Austin Pictures KLRU TV Special Air Date Announced
Austin Pictures TV Special
I'm so excited! The TV Special being produced by KLRU about our October 1st Austin Pictures show is set to air on KLRU at 7:30PM on Thursday evening December 29th! Mark your calendars!
I heard the footage is gorgeous. We cannot wait to relive that magical evening through the expert lense of KLRU’s masterful Director Ed Fuentes, Producer Lauren Burton, and their amazing camera and audio crew.
Recital Sunday at 6PM: A Conversation with Eric Pearson
I met Eric Pearson in Columbus, Georgia this past June at the Guitar Foundation of America International Convention and Competition – the 2011 version of the giant international festival we hosted at the Long Center in June 2010 (watch the phenomenal KLRU TV Special on our event online now)!
It was one of those rare meetings when you really “click” with someone. Eric had heard a lot about Austin and ACGS. He’s a guitarist and teacher, a New York State-Certified music educator, and a former nonprofit arts administrator... We had a lot to talk about!
It was a few short weeks later, back in Austin, that the opportunity arose for us to add a new member to our team here at ACGS. We needed someone to direct our Community Guitarists Program, and also to help meet the rapidly rising demand in local schools for our educational services. To make a relatively short story even shorter, I thought of Eric, called him, and he was here and working with us by the third week of August!
This Sunday evening (12/4) at 6PM under Eric’s direction, the ACGS Community Guitar Ensembles will give their Holiday Recital. The free concert and reception will be at Trinity United Methodist Church (formerly Hyde Park UMC, 4001 Speedway).
For information, call us at 512-300-ACGS. I hope to see everyone there!
I recently asked Eric to tell us a bit more about himself:
Matt Hinsley: Tell me about Eric the guitarist, when did you start, and what's your favorite music?
Eric Pearson: I started playing like many do; playing electric and doing rock and blues styles. I got my first guitar for my 15th birthday. I started taking lessons that week and never turned back. I got more and more into instrumental music and eventually added Jazz guitar before adding classical lessons. I have always tried to maintain a balance between classical and contemporary music in my own playing. I listen to artists from many different genres and my favorite are ones that synthesize aspects of one style or another in an interesting artistic way.
On the classical side, I like artists like Roland Dyens or William Kanengiser for their style and stage persona. My favorite jazz/contemporary performer is Pat Metheny.
MH: How have you found Austin, ACGS, and working with the ensembles and schools so far?
EP: Austin is a great city for art and music. I did my graduate studies in Ithaca, NY which is a culturally rich area, but it is a small community. Austin just has so many resources as a large city that there is an incredible diversity in music and other activities going on. It has been a pretty easy transition for that reason. Being able to play guitar outside in the middle of November hasn't hurt the transition either!
Austin Classical Guitar Society has been an amazing experience so far. There have already been so many amazing concerts and opportunities for guitar. I would be at all of the events and concerts even if I had nothing to do with the organization.
Working with the schools and ensembles has been a real treat. A large part of my relocation to the area was to be a part of what is going on in the Austin area schools. The guitar society is building something really special with the curricular guitar ensembles here and I have been lucky to be a part of it. I hear of more and more programs in the country that are working to emulate what we are doing.
MH: What's in store for the spring?
EP: We're putting on the annual Guitars Galore Ensemble Festival on April 28. This event will feature the Community Guitars Ensembles as well as several school and community guitar ensembles from around the region. We will have events all day and a final large ensemble performance before the Yamandú Costa concert that night. We will also be premiering the winning entry of the Guitar Ensemble Composition Competition for Texas-based composers that evening.
MH: Any new visions we should know about?
EP: I hope to get more opportunities and events organized for both student aged players and adults in the community in the upcoming year. I also want to get the word out about the wonderful opportunities that are already happening at the guitar society.
MH: How can folks get involved in Guitars Galore or in your ensembles - who is eligible?
EP: Any intermediate ensembles (2 or more guitars) are welcome to be a part of the ensemble festival and can check the ACGS website for registration details.
Local guitarists that are interested in year-round ensemble playing should consider registering for one of the Community Guitarists Ensembles this Spring. In addition to the ensemble festival music, we will be working on arrangements and original commissions from a wide range of styles and periods. Info is online!
MH: Is there anything else you'd like to add?
EP: Just that everyone should stay up to date on the great classical guitar events this year, and mark your calendars! ACGS is doing some great work in promoting and developing the art of classical guitar, and the community is really fortunate to have such talent coming through on a regular basis.
Thank you for an incredible 2011!
We at the Austin Classical Guitar Society would like to thank you for helping us make 2011 another incredible year of music on the classical guitar here in our great city.
Early in 2011 we learned of three different Austin Critics Table Awards for Austin Goes Classical. Our major concert programming presented artists from France, China, Spain, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua. We took bold steps with two brand new series: Classical Cactus and Austin Guitar Salon. Nearly every event, in both series, all year long, has sold out! We forged a wonderful new partnership with La Sombra Bar and Grill as we highlighted music and musicians of Central and South America for our Pasión Summer Series. And our crowning achievement in presentation was, of course, Austin Pictures (read review here) for more than 1,500 at ACL Live on October 1st.
2011 saw the addition of two important new education programs: one we started in August at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the other that began last January at Gardner Betts of the Travis County Juvenile Justice System. Our local education services nearly doubled coming into the fall with well beyond 1,000 young people involved - and our school curriculum is being used by more educators around the world each month, who are looking to build programs similar to the ones we have been fortunate enough to develop here.
We recently announced our end-of-year matching campaign to raise $40,000. Now is a particularly great time to donate because your gift will go twice as far! Donate Online or call 512-300-ACGS. A 5-year, $50,000 grant that has been generously offered by The Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation, Tobin Janel Levy & Michael R. Levy in support of our Educational Outreach Program. Through this grant, the Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation will match up to $10,000 in donations from our community that arrive by this December 31st!
So on behalf of the ACGS Board of Directors, and our incredible staff and volunteers, I would like to thank you for the value you place on the arts in our community, and for your generous support.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Matthew Hinsley, Executive Director
Austin Classical Guitar Society
Thank you for another incredible year!
We at the Austin Classical Guitar Society would like to thank you for helping us make 2011 another incredible year of music on the classical guitar here in our great city.
Early in 2011 we learned of three different Austin Critics Table Awards for Austin Goes Classical. Our major concert programming presented artists from France, China, Spain, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, Peru and Nicaragua. We took bold steps with two brand new series: Classical Cactus and Austin Guitar Salon. Nearly every event, in both series, all year long, has sold out! We forged a wonderful new partnership with La Sombra Bar and Grill as we highlighted music and musicians of Central and South America for our Pasión Summer Series. And our crowning achievement in presentation was, of course, Austin Pictures (read review here) for more than 1,500 at ACL Live on October 1st.
2011 saw the addition of two important new education programs: one we started in August at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and the other that began last January at Gardner Betts of the Travis County Juvenile Justice System. Our local education services nearly doubled coming into the fall with well beyond 1,000 young people involved - and our school curriculum is being used by more educators around the world each month, who are looking to build programs similar to the ones we have been fortunate enough to develop here.
We recently announced our end-of-year matching campaign to raise $40,000. Now is a particularly great time to donate because your gift will go twice as far! Donate Online or call 512-300-ACGS. A 5-year, $50,000 grant that has been generously offered by The Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation, Tobin Janel Levy & Michael R. Levy in support of our Educational Outreach Program. Through this grant, the Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation will match up to $10,000 in donations from our community that arrive by this December 31st!
So on behalf of the ACGS Board of Directors, and our incredible staff and volunteers, I would like to thank you for the value you place on the arts in our community, and for your generous support.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Matthew Hinsley, Executive Director
Austin Classical Guitar Society
Double your gift to ACGS today!
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Austin Guitar Salon THIS Saturday
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New Matching Campaign Announced!
ACGS End of Year Matching Campaign
ACGS is proud to announce a 5-year, $50,000 grant that has been generously offered by The Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation, Tobin Janel Levy & Michael R. Levy in support of our Educational Outreach Program. Through this grant, the Meyer Levy Charitable Foundation will match up to $10,000 in donations from our community that arrive by this December 31st!
With this announcement, we begin our end-of-year matching campaign to raise $40,000 to keep ACGS strong. Now is a particularly great time to donate because the first $10,000 to arrive will be matched by the Meyer-Levy Foundation!
Donate Online or call 512-300-ACGS.
Austin Pictures, with over 1,500 in the audience, more than 100 participants from over 1,000 miles away, and many, many smiles from the pros, the students, the artists and our patrons, was a crowning achievement for ACGS in 2011. We are most thankful and proud, however, of our new education programs - especially those at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and our new Program at the Gardner Betts facility of the Travis County Juvenile Justice System.
Just two weeks ago our Director of Education gave an address at a UT conference on arts and juvenile justice about our work at Gardner Betts (read the article here), and just a few days ago we received a request for support from Canada to help build a guitar program in one of the largest schools for the blind in North America.
In these, and many other ways, the groundbreaking work we do here, with your support, is radiating outward to positively impact the lives of thousands and thousands of young people.
Please give today. Thank you for you support.
Isaac Bustos - Saturday Night!
I'm super excited to be presenting Isaac Bustos this Saturday evening at 8PM. Isaac is a fantastic performer. I've heard him many times, and he just keeps getting better and better.
It's a landmark moment in some ways too, because in my 15 years with ACGS, this is the first time we've ever presented a "local" player on our flagship international concert series. Isaac is, of course, originally from Nicaragua, but he did is graduate work right here in Austin. Amazing players, truly world class players, have come through the amazing UT guitar studio, but even so, Bustos is the first we've ever presented on the ICS. I hope that gives you a sense of just how much I admire this wonderful talent.
I'm simply thrilled for Saturday's show. We'll hear beauty, color, nuance, speed, clarity, the whole nine yards.
If you'd like to join us, you can buy tickets online now, or give us a call at 512-300-ACGS.
The concert begins at 8PM Saturday at Northwest Hills United Methodist Church (7050 Village Center Drive). Arrive early for a pre-concert performance presented by students in the Akins High School guitar program.
Isaac will also teach a master class to pre-selected students, also at Northwest Hills, Friday from 4-7 (free and open to the public).
Akins Students perform Wednesday (10/26) for Art Opening at Dell JCC!
We’re excited to report that 10 students from the Akins High School guitar program will perform for the opening of an exciting exhibit next Wednesday night at the Dell JCC (10/26 at 7PM).
The exhibit is called Transforming Nature and features the first US exhibit of the work of Hyunsuk Lee Erickson. Her mixed media landscapes meld the highly colored elegance of Eastern design with ingeniously found objects.
The exhibit opening is free and open to the pubic! For details, contact Pam Prais at (512)735-8000 or [email protected].
Come out for what promises to be a nice night of great art and music!
The Kinney Company Sponsors Fall Austin Guitar Salon Series: An Interview
The idea of Austin Guitar Salon first occurred to me in the car as I was driving south on Speedway from 45th Street in Hyde Park. It was so simple! I was driving past a large, stately home with a plaque on the front designating it’s historical significance, and the whole vision just popped into my head: “wouldn’t it be great to present classical guitar concerts in historic homes with wine and cheese receptions?”!
Doing something in historic homes in Austin means The Heritage Society of Austin, and I have two particularly good friends, Lazan Pargaman and Lin Team who popped into my head as the perfect people to call to flesh out the idea. By the time we had sat down for lunch, I’d already met with John and Kendall Antonelli from Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, and so Austin Guitar Salon was beginning to take shape.
Lazan and Lin went beyond helping me flesh out the idea, and they went beyond connecting me with the Heritage Society of Austin, they offered – through The Kinney Company – to sponsor our entire first series (spring 2011). And they are sponsoring our fall 2011 series as well.
I am incredibly grateful to Lazan and Lin and The Kinney Company for helping turn this daydream into a reality, and I thought it might be fun to learn a bit more about them.
Matthew Hinsley: Tell me about yourselves and the Kinney Company. How long have you been in Austin?
Lazan Pargaman & Lin Team: Founded in 1995, The Kinney Company is a small real estate agency with a special focus on homes in Central Austin. We pride ourselves in providing our clients with exceptional client service and hands-on attention to detail.
Currently, there are three of us, all with long histories in Austin and with combined experience in real estate totaling over 38 years.
MH: You are sponsoring a collaboration between ACGS and The Heritage Society of Austin. I believe you have long connections with both organizations, and I’d love to hear about them.
LP<: As realtors with a special interest in old homes, all of us at The Kinney Company have long supported the work of the Heritage Society of Austin. Company founder Teddy Kinney and Lin Team have served several terms on the board of the Heritage Society through the years. Lin is currently an active board member and has recently co-chaired its Preservation Committee.
When Lazan's daughters took up classical guitar six years ago, she got involved with the Classical Guitar Society and became not only a new audience member at the wonderful concerts but also a supporter of the Educational Outreach Program.
Coincidentally, a few years back, Lin helped a nice young couple buy a home here in Austin. The man was a doctoral student in guitar at UT. Through him, Lin became involved in the Austin Classical Guitar Society and has had the pleasure of watching him build it into the terrific organization that it is today. Lin thanks you, Matt!
MH: I remember that well, Lin! Glenda and I are incredibly thankful for the home you found us – and we’re still happily living in it! Why do you feel it’s important to give back to the community?
LT&LP: At The Kinney Company, we believe that supporting programs for those in need is a responsibility we all share and we feel blessed to be able to do so. But people need food for the spirit as well, and that’s a role that music, the arts and architecture can help play in our lives. We find a lot of satisfaction in supporting programs to which we have a special connection because of our personal interests and professional expertise.
Although none of us plays the guitar, we all enjoy the music. And, we all have a deep appreciation for old homes. This salon series has been great fun for us because it’s the marriage of these two interests!
MH: Are there other organizations or causes you like to support?
LT&LP: Lin’s background is in advocacy for progressive social causes. For many years she served as Director of Texas impact, a broadly ecumenical, faith-based advocacy organization working to change social policy at the state level. She still serves on the board of Texas Impact.
Lin has also been active in neighborhood planning and organizations, where she finds all politics to be truly local. “Democracy at its most immediate -- and tedious -- is played out in our neighborhoods, and I feel a deep obligation to work with these groups to bring people together to share visions and solve problems,” (Lin said).
Lazan currently serves on the board of The Austin Project, a non-profit organization designed to improve the lives of children, youth and families, by strengthening families and promoting early literacy. She is also involved in the Fine Arts Academy at McCallum High School, promoting the arts and artists in fundamental ways in our public education system.
MH: Well, we’re so looking forward to this Saturday and the concert at Jane Sibley’s incredible home. Thank you so much for helping us to make it happen, and I look forward to seeing you both there! Before we go, is there anything else you’d like to share?
LP<: The ACGS outreach programs are a beautiful example of an ecosystem of good works that link together music, the arts, social welfare, education and healthy living -- all vital elements of a strong community spirit
Historic preservation plays a similar role by connecting people with art, architecture, social welfare, cultural history and environmental sustainability.
We enthusiastically support both the Heritage Society and the Classical Guitar Society as a way to participate in that interconnected vision.