Guitar at the Blanton

We were thrilled when Blanton Museum Manager of Public Programs, Adam Bennet, reached out to us in the fall for a collaboration to give a musical introduction to the breathtaking new Judy and Charles Tate Collection of Latin American Art currently on exhibit. The very first guitarist we thought of was Chilean virtuoso Nicolas Emilfork. Currently working on his doctoral degree at the University of Texas Butler School of Music with professor Adam Holzman, Emilfork’s research focus is music in the modern era from Latin America, so it seemed like a perfect fit!

Emilfork

The concert is Thursday, January 15th at 5:30 PM in the upper gallery at the Blanton, and admission is free. Find more details online here.

We asked Nicolas Emilfork and Adam Bennet a few questions about the exhibit and about what we might expect from this Third Thursday experience, turns out there is more following the concert:

Austin Classical Guitar: Nicolas, what do you think of the Tate collection?

Nicolas Emilfork: I think that it’s an amazing, interesting, and crucial collection that includes works from important Latin-American artists that took avant-garde styles from Europe during the twentieth century such as Cubism, Surrealism, and others. They created their works combining these styles with their Latin-American background and culture. I think that this mix of cultures is crucial to understand and appreciate the contemporary art production that Latin-American artists produce. Also, the fact that the collection shows works from contemporary Latin-American artists of different countries brings diversity too.

This connects a lot with the focus that I have been developing in Latin-American music works in large forms where the composers employ a similar process. Finally, as a Latin-American musician, is an honor to play a concert related with this collection that reinforces the powerful role that the Blanton and the University of Texas at Austin have in the dissemination of the culture and art of our countries in the United States.

ACG: Adam, this Third Thursday is packed with fun things. What can people expect in addition to Nicolas' concert?

Adam Bennet: It's an exciting night! Right after Nicolas's performance, our curator of Latin American art, Beverly Adams, will be talking in the auditorium about the Tate collection—it's great to hear a musician's response to art right before an art historian explains their significance. There's also a Spanish language tour of the museum, plus a conversation about a really interesting new photograph that we acquired by Dawoud Bey, and even yoga in the galleries earlier that afternoon.

ACG: Nicolas, what will you be playing and, in a few words, why?
NE: I will play works by Carlos Guastavino (Argentina), Leo Brouwer (Cuba), and Ronaldo Miranda (Brazil). The reason is that these composers take elements from western or European styles developed during the nineteenth and twentieth century, combining them with folk or traditional elements of their own countries. So, it’s possible to see neoclassical, post-romantic, chromaticism, and other characteristics in these works.

This compositional process has similar elements compared with works created by artists present in the collection. In other words, I would like to express in music some of the ideas that the public will be able to see there.

ACG: Adam, What do you love about music at the Blanton?

AB: I love hearing creative people talk about how they find inspiration in other media. Musicians are always excited about working a different set of creative muscles when they play at the Blanton—and it's a real treat to make these collaborations happen, whether it's a filmmaker talking about painting, or a photographer talking about dance, or a guitarist making music about sculpture. The Blanton is a creative space and we're thrilled to present creative artists like Nicolas in our galleries.

blanton exhibit piece


Sneak Peek

We are so excited to present The Lodger on January 16th and 17th at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar! The Alfred Hitchcock film will be presented with accompaniment by the Texas Guitar Quartet and cellist, Bion Tsang. The entire live score has been written and arranged by Composer in Residence, Joseph V. Williams II.

the lodger

Tickets are available for the show here.

We are also excited to share this sneak peek preview of the film! It's time to get excited about this awesome event!

the lodger 2


ACG in November

November at ACG: an extraordinary Russian guitarist on a US tour, a phenomenal Turkish talent in a gorgeous home, and our last Classical Cactus of 2014! We hope to see you soon.

Anton Baranov - International Series - Saturday, November 8th

Spectacular Russian virtuoso. Pre-show features Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra performing a scene from Joe Williams' new score to Alfred Hitchcock's The Lodger (premiering January). Join Williams, Matt Hinsley and friends for dinner at Chez Zee beginning at 5:45pm. Learn more.

Celil Refik Kaya - Austin Guitar Salon - Wednesday, November 12th

ACG debut of marvelous Turkish talent who recently performed at Carnegie Hall. This concert is in the intimate Tarrytown home of premiere Austin architect Peter Pfeiffer.  Antonelli's Cheese Shop and Twin Liquors make this evening extra tempting! Learn more.

Kaya and Emilfork - Classical Cactus - Thursday, November 13th

From Turkey and Chile respectively, these two phenomenal players will light up the Cactus stage like never before. A perfect end to our 2014 Cactus Cafe programming.  Sip, relax, enjoy! Learn more.


Anton Baranov this Saturday

 

Our last International Series event of 2014 is this Saturday and features fiery Russian virtuoso Anton Baranov, on a US tour after winning the world's most prestigious classical guitar competition.

Tickets and details are online here, or call 512-300-2247.

This concert is free for members. Reply to this email or call us to reserve your tickets!

Matt Hinsley says: "Anton is truly stunning. Speed and clarity effortlessly flow out of his instrument like it's an extension of his consciousness. This will be unforgettable."

To see what Matt's talking about, watch Anton perform online here!

 Dinner

Make a night of it! Chez Zee is just minutes from the concert, and the chefs are making a special meal just for us for our last ACG dinner of the year!

Dinner reservations are online here, or call 512-300-2247.

The delectable fall menu includes Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Black Cherry Sauce, Stuffed Bell Peppers with Rice, Kale and Garbanzo Beans, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Mushrooms, and Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting!

At dinner, ACG Composer in Residence Joseph V. Williams II will tell us a bit about the enormous new work he's creating for us: more than an hour of original film music for four guitars and cello, to be performed in January with Alfred Hitchcock's early silent masterpiece The Lodger. Williams has adapted a scene from the movie for guitar ensemble, and Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra will premiere it on Saturday right before Baranov takes the stage!

Our dinner is generously sponsored by Laraine and Leon Lasdon.

Coming up at ACG:

November 8th: Anton Baranov at GT Austin

November 8th: Anton Baranov Dinner

November 12th: Celil Refik Kaya at the Pfeiffer Home

November 13th: Celil plays Classical Cactus


Baranov Dinner Menu

This Saturday, GFA Winner Anton Baranov will be performing and the concert wouldn't be complete without our pre-concert dinner, sponsored by Laraine and Leon Lasdon, and we are excited to share the menu with you below!

Tickets for the concert are still available here and tickets for the pre-concert dinner are available here. Get them while you can!

Austin Classical Guitar Menu 11.8.14 title

Austin Classical Guitar Menu

Salad
Garden Salad served with house Basil Herb Vinaigrette Dressing (GF, V)
Sourdough bread & Smokey Olive Oil (V)
Entrée
Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Black Cherry Sauce
Stuffed Bell Peppers with Rice, Kale and Garbanzo Beans—(GF, V)
Sides
Mashed Sweet Potatoes (GF, V)
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Mushrooms (GF, V)
Dessert
Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

(GF) gluten-free item
(V) vegetarian item


Changing Lives 2014

 

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Our Changing Lives Fall Fund Drive has begun. If you have thought about supporting Austin Classical Guitar but have been waiting for the right time, we hope you'll consider making a gift today to keep our organization strong.

You can give online today, or call us anytime at 512-300-2247.

 

Storyboard

Our Changing Lives Storyboard is online now through December 31st. Respond to this email with your story of music, guitar, or of how ACG has changed your life, and we'll share it with our community.

Austin Classical Guitar is a reflection of all of our values. We are here because of you, and we are here to serve our diverse community. Our Changing Lives Storyboard is our chance each year to share your stories, the stories of students, parents, teachers, artists, and audience members.

 

Education

More than half of our budget is dedicated to education. What started in 2001 as a small program in one school, built with passion, elbow grease, and belief that great music has the power to positively change kids' lives, has grown - thanks to you - to serve thousands of kids in fifty Austin schools in rigorous, enriching, for-credit courses at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

The curriculum and training methods we developed along the way are now used internationally, our team is increasingly called upon to help build similar programs all over the country, and Texas Education Association has just adopted classical guitar as a statewide TEKS-supported course.

The majority of gifts to ACG go to support this, our most vital and rapidly-growing, program. For more information about this program, visit any of these pages on our website: How to Give, Education Overview, 2013-14 Education Progress Report, ACG Curriculum, ACG Online Student Magazine, Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra.

 

Entertainment

ACG maintains seven performance series: International, Summer Chamber, Classical Cactus, Austin Guitar Salon, Play!, Community Concerts, and FlamencoAustin. We are often responsible for bringing artists to the US for the very first time, including past ACG artists Niño de Pura, Yamandú Costa, the Bandini-Chiacchiaretta Duo(who played for us a third time two nights ago, and were amazing!), and many more.

Our free Community Concerts have been performed for more than 40,000 diverse audience members, and we've brought artists from all over the globe, including all of the world's most famous active classical guitar recording and performing artists, and many rising stars.

Is there a particularly memorable concert for you? Respond to this email with your story for our storyboard. We'd love to share it.

Gifts can be made to help ACG with our general operating expenses, but you can also make gifts to support specific concerts or programs. Sponsorship opportunities are online here, and April Long welcomes your call at 512-300-2247 to discuss what might work best for you or your business.

 

Giving to Austin Classical Guitar

All gifts to ACG are tax-deductible. ACG can accept gifts of stock and other properties as well, just give us a call at 512-300-2247. A growing number of our friends are joining our Legacy Circle, naming ACG in their estate plans.

As a locally-based non-profit organization, nearly all gifts donated to ACG stay right here in our community paid to artists, local vendors, and the people who make ACG happen day to day. Resources that don't stay in Austin are given to the amazing artists we bring to Austin from around the globe, artists who enrich our lives in indescribable, unforgettable ways.

Gifts can be made one time or as recurring pledges. Gifts may be made in honor of someone or something. Gifts can be made to sponsor certain programs or events.

Even if now if not the right time to give, we hope you'll consider participating in our Storyboard in the next few months either as a contributor or a reader.

Thank you for making Austin Classical Guitar possible, and we look forward to sharing music with you again very soon.


Möller and Fraticelli Program

We have an incredible Classical Cactus this Thursday!  The Thursday, October 9th performance will feature Johannes Möller, who won the 2010 Guitar Foundation of America Concert Artist Competition hosted in Austin, and his duo partner Laura Fraticelli. The two are unbelievably talented, and we are so excited to be hosting them. Johannes and Laura take the stage at 9pm, preceded by the UT Guitar Quartet at 8pm.

Here's a sneak peak of what we'll hear from Johannes and Laura at the Cactus!

Duo Möller-Fraticelli

Milonga Justo
T. Morales (1877-1953)

A ti solita!...
Federico Spreafico (1871-1958)

Ständchen
Unrühe
Ich Denke Dein
Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856)

Prelude No. 7 in A-major - Allegretto*
Prelude No. 8 in F-sharp minor - Andante Moderato
Prelude No. 9 in E major - Larghetto
Prelude No. 10 in C-sharp minor
Johannes Möller (b.1981)

The Night Flame
Johannes Möller

Shenandoah-Fantasy
Johannes Möller

Rasa-Lila
Johannes Möller & Laura Fraticelli (b.1977)

*Dedicated to Austin Classical Guitar


Eight Seasons Program

Our first concert on the 2014-15 season is fast approaching on Saturday, October 11th. We are thrilled to be hosting the incredible Bandini and Chiachiaretta tango duo performing alongside the Cerrato brothers (cello and violin) from Italy.

The concert begins at 8pm and we've got delicious handmade, seasonal treats for concessions! Tickets are still available here.

We're also thrilled to give you an early peek at their absolutely incredible program for the evening! Also, take a moment to listen to this beautiful performance of the tango duo. It promises to be an amazing evening this Saturday and we hope to see you all there.

Austin Classical Guitar
Presents
Bandini-Chiacchiaretta Duo & the Cerrato Brothers
Giampaolo Bandini, guitar
Cesare Chiacchiaretta, accordion & bandoneón
Francesco Cerrato, violin
Stefano Cerrato, cello
in
The Eight Seasons
Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 8 pm

Concerto No. 3 in F major “Autumn” Antonio Vivaldi(1678 – 1741)
Allegro
Adagio molto
Allegro

Otoño porteño Ástor Piazzolla (1921 – 1992)

Concerto No. 4 in F minor “Fall” Antonio Vivaldi
Allegro non molto
Largo
Allegro

Invierno porteño Ástor Piazzolla

Intermission

Concerto No. 1 in E major “Spring" Antonio Vivaldi
Allegro
Largo
Allegro

Primavera porteña Ástor Piazzolla

Concerto No. 2 in G minor “Summer” Antonio Vivaldi
Allegro non molto
Adagio
Presto

Verano porteño Ástor Piazzolla


Sweet Seasons!

Our 2014-2015 International Series opens with Antonio Vivaldi’s iconic Four Seasons alongside Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires on Saturday, October 11th at 8PM at GT Austin (2700 Northland Drive, 78756).

Tickets are here – or call 512-300-2247.

Performing that evening will be the Italian quartet of Cesare Chiachiarretta (bandoneón), Giampaolo Bandini (guitar), Francesco Cerrato (violin) and Stefano Cerrato (cello). Chiachiarretta and Bandini have appeared twice before for us as a duo, first on our 2009 summer series “Pasión” and again for Guitars Under the Stars in 2013 – both times the crowds went wild!

In honor of the Italian and Argentine music and musicians on the program - and in honor of the four seasons - ACG has asked chef Fer Candil to create a special selection of desserts for the evening.

The desserts will be: Strawberry Tiramisu (Spring), Whipped Flan with Dulce De Leche Sauce (Summer), Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing (Fall), and Chocolate Mousse with Orange (Winter). Yum!

Here are a few photos of Fer’s delectable desserts to whet your appetite.

receta-de-tiramisu-de-fresas-1            IMG_6208

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mousse-de-chocolate-con-crema-de-naranja-668x400x80xX


2013-14 Education Progress Report

It has been a watershed year in Austin Classical Guitar Education locally, nationally, and internationally. Many things are happening – some faster than we can keep up with! – but there are several things we now know without a doubt:

1) School-based classical guitar programs are developing faster than ever before.
2) Classical guitar in school has a unique and powerful ability to attract large numbers of new and diverse students to the benefits of fine arts engagement.
3) We at ACG have the ability to effectively build and assess rigorous education programs with high teaching standards and consistent results.

I hope you enjoy this summary report of our past-year activities. We would not be here today without the generous support of our patrons, sponsors, and institutional supporters. I hope what you find in this report will make you proud. On behalf of our education team, our board and staff, our hundreds of teachers and thousands of students, thank you so very much.

2013-14 Education Progress Report

Our key objective areas this past year were to Serve, Support and Develop. We wished to increase and enhance our Service in our local school programs, Support teachers locally and abroad with our online student and teacher resources, and Develop our curriculum including elementary units, Braille adaptation, and teacher training.

Serve: Two years ago we provided service in 30 area schools. Last year (2013-14), our service increased to 42 schools, including 9 elementary programs. This year, we began the school year in late August in 50 schools. To meet the growing demand, we added a part-time elementary expert last year, Toby Rodriguez, who is now on our full-time education staff.

Our primary aim is quality education as measured by student performance outcomes. In addition to more than 140 hours per week of onsite support, expanded and enhanced teacher training, free weekly lessons for new teachers, frequent student performance opportunities, and dozens of guest artist performances in schools, our biggest strides toward addressing this concern were in the area of student-teacher assessment. For the past three years, we have run a mock-UIL (University Interscholastic League) large-ensemble performance and sight-reading assessment event. This is the same kind of event that exists for choir, orchestra, and band, wherein programs perform and sight-read in controlled environments for six external judges and then receive scoring and feedback. We have called it “mock-UIL” because UIL has not created, and did not administer, this assessment. Instead, it was created by our staff and administered in collaboration with Austin Independent School District.

We provide extensive support for teachers in the form of training, consultation and teacher resources, and we felt that clear, official assessment was the most important element we could add to promote quality in education across our rapidly growing program.

Austin Independent School District (AISD) was an enthusiastic partner in this development, and we are thrilled to report that, after three years, our petition for this assessment to become an official UIL pilot has been accepted. This enormous development, unprecedented in the state of Texas, paves the way for increased rigor in classical guitar education in Austin and across the state. As classical guitar programs develop faster and faster across the state, we feel an urgent need to promote such rigor in instruction and performance outcomes. 2015 is also the first year that Texas Education Association (TEA) will include guitar as a Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)-supported course statewide. This adoption was made in part thanks to advocacy from Austin principals, who have seen our program successfully engage thousands of diverse students in the performing arts.

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- Select students from various ACG programs perform under the direction of ACg Assistant Director of Education Jeremy Osborne at the Guitars Under the Stars Gala, February 2014

Current thriving programs include a new program at KIPP Austin (a charter school), the Travis County Juvenile Justice System, the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and our new Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra.

ACGYO Group Pic

- Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra, with directors and parents, following their final spring recital, May 2014.

 

Support: In the past year, our main resource developments have been the addition of an Elementary Curriculum Unit that was successfully used to teach more than 600 Austin 4th and 5th graders in 2013-14, the creation of new and extensive sight-reading materials for our upper curriculum levels, revision of our lower curriculum levels, and addition of over 20 new works and audio recordings to our music library.

We are still in the process of re-launching our GuitarCurriculum.com website on an updated platform which will allow for better administration of the site, contact with users, user feedback and resource contribution, an internal teacher forum, and more.

Travis copy

- ACG Director of Education, Travis Marcum, working with a trainee in our St. Louis Teacher Training session, July 2014

Following the success of our Austin Teacher Training in August 2013, we decided to carry out similar training sessions in three other cities (St. Louis, Atlanta and Houston) in addition to Austin. The results have been remarkable. Below we are including a selection of comments to give a sense of these trainings’ impact. One particularly interesting development was a request from a 2013 Nicaraguan trainee to use our materials and methods to create a national teacher training, Congreso de Guitarra, in Managua. The July 2014 Congreso involved the translation of our Level 1 training materials into Spanish, and reports from the event have been wonderfully positive.

conducting-GC-ensamble

- Edward Grigassy conducts student ensemble in the first Congreso de Guitarra in Managua, Nicaragua, July 2014

FretBuzz.org continues to be a unique showcase for young classical guitar players and writers. We hold regular writing and performance contests, highlight contest winners and outstanding programs, and will continue to integrate this outlet into our service as a way to encourage high quality discourse among young students of guitar.

Develop: Our primary new developments were the creation and revision of our Elementary Curriculum Unit, the creation and acceptance (at the district and state level) of the guidelines and practices for our district assessment events, and the development our Phase 2 training to accommodate returning trainees for our summer 2014 teacher training session.

Student conductor 2

- A student conductor teaching other trainees at the Austin Teacher Training 2014

More and more university programs are using our GuitarGurriculum.com resources to teach beginning guitar class and (more importantly) to teach guitar pedagogy courses. An area we still need to adequately address is the creation of recommended syllabi for college-level guitar pedagogy courses.

Our Braille adaptation was put on hold in 2013-14 because our key creative individual, Jeremy Coleman, took a music therapy position and became unavailable to continue work with us at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. We continued to support the education program there but were unable to continue the core resource development without him (and we turned our resources toward elementary development instead). We are pleased to report, however, that in August 2014, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired hired Mr. Coleman full time as a music instructor, and we have already begun talks to restart our Braille adaption project.

2013-14 saw our first collaboration with Carnegie Hall Outreach in the form of the Lullaby Project, in partnership locally with Any Baby Can.  Carnegie Hall developed this program two years ago and, after monitoring our work in juvenile justice, asked if we would be one of two organizations in the US to expand the program outside of New York.  In the Lullaby Project, our teaching artists were paired with at-risk mothers (clients of Any Baby Can), and in this collaborative partnership, each mother wrote a lullaby for her baby.  The lullabies were then professionally recorded, and each mother then shared her song with family and friends at a final sharing session.  The effects of this program have been studied extensively by Wolf-Brown and Carnegie Hall, and more can be found on the Carnegie Hall website.  A recording of our first lullabies is available upon request.

Album Cover

Assessment: Our primary goal is to provide quality music instruction as evidenced by consistently high-level student performance outcomes.

Our evaluation focus this year has been to create, in collaboration with AISD, the same evaluation procedures and measures that exist for choir, orchestra, and band. In 2013-14, we generated all process documents for concert and sight-reading assessment events and carried out those events in Austin, with 22 classical guitar programs participating. This evaluation process was then approved by University Interscholastic League (which oversees all Texas interscholastic contest) to be an official UIL pilot event in 2015. Classical guitar concert and sight-reading assessments require six external adjudicators, district-wide participation, video-taped performances, and extensive written and recorded feedback from judges. This information is extremely valuable for program assessment. Judges’ comments from this year’s assessment event are available upon request.

Additional evaluation measures include daily teacher consultations, training participant evaluations, conference participation and scholarly article generation, curriculum subscription trends, student enrollment trends, number of teachers and schools served, and social impact data (letters and testimonials) provided by students.

Conclusion: Our greatest contribution in education is the engagement of thousands of diverse kids, many of whom would not otherwise be involved, in high-quality performing arts study. There is a large and growing body of research, including Austin’s own recent mindPOP study, showing that arts-engaged kids do better scholastically and socially than students not involved in the arts. That we have built a rigorous new for-credit course subject that engages a previously underserved segment of our student population is, we believe, of great significance.

The following November 2013 letter from AISD Fine Arts Director Greg Goodman is a confirmation of the impact and significance of our work in Austin schools:

The number one benefit of the classical guitar education program has been the opportunity to address cultural diversity through a rigorous art form. We have seen increased student, family and community engagement with the particular program. Austin Classical Guitar has done an incredible job of increasing quality and access to a new art form that has allowed a diverse option for our students.

The Austin Classical Guitar program is a strong, innovative, and collaborative partnership between our schools and the staff of Matt Hinsley. We are immensely grateful for the support we have already received in the area of curriculum and teaching strategies. We have seen positive changes in students who have embraced guitar as their means of expression. The partnership has grown dramatically over the past 5 years and has enabled AISD Fine Arts to increase family and community engagement.

Some of the challenges around implementing a classical guitar program have centered on creating a rigorous curriculum and establishing high expectations for teachers and staff. With the assistance of Austin Classical Guitar we have established high expectations for our schools following the framework established by UIL in bands, orchestra, and choir. The staff at Austin Classical guitar has created an incredible curriculum guide and standards for our teachers to follow.

I would encourage fine arts administrators and teachers to embrace this genre and to celebrate this opportunity to meet the needs of students that we typically have overlooked. There is no reason to fear this program but instead an opportunity to help guide and build the expectations of a rich art form that celebrates music in a platform rooted in history.

In addition, the Austin Classical Guitar program supports the two arts-focused initiatives currently happening in AISD: The Kennedy Center Any Given Child partnership and our arts integration Creative Classroom partnership with the MindPOP collaborative. The arts are incredibly important to our district, and we welcome the Austin Classical Guitar program in our schools.

We really believe this program helps to impact student learning in Austin Independent School District by offering opportunities for students of all cultures.

From a programming standpoint we believe our single effort with the greatest impact has been our teacher training sessions, which this year expanded to several cities in the US. Following each training, we asked participants to fill out evaluation forms. One hundred percent of our trainees gave the experience a rating of “excellent”, and here are a few of their comments:

“This seminar has been an absolute revelation for me, and will profoundly change the way I teach, and will be a great benefit for me and my students.”

“Organized, passionate, thoughtful, great communicators. I feel much better about starting my teaching career. This is just what I needed. Loved the emphasis on quality music - great materials, carefully planned, effective curriculum.”

“Every guitar teacher should experience this.”

“One of the best examples of good teaching that I have ever experienced….”

“I have grown so much as a guitarist in the past three days. The patience and expertise of the workshop teachers is so inspiring, and the speakers reaffirm my feeling that I can do this.”

“This is exactly what I needed!”

We are particularly proud this year of our Austin program at Travis High School, under the direction of Susan Rozanc. Travis High is a Title I School, with 87% low-income students and 96% minority enrollment. Travis High was the only school to receive the highest rating possible at our 2013-14 district concert and sight-reading assessment event. Six 2014 graduating seniors earned scholarships to study music in college, and one of these students is the first person in her family to attend college. All six students were received of free individual lessons through Austin Classical Guitar. In a letter we received on November 26th, 2013, Ms. Rozanc wrote:

Austin Classical Guitar and classical guitar education programming has affected me and my students in a profound ways. We have been using GuitarCurriculum.com for just over two years at my school. In that time I have seen this curriculum not only serve as a very solid foundation for musicianship but it had ignited a real love for the instrument and a desire to achieve an extremely high level of musical artistry. I have been a classroom music educator for nineteen years. In that time, I have taught orchestra, choir, band, music theory, and musical theatre. Never in my career have I seen students so on fire for music as I have seen with my students studying classical guitar.

The effect this has had on my students is nothing short of amazing. Students in the program show improved time management skills, increased self-esteem, improved problem solving skills, improved self-discipline, improved classroom discipline, and an overall improvement in all of their academic subjects in order to be eligible to perform with the guitar ensemble. Guitar students tell me that learning classical guitar inspires them to listen to new and different music and it can be a huge help in distracting them from some of the negatives in life. A freshman student, “Josh” has been undergoing chemo-therapy and he states, “Practicing guitar takes my mind off my illness and the discomfort and pain of my chemo.” “Destiny” said, “it actually makes me want to listen and learn in both guitar class and all of my other classes.” Students who would never even considered going to college before are now planning on pursuing a music degree with classical guitar as their primary instrument. During the course of the last two years, I have seen students suffering from depression, bullying, and peer pressure do a 180 degree turn around and become happy, productive students with goals and plans for the future. Students who have difficulty achieving in other subjects often change their whole way of thinking about school while members of the guitar ensemble. It has become ‘cool’ to play classical guitar and I now have a waiting list to enroll in guitar class.

Austin Classical Guitar has been instrumental in assisting me implement the curriculum. I am a wind player by trade, so it has been extremely helpful to have someone who is a guitarist assisting me with learning guitar specific terminology and performances practices. ACG has provided free tickets for my students to attend world-class classical guitar performances and even a few opportunities for students to meet and interview the performers. This in particular has been highly motivating. When students become aware of the sound they are trying to produce it motivates them to practice and to keep that practice consistent. The ACG Youth Orchestra gives my students yet another goal and another way to achieve.

As an educator, I appreciate the feedback I get from ACG instructors. It helps me to be the best educator I can be and to set a positive tone for my classes. This year, for the very first time I can say the I GET to go to work every day. I never HAVE to go to work. Teaching my guitar classes is a privilege and a joy.

Our goals for this coming year include further development of our approach to training (including a path to certification and a teacher trainer program), significant enhancements of GuitarCurriculum.com, and, of course, as much on-the-ground service as we can provide—locally and beyond.

Thank you again for making it all possible. We look forward to sharing our continued progress with our dedicated guitar community.