together the organization. My background as a social worker and years of work building social service programs combined with my love of live music made this job a perfect fit!
MH: How does your program work? Who is eligible?
CS: Many Austin musicians are self-employed and have no access to health insurance or basic health care. They often work multiple jobs and struggle to pay for food, clothing and shelter, with nothing left for health care. That's where HAAM comes in. By resolving challenges such as long-neglected teeth to hearing loss, heart problems and depression, HAAM and its partners improve and save musicians' health and lives and enhance Austin's economy and quality of life. Musicians who are working musicians, uninsured and living at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines (approximately $28,725 for a single person) are eligible. Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World, and we aim to keep it that way!
MH: What healthcare services are offered?
CS: We work with six affiliate service providers who offer high quality, comprehensive services to HAAM member-musicians. Services include primary medical care provided by Seton Healthcare Family, basic dental care provided by St. David's Foundation in partnership with Capital Area Dental Foundation, mental health and addiction-recovery services provided by The SIMS Foundation, vision health provided by Prevent Blindness Texas, hearing health services provided by Estes Audiology and nutrition work provided by Whole Foods Market.
MH: How do musicians enroll?
CS: The best place to start is by calling our office at 512-322-5177. Our staff will talk with the musician and ask some basic questions over the phone and schedule a time for him or her to come to the office for an in-person eligibility appointment. Musicians can also find a lot of information about eligibility and a link to our application on the HAAM website.
MH: How many musicians have you helped?
CS: HAAM just turned eight! In that time, HAAM has helped over 3,000 musicians access over 52,000 healthcare appointments valued at over $16.2 million dollars. One important aspect of our work is the value of in-kind services that our affiliate service providers give in addition to the services that HAAM is paying for. For example, in 2012 for every $1 HAAM spent, the affiliate service providers donated an additional $7 in services. That means for every gift of $100 we receive from a donor we are able to leverage that into $800 total in services!
MH: What do the musicians say about HAAM?
CS: Our musicians are so appreciative of HAAM and our affiliate service providers. One musician shared this, “When I found out about my brain tumor every insurance company turned me away. It's a discouraging thing to go through until I called the good folks at HAAM. Not only did you give me [healthcare coverage] on the spot... you gave me hope and love. I can't describe the gratitude I feel for this amazing organization. You change lives, you build community, you give musicians a chance to follow their dreams with a feeling of relief because we are taken care of. God bless you people who give your time to make our lives easier and better. You made what could have been the hardest time of my life the most inspirational time of my life! Keep up the great work!"
MH: How can the community get involved?
CS: We have lots of ways to get involved! We have an amazing group of volunteers affectionately called HAAMbassadors and we are always looking to add more to our group. Business owners can get involved by participating in HAAM Benefit Day on Tuesday, September 24, 2013. On this day businesses give at least 5% of the day’s proceeds and musicians will be performing all over the city in traditional and non-traditional locations. Stay tuned as we roll out the full list of participating businesses and the music schedule! Lastly, HAAM does rely on community donations to continue our work and any gift, small or large, makes a big difference to us!
MH: What do you love about ACGS?
CS: Everything! What you do at Austin Classical Guitar Society is a gift to our community! From the concerts to the curriculum for schools to the work you do with the Juvenile Justice System and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired I am amazed by the impact you make! Thank you for giving the gift of live music to our kids and to our community! Keep up the great work!
Meet Andrew York
Meet Andrew York - by Zach Brehm
Zach is a student from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY. He is an intern with ACGS this summer and will return to Potsdam to begin his Masters in Performance in the fall.
Nearly a decade since his last time in Austin, Andrew York returns for an evocative night of music at our brand new venue, GT Austin, on June 22nd. His program will be almost entirely his original compositions, with a brief departure to selections from Bach’s Fifth Cello Suite.
For a preview, check out York’s latest recording Yamour on itunes! The title track is a groove-driven piece with short vocal melodies interwoven throughout.
Closing the first half of the concert is Woven Harmony, in six movements. York says that, in this piece, he tried to capture a balance between the warp and weft, representing the balance between the inner, structural aspects of weaving and the more apparent beauty from the surface.
Tickets to the event are still available online here – or call 512-300-ACGS. Don’t miss your chance to secure a seat to see a Grammy award winning artist give the inaugural performance in our new home, GT Austin!
You can also tune in to KUTX 98.9FM on Thursday morning, June 20th at 11, to hear York live in Austin with John Aielli!
Matt Hinsley recently had the chance to talk with Andrew about his recent travels and his newest album:
Matt Hinsley: Have you been playing much this past month? Where have you been?
Andrew York: I just played a guitar festival in Tampere, Finland. It’s a great festival run by Tomi Tolvanen. The sun never really set - semi dark by midnight, but the sky was already light by 2am! Then I took a ferry across the Baltic Sea to Tallinn, Estonia. Tallin is a beautiful walled medieval town, where another festival is run by Tiit Peterson. This town if popping and doesn't sleep, maybe because it is light most of the night.
MH: Tell me about Yamour? Will be hear some selections on your Austin concert?
AY: Yamour is my latest double CD, and is out on vinyl as well as a double LP. It's mainly music I have written in the last few years, much of it is still unpublished. It’s pretty wide stylistically. I'll draw from these selections for my Austin concert, as well as do four movements from the 5th cello suite by J. S. Bach. For the Bach I’ll tune like a cello and play it as written.
MH: Anything else you'd like to mention?
AY: I'm very happy to come back to Austin!
...
And we can’t wait to have him! Here’s a link to Andrew York playing his own composition Albaycín. Enjoy!
Andrew York Dinner at Gusto: $17 Prix Fixe!
Our friends at Gusto are at it again, with a delicious meal planned in advance of our July 20th Andrew York concert. Just $17 for three yummy courses!
These will be different than our usual pre-concert dinners in that we’re not planning a reserved section with some pre-concert comments from me, and wine included. But $17 is an amazing price for three courses of great Gusto cuisine!
And you’re bound to see many friends who are also heading over to the concert – Gusto is just minutes from our new GT Austin Venue.
So simplify your evening, meet some friends, and enjoy a fabulous meal before the show.
Please make your reservations directly with Gusto Italian Kitchen by calling 512-458-1100. See you there, and Buon Appetito!
Andrew York Pre-Concert Dinner Menu
Antipasti
Arugula / Mushrooms / Piave Cheese / Citronette
Pasta
Green Pea & Ricotta Agnilotti
Dolci
Watermelon Sorbetto
Flamenco: what a night!
What a night we had!
Things started with an incredible Spanish dinner in the Kodosky Lounge prepared by Chef Maria Candil while, at the same time, we had a flamenco party on the terrace with tapas by Chef Candil and music and dance led by Pilar Andújar. Here’s a beautiful picture of her ensemble. All photographs taken by Arlen Nydam.
And here’s Pilar!
The dinner was beautiful. You can just glimpse the red and yellow Spanish décor, prepared by ACGS’ Event Manager Julie Stoakley, in this great photo of Joan and Thom Kobayashi. Joan serves on the ACGS Board of Directors, and is our chair of development.
I love this picture of Marvin Womack (left) and John Henry McDonald – what great energy and excitement we had in the dinner Thursday, and you can see it here. John Henry is the founder of Austin Asset, a lead sponsor of FlamencoAustin.
And here I am with my wife Glenda, her Uncle Binh Nguyen, and our friends Mike and Linda Light.
We started things off with an ensemble of 26 students from McCallum, Akins and Crockett High School under the direction of Jeremy Osborne – our Assistant Director of Education. They played Telemann, and it was a simply stunning performance. Bravo!
Carlos Piñana and his troupe were incredible! Here you see Piñana with his percussionist Miguel Angel Orengo. Fun fact: late on Thursday night/Friday morning the troupe and I ended up listening to jazz at the Elephant Room and Miguel walked right up to the drummer of the quintet and asked if he could sit in. They let him join, and the performance that followed was incredible – just like they had all been playing together for years!
And here is Estefanía Brao. What a dancer – and what costumes!
And here, finally, is a gorgeous shot of the whole troupe (guitarist Francisco Tornero, far left). What a show they gave us! Thanks to all who came, to the performers – both kids and pros – and again, to Arlen Nydam for his amazing photographs.
Tapas on the Terrace!
We just got the menu for the free tapas Chef Candil is preparing for our flamenco terrace party Thursday night! Yum!
Carlos Piñana and his troupe perform at 8PM in Dell Hall, but the tapas party on the terrace begins at 6:30, with live flamenco music and dance by Pilar Andújar – see you there!
Still need tickets? Get them online here, or call 512-474-LONG.
Pisto Manchego on toasts- V
Vegetable casserole slowly roasted to preserve all the juices in the mix gently spread on bread toasts.
Spanish Chorizo
Aged Spanish chorizo sliced with picos (crunchy bread). This authentic Spanish chorizo has a medium and soft texture and it has been cured using only natural and traditional methods. The bright red of the chorizo comes from the use of Spanish paprika on this traditional Spanish staple food.
Vinaigrette Mussels with fresh tomato - V, GF
Cold cooked mussels with a vinaigrette of a mix of EVOO, sherry vinaigrette, fresh tomato, fresh green sweet peppers, and fresh onion.
Spanish Olives (assorted) - V, GF
Spain is the largest producer of olives in the world and Spaniards love to eat olives in dozens of different ways. In each tapa you will be able to taste Manzanilla olives stuffed with anchovy, Aragon Black olives, Arbequina olives, and Vinaigrette Banderillas (hot pickle skewers).
Here's a close up picture Arlen Nydam took of one of the dancers from our last terrace party in September!
ACGS' ACC Scholarship & Josh Gilpin
The ACGS ACC Scholarship made me feel legitimate as a musician and gave me the mindset to keep pushing forward…There is uncertainty everywhere in life, but when you have true passion for something, the sacrifices you are willing to make are greater and, with full commitment, there is no way to fail.
Several years ago, thanks to the encouragement of ACGS Vice-President John Henry McDonald, we began offering one full scholarship to Austin Community College each year.
The scholarship is designed to assist students with a connection to classical guitar as they pursue their dreams – with a particular emphasis on helping graduates of our school programs continue on to higher education (even if they choose not to major in guitar).
We have had several remarkable recipients of this scholarship and we look forward to many more. I should say that one reason this is such a good fit for us, is that ACC has a phenomenal classical guitar faculty member in Dr. Kim Perlak. And so our scholarship recipients are in excellent hands and, as you’ll see in this interview, are given the skills they need for success, and the inspiration and encouragement they need to pursue it.
Josh Gilpin is a remarkable young man, who is not only a serious and dedicated student and ACGS scholarship recipient, but has since become a fantastic volunteer for our concert events as well. I sat down with Josh recently to talk about his career plans, and decided to ask him a few questions for an interview. I hope you enjoy his inspiring words as much as I have.
Matthew Hinsley: Guitar is a second career for you - what led you to it?
Josh Gilpin: Mechanical engineering is what I studied at UT-Austin and my professional engineering career was short-lived. Some might see it as wasted time, but to me, it was simply the necessary path to get me to where I was supposed to be. Had I not given an engineering career a chance, I would never have encountered the opportunities that allow me to sit and write this down right now.
Guitar is my one and only career. It just took a while for us to find each other and get on the same page. I am a non-traditional student of music and guitar, and I like to think that had I started my life with music much earlier, I would not appreciate it half as much as I do now. I love learning and I love teaching music and look forward to where it will take me.
What led me here was determination, stubbornness, commitment to the idea that we should all do something we love for a living and always recalling the importance that music has played in my life as a child and as an adult. Once I figured out how a career in music was possible, there was no looking back.
MH: What did it mean to you to get the ACGS ACC scholarship?
JG: Receiving the ACGS ACC Scholarship was a huge surprise, relief and honor. I did not feel I had much of a chance, but I just offered what I could at the time. The timing was impeccable, financially speaking, because without this award I would have had to take a leave of absence from school. In the year that I received this aid, I was able to continue my studies most importantly, but also compose a piece for a string quintet, prepare for my classical guitar auditions and finish my two-year music degree.
The ACGS ACC Scholarship made me feel legitimate as a musician and gave me the mindset to keep pushing forward in all of my musical endeavors. It gave me the necessary nudge to manage my time more efficiently and improve my playing significantly.
MH: What are your goals with guitar? What's next?
JG: My goals with guitar include being a persistent student for life thereby making myself an acceptable instructor, sharing music with others and hopefully affecting them in long-term ways that keep them connected with music for life, exploring uncharted musical territory and to always feel like I am growing with the guitar.
I am now moving on to Southwestern University for a degree in performance. My plans are to continue growing my teaching business, seize more opportunities for teaching and performing, and to stay involved with the community and ACGS. I aim to become a proficient instructor/performer in classical guitar and jazz guitar while maintaining other genres that I have been playing for a longer time. I might find myself in a master's program in a few years as well focusing on pedagogy and education.
MH: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
JG: I have spoken with many friends, family members and strangers about my decision to pursue music. These conversations typically lead to the other person saying something along the lines of "What I would really like to do is........" or "I wish I could do (blank) for work" and my response is always "You can!"
There is uncertainty everywhere in life, but when you have true passion for something, the sacrifices you are willing to make are greater and, with full commitment, there is no way to fail. If you have dreams, pursue them, but stay grounded, have realistic attainable goals and be prepared for a boost in quality of life.
Meet Pilar Andújar
…I’m sure that I have this passion in my genes from my mother…Her passion is the music, and you can see her eyes illuminated when she is listening to a song that she loves…
Pilar Andújar is a treasure. We are so fortunate to have her in Austin – and I feel especially lucky to have been collaborating with her this year on our FlamencoAustin productions (tickets and information).
As a teenager I saw an unforgettable flamenco show in Granada, Spain. I’ve never forgotten it – and when we started dreaming up FlamencoAustin my hope was that we’d recreate the energy and intensity and richness of that evening I experienced.
Next Thursday, May 16th, the party starts at 6:30! We’ll have free tapas by Spanish master chef Maria Candil, and Spanish wine, but the main attraction will be Pilar. She’s leading a troupe of musicians and dancers – and they’re planning a set from about 6:45 to 7:45. Then we’ll all head into Dell Hall for the US debut of Carlos Piñana’s “Body and Soul”.
I asked Pilar to share a bit with me about her history and her passion for flamenco. Enjoy!
Matthew Hinsley: Tell me about yourself and your relationship to flamenco?
Pilar Andújar: I was born in a very small town called Almoradi in the province of Alicante with just 13,000 people. I’m the fourth of four siblings, my father has a clothes shop called “Andújar” - we all worked together to help his business.
My family knew that dancing was my passion not only from my first recital at 7 years old, but because I was singing and dancing 24 hours a day in my house, in the school, and in the streets!
With my great and passionate teacher “Joseta”, in the dancing school in my little town, I discovered that I didn’t want to go to the university but instead I wanted to go to Madrid to learn more flamenco. My parents supported me from the very beginning of my career, even when I decided to move to Madrid to be a professional flamenco dancer at the age of 17.
As soon as I completed a ballet degree and Superior Spanish Dance degree in Alicante, I traveled to Madrid. I spent all my time studying flamenco - after of my 6-8 hours of training every day I was happy just listening some cante at Amor de Dios.
After just 3 months in Madrid, I was chosen to be a dancer in “The Luisillo Spanish Dance Company”. My first performance was in Paris!!! I was surprised that everything happened so easily because the level of Flamenco in Madrid was very high and I was at a beginner’s level. After only one year living in Madrid, I was the understudy of Maria Pages in Riverdance, and after I continued my career in Flamenco. That fate gave me these opportunities, showed me I had to dedicate my life to Flamenco.
Although the focus of my life was Flamenco, I worked dancing all kind of styles, playing castanets and drums, singing, acting, and creating choreography for actors and dancers. I’ve traveled a lot around the world, and I feel very lucky that I’ve always known what my passion was.
I’ve been dancing and choreographing in The US since 2001 when I worked with the Carlota Santana Flamenco Vivo a Flamenco company from New York. I did 7 tours with them around The US. I came to Austin in May of 2010.
MH: What is the scope of your activities in Austin? How do people see you, learn from, get involved with Austin flamenco?
PA: There’s not a big community of Flamenco in Austin and so that’s been a challenge! In Madrid, when you have a regular show in a “tablao” (venues dedicated exclusively to flamenco), you don’t even need to rehearse before a show. All the artists go straight to the stage because everybody knows Flamenco and can improvise their performances. I’ve been working steadily with my group in Austin, and now I’m very happy with the work that we do.
Similarly with my studio, things started slow – but now I have many wonderful and supportive students. By and large, they don’t want to be professional flamenco dancers, they dance for fun because their lives are already very busy. I do, however, have a group of 15 children from 4 years old to 10 years old… we’ll see if some of them become professional flamenco dancers in the future!
MH: What do you love about flamenco?
PA: On several occasions, I asked myself why I dedicated my entire life (30 years) to Flamenco. Now I’m sure that I have this passion in my genes from my mother. She was singing since she was a child for different events. An advertisement poster said that she was a great and sensitive singing and dancing artist ”Pilarin Grech, delicada estilista de la canción y el baile”. She has numerous photos of herself with different beautiful dresses on stages. Her passion is the music, and you can see her eyes illuminated when she is listening to a song that she loves. She listens to music and immediately starts to dance and sing like as if she were a child.
I could spend hours explaining what Flamenco means to me but probably the first thing is perhaps what everybody likes: the visceral passion. Flamenco is a popular art that is talking about the feelings that we all have in our regular lives and are expressed from the soul.
MH: What do you wish everyone knew about flamenco? Is there something people new to the art form should know when they see and hear it?
PA: I am bothered by the tourist version of flamenco with the sexy girl and the red rose (Carmen of Bizet). This is not at all the real flamenco, so much as a superficial and visual simplification for tourists. Flamenco is an art form that needs many years of preparation to perform and if you want to see authentic artistry, you have to search carefully for the real thing.
I would like that people learn the origins and the cultural history of Flamenco. I think that after that, they will understand why so many talk about this ancient art. I teach more than just dancing in my classes; I try to impart the essence of the cultural significance, and the need to be patient as you learn.
Flamenco is a difficult art because it has more than 100 different styles “Palos” and because it’s transmitted orally. But this is why it is so interesting, and why it’s easy to get addicted: because you never finish learning and discovering new secrets!
I teach regularly at the YMCA at Townlake – so come and take a class! I am also giving some workshops at UT. I’m particularly excited about my next project with Oliver Rajamani at One world Theater this coming September. Keep up with me on my website – and I look forward to seeing you on May 16th at FlamencoAustin!
