The Spark of Music. The Power of Community.

There’s something remarkable about watching music pass through generations. Not just in the notes themselves, but in the way passion, wisdom, and connection are handed down, shaping lives along the way.

This weekend, our season finale will celebrate exactly that. Inspired by our season theme: Give, is the centerpiece of our season that brings together the legendary Pepe Romero, ACG’s Artist-in-Residence, with nine young guitarists from Austin to perform in three quartets where Pepe joins as the fourth member performing music written and performed by the Romero family. 

A year in the making, GIVE is a radiant testament to the spirit of generosity between generations, across cultures, and through music itself. Watch the livestream here.

Support ACG here. 

Every once in a while, a project comes along that feels truly extraordinary; where the power of music, the generosity of mentorship, and the beauty of human connection all shine at once. Our season finale this weekend is one of those projects.

As we look forward to GIVE, the culmination of our 2024–25 season, we had the chance this week to speak with one of the young performers, Paul, and his father, Robert. Two voices on either side of a remarkable journey that has unfolded over the past year.

Paul is one of nine exceptional young guitarists from Austin who have spent the year preparing for this moment: performing alongside the legendary Pepe Romero, ACG’s Artist-in-Residence, in three original guitar quartets.

The Give Quartets feature The Palmer Trio with Paul Devens, Noah Melendrez &  Kian Mitchell The Orpheus Trio: Satvik Chawla, Allen Liu & Brandon Kim, and The Baker 3: Jianna Zamora, Teddy McCoy & Greg Sonnier. 

They were coached by teaching artists Joseph Palmer, Stephen Krishnan & Alex Lew with support from Joe Williams, Travis Marcum & Tony Mariano over the past year but will be replaced with Pepe himself as the fourth member for this weekend’s shows.

For Robert, a lifelong guitarist who’s played for fun since he was seven, watching his son Paul step into an opportunity like this has been deeply meaningful.

“It makes me feel incredibly proud,” he shared, “especially knowing how much he’s put into it; balancing quartet rehearsals, private lessons, and school. The chance to perform with Pepe is definitely the major milestone so far.”

Pepe is, of course, an icon in the classical guitar world, and worked closely with nine of Austin’s most dedicated young guitarists in the fall and again this week in preparation for this weekends concerts. Paul describes the experience as transformative,

“While it has been a lot of work involving weekly rehearsals and extra music to work on, preparing and playing with my quartet has been lots of fun. Seeing our hard work come together to produce beautiful music has been extremely rewarding. 

When we played together with Pepe for the first time, everything clicked in a very satisfying way. Cues weren’t even needed, we simply let the music speak for itself, and all the gestures we intended to make came into focus. 

My favorite thing about this experience by far is the unspoken connection between the musicians. There is an electricity that all members of an ensemble feel when they are truly playing together and listening to the music they are making. That connection is completely unique.”

This weekend’s performances are the culmination of a year-long project rooted in our season theme: Give. It’s a radiant testament to the spirit of generosity, between mentors and students, parents and children, generations and cultures. Not only are these students connecting and sharing music with one of the biggest guitar legends in the world, but the music they’ll be performing comes from the Romero family’s own legacy! Compositions passed down and now passed on.

Robert put it best:

“I’m really looking forward to hearing how beautifully everything comes together! The shows they did with Pepe in the fall were amazing to me, as were the practice performances at the Ruiz library last weekend with their teachers. I know that the shows this weekend with Pepe will be an incredible experience of music and emotion. I know this experience will have a lasting effect on Paul’s musicianship and life more generally. The benefits will last far beyond the shows this weekend.”

Unfortunately, this concert is SOLD OUT. But we will be live-streaming the Saturday, May 3 8pm show! RSVP to watch here. 

In reflecting on our season theme of Give and the many gifts that are present in our community, I recently compiled a list of every new piece of music that ACG has commissioned and supported over the years. 

All together there are over 300 pieces and arrangements totaling over 20 hours of music.  It was staggering to see it written out in one place and I couldn’t help but ask: Why has creating new music been such a big part of our work? 

We’ve made large scale pieces by internationally celebrated composers such as Reena Esmail, Nico Muhly, Graham Reynolds, Clarice Assad, Marek Pasieczny, and Jorge Morel. There are three silent film scores, ambitious chamber music pieces and powerful works with community voices.  

So many friends, near and far, have created new music for us:  Roland Dyens, Celil Refik Kaya, Olga Amelkina Vera, Mark Anthony Cruz, Jurg Kindle, Russell Pinkston, Matthew Lyons, and our own Travis Marcum and Justice Phillips, just to name a few. 

On top of this, our EducationTeam has written and arranged a sizable catalogue of pieces for young guitarists in public schools and our Music & Healing Artists recently finished writing their 100th song.  

When you consider that it requires significant resources to create a new piece of music, and there are plenty of perfectly good pieces already in existence, why is it important that we continue to make new works?

I believe the answer is you. Our community is rich and varied in its experience and is so worthy of expression. A new piece is a manifestation of its place and its time and it helps us recognize and celebrate the significance of life itself. 

A new piece empowers us to ask great and timely questions: Who are we now? What do we want to remember? What is special about our time? How do we want to be? 

And I believe that a new piece is filled with energy and promise. The energy comes from three advocates: the composer who writes the piece, the performers who bring it into being, and the community where it is created. The deeper the connection between all of those involved, the more energy it creates and the more meaning it has to offer. 

Some of my favorite examples of pieces that are filled with energy are: 

• Presence (2023) by ACG Artist in Residence Reena Esmail. The product of a year-long collaboration, the lyrics were co-written by a very special orchestra of guitarists made up of middle school, high school and university students as well as community members. 
• Mosaic Variations (2021) by Clarice Assad was co-created with 50 students from across our city. There are two versions of this piece:  one with Clarice and the students and the other with Jorge Caballero and the Miró Quartet.
• Garden Green (2019) was written by Lullaby Project participant Meg with artists Travis Marcum and Amelia DeVivo. As she thought about meeting her baby for the first time, Meg used the familiar image of a garden as a symbol of growth and peace through the joy and challenges of life. 
• I wrote i/we in collaboration with Travis Marcum in 2017 as reflection on how connected and divided we are. It features the voices and stories of refugees settling in Austin at that time. We revisited the work with ARCOS Dance during the pandemic and created I/WE 2020 with the original live recording and ARCOS’ exquisite choreography and videography.

This, as they say, is the tip of the iceberg. This library of music is in turn beautiful, fun, heartbreaking, and riveting and it is steadily becoming a collection that reflects our time and who we are.

With gratitude,

Dr. Joe Williams III, Artistic Director

We dream of a world where music is here for everyone, connecting us, inspiring us, and bringing joy and meaning wherever it goes. It’s because of our community and supporters that we are able to share stories like this. 

Click here to learn more about supporting ACG.

As we reflect on our 2024–25 season, GIVE, we’re filled with gratitude for the many extraordinary moments and gifts we’ve shared with our community. One memory, in particular, stands out. Not just because it was dazzling and ambitious, but because it represented something profoundly full circle! 

This past February, two very special projects happened simultaneously, each highlighting the extraordinary journey of young people we met through our education programs, from their very first notes to taking the stage as professional artists and composers.

On one side of town, in partnership with our friends at Austin Chamber Music Center, we presented a brand-new live score for the 1925 silent film classic The Phantom of the Opera, performed alongside Lon Chaney’s haunting portrayal of the masked figure lurking beneath the Paris Opera House. The breathtaking new score was written by Matthew Lyons, an Austin-based composer and guitarist who first crossed our path through ACG’s work with AISD at Anderson High School; back before we were really established in the school district! 

Now, years later, Matthew returned to ACG as a professional artist, leading a dream team of performers—his Moontower Guitar Duo partner Stephen Krishnan, violinist Sandy Yamamoto, and cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins—through 90 minutes of heart-pounding, live-performed music that breathed fresh life into a cinematic masterpiece.

Meanwhile, another chapter of someone’s musical story was being written. This one at the very beginning of its arc! 

Bowie High School senior Besa Carney, a longtime student in our education programs, was preparing to debut her very first guitar duet composition as part of our play! series. She spent weeks working with our Director of Education, Travis Marcum, and world renown guitarist Randall Avers, on one of her very early compositions in her career which she later got to perform with Randy by her side on stage! 

We had the pleasure of speaking with both Matthew and Besa!

Being a part of this creative ecosystem has been such a privilege and has shaped the way that I view artistic “success”. Being successful is often associated with quantitative measures – how many concerts you play, how many views your videos have, how many followers you have, how many awards you’ve won, etc. I’ve learned through working with ACG over the years that a more meaningful definition of success as a musician can be the depth of creative connections you make over time. There’s something special about getting to build meaningfully on previous projects, establishing a rapport with more and more people in your community while you witness it grow at the same time, and knowing that what you’ve created or helped create is truly “of a place”. Having a sense of home as an artist is vital, an ACG has become that home for me.”

Diving into the massive project that was Phantom of the Opera, Matthew shared a beautiful statement about the process of creating that gorgeous composition, 

“Writing 90 minutes of music over a year to be performed live with a film felt like a marathon. Although it seemed like I had plenty of time when Joe proposed the idea in February 2024, I began writing as soon as I could because I knew that it would take hundreds of hours to create something of that scope. The silver lining to that constant pressure over a long period of time was that I didn’t have the usual opportunity to second-guess my work – if I wasn’t entirely happy with a section, I just had to move on and come back to it if I had time. This forced me to trust my instinct more, and in fact having more material to work with sooner gave me more time to see how it all connected at a larger scale. Since I was writing music for a well established film, much was already decided for me. Factors such as pacing, mood, and character development were already inherent in the movie, and it was my job to amplify what was already working!

A challenge to scoring a silent film in general is that the music – being the only sonic element – ends up having an outsized role compared to contemporary film scoring. Acting from the silent film era tends to have exaggerated gestures and facial expressions to make up for the lack of audible dialogue, and it’s hard to know when these gestures are begging for music to accompany them – almost as a duet partner – or when it’s better to let the music percolate in the background at the larger service of the entire scene.

Since people already have the option of watching The Phantom in many different formats, I felt emboldened to write something completely different from what they might expect, although it was difficult to resist the temptation to borrow ideas from these other soundtracks! Ultimately, the great asset of this project was that performing the score live added a dimension to the experience that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. 

The week of the performances made me realize what an incredible feat of human coordination was required to make this project happen. It was a true honor to watch such talented humans work together to make this insane tightrope-walk of a concert actually work somehow, from the performers to the tech crew. 

The last thing I’ll mention is how fun it was to play melodica on stage with Stephen (a melodica is a keyboard-like instrument that you blow into with a mouthpiece or tube – kind of sounds like an accordion but a lot easier to play). I wasn’t sure how I’d handle playing under pressure on an instrument I had just started playing several months before, but it ended up being one of the funnest parts!”

We asked what kind of advice would Matthew, now as a professional musician and composer, give to someone at the beginning of their journey, like Besa. Here’s what he shared: 

“There are so many things to say, so I’ll make a list:

Write music that is true to yourself. Don’t worry about trying to impress people – there will always be people who love what you write, and people who don’t. In the end, the most impressive music is that which sounds authentic, and if you write for yourself, it will be. Lean strongly into your influences and learn as much as you can from the music you love. Don’t be afraid to let those influences show in your music. Over time, your individual voice will diffuse throughout your work the way a drop of dye can color an entire glass of water.

Don’t let composing be an isolated activity. Share your work with as many people as possible and try to work directly with the musician(s) who will play your music. This is an incredible way to sharpen your skills and make lifelong connections. As soon as you can, find those few people you trust most to give you supportive and honest feedback, and lean on them when you need advice or affirmation (we all do). Be your peers’ biggest fan. When you show people genuine support, it finds its way back to you.

Identify your artistic strengths and nurture them. Don’t define yourself by your perceived weaknesses. Composing is a lot like digging for gold – you have to sift through a lot of dirt to get to the good stuff. The sooner you get started and the longer you work, the closer you get to finding those few truly good ideas, so learn to appreciate your discarded ideas as a necessary part of the process. Having a compelling artistic voice comes from living life fully. Strike a balance between doing those things that make you a better artist and those things that make you more than just an artist, because sometimes they are one and the same. In the end, being a composer is more a constant action than a state of being. You might only ever feel like a “composer” when you’re composing, and that’s okay!

And finally, take time to feel proud of your work!”

Besa’s composition journey started at a very young age, beginning in 6th grade! She dives deeper, 

“I initially composed for the first time in 6th grade when my mom’s birthday was coming up and I didn’t have any money, so I made her a 8 measure piano song. It was really bad, but my mom said she loved it. Then towards the end of middle school I started composing more, and I really liked it!

I have performed and gotten my compositions performed several times, but the one I composed this year was my first guitar duet piece.”

In late February, as part of our play! series, Besa performed this duo piece with Randall Avers! She shares more about the experience, 

“Playing with Randy was incredible because even though his part was super hard, he made it sound easy.

Getting to work with Randy was such an amazing opportunity! It was really touching to hear about his life journey that occurred this past year, and how he used his experiences to create music with the people he cares most about. He is such a talented musician and an incredibly nice person, and I am very lucky that I got to work with him on my duet piece.”

Watch their performance of Ancestor by Besa Carney, here: 

Looking forward, Besa plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to major in composition in the Fall! We’re so pumped to see what she does next!

We’re so grateful to connect with such talented people in our community and continue to create beautiful music and experiences with them. And we look forward to sharing more stories like these with you! 

Learn more about ACG Education and the work we do here. Support ACG Education here. 

Our play! Series comes to a close this week on Wednesday, April 9 at Captain Quackenbush’s in South Austin and on Thursday, April 10 at The Rosette, with a dazzling showcase of two rising stars from right here in Texas: multi-award-winning guitarist and composer David Manzanares Salguero, and one of Austin’s most outstanding young classical guitarists, Aytahn Benavi.

These extraordinary artists represent a new generation of classical guitarists—brilliant, passionate, and deeply committed to sharing music in meaningful ways. As we look forward to their performances, we had the chance to sit down with David to learn more about his story, his music, and his heart for community.

Learn more and find tickets here. Learn more about supporting ACG’s artists here. 

“I am extremely passionate about finding ways to create a positive impact on the community through music. I have done a lot of work performing in the Baltimore community (where I live right now) and even lived in a retirement home for two years where I would perform for  residents in the independent and assisted living facilities. I am also really passionate about composing. I find it to be a really compelling way to explore my voice through music. I find with my compositions, I am really interested in both story telling and lifting up underrepresented voices.”

One of the most inspiring parts of David’s journey is a project he created and has shared in collaboration with ACG’s Director of Education, Travis Marcum, called For the Future, a college readiness program for high school students facing financial barriers who want to pursue music in higher education.

“I meet with the kids once a month both individually and in a group and walk  them through application process and act as a resource for them. Coming from a low income background myself, I didn’t know if I would be able to go to college. I had always planned on going but logistically, I couldn’t afford it. Thankfully, I was able to join a program very similar to “For the Future” that helped me through application process. However, I was the first student to go into the program who wanted to pursue music.  There was a lot of learning I had to do on my own about the process since I am a first  generation college student. Thankfully I was able to successfully apply and was accepted into  the Peabody Institute of Music on a full scholarship. Because of my experiences I wanted to create a program that helped students in similar situations. There are a lot of complicated parts to the application that aren’t intuitive and I want  to get rid of as many barriers as I can for these students. They have so  much potential and are so smart. I really want to help them put their potential where it belongs, in top tier universities. During the summer before my senior year, I won Peabody’s Launch Grant to fund the creation of this program and have been working on it since!”

David’s performance at Play! will include a beautiful range of works. He shares,

“I’m super exited to share this program because it’s comprises of my favorite works. I begin  with Bach’s Concerto in D Major which is a transcription of Vivaldi’s Violin Concert in D Major.  This work was then transcribed for the guitar by Judicael Perroy. I love playing this piece  because of how joyous it is but also because of its sensitivity, especially in the second movement.  

The second piece is Coste’s Rondeau de Concert. This work is considered to be Salon Music  which is meant to be played at a small party for friends. I like how fun this piece is and I really try to bring out the humor in it. 

The next piece is Triaela by Roland Dyens. I like to think of this piece as classical guitar  remixes since Dyens combines his different inspirations in each moment to create these  interesting fusions. 

I will finish with a piece I wrote last year about home. Home is When it’s Hardest to Say Goodbye is meant to represent the feeling of nostalgia when moving. Looking back at the  good times you had in your old home and sometimes not realizing how much a place felt like  home until you leave. 

I hope everyone enjoys the program! This music really brings me a lot of joy and am excited to  share this with everyone.”

Looking ahead, David is focused on growing For the Future, deepening his work as a composer, especially in collaboration with singers, and continuing to perform and compete.

And this summer, he’ll be moving to Austin to pursue his DMA at UT as Professor Adam Holzman’s Teaching Assistant!

“I’m looking forward to calling Austin my new home.”

Join us for this special evening with David Manzanares and Aytahn Benavi—two incredible young artists, right here in our backyard, whose passion, talent, and vision are helping shape the future of classical guitar. 

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We hope to see you there!