Remote Teaching Resources
As many teachers in our community are faced with the prospect of remote teaching, the GuitarCurriculum.com and Austin Classical Guitar Team want to share all the remote resources we have available.
Let's Play.com
This is a completely free, graded, solo study track with 44 expressive sequential pieces. You and your students can download the entire 82-page book for free online here (choose pdf download).
The music, mostly written and arranged by Joseph Palmer, is beautiful and engaging, with ample fingering and dynamic indications. Even more exciting is that each piece in the first seven levels have accompanying audio guides, also free, and available for streaming online here.
As you may know, we developed this site specifically for use by the blind and visually impaired community, so some of the audio guides are labeled Braille Lessons, which your sighted students may simply ignore. The other audio lessons, however, address detailed technical and musical subjects, and provide recorded examples of each piece.
How can this help you and your class?
For beginning and intermediate classes you could assign, for example, an appropriate piece for each student to learn on their own using the audio guides. This will assist the speed and quality of their progress through the new material, and allow your remote teaching sessions to be more productive. They can prepare a section on their own, and share their progress with you via video exchange or in remote consultation. Additionally, since the 44 pieces are directly sequential, you and your students will have a clear path forward.
How does this relate to GuitarCurriculum?
It relates directly! The LetsPlay material was created to mirror the sequencing of GuitarCurriculum as follows:
LP Level 1 = GC Level 1 (simple, open string songs)
LP Level 2 = GC Level 2 (introduces reading on strings 2 and 3)
LP Level 3 = GC Level 2 (introduces reading on string 1)
LP Level 4 = GC Level 3 (3 pieces + 1 scale to learn and master im alternation and string crossing)
LP Level 5 = GC Level 3 (im alternation solos with open string bass notes)
LP Level 6 = GC Level 4 (solos with fretted bass strings)
LP Level 7 = GC Level 5 (more advanced solos with fretted bass strings)
LP Level 8 = GC Level 5+ (parallel literature, 1st position only, no audio guides)
Other Resources & More GuitarCurriculum.com Materials:
GuitarCurriculum.com: Our Director of Curriculum, Eric Pearson, has just changed permissions on videos in GC.com and are available for anyone who navigates to the video page. These videos are tailored specifically towards students and you can find them here.
Using Zoom? Here is a great video on how to optimize audio on a Zoom call for music.
Need more resources? Here is a comprehensive list of remote teaching tools.
Please be kind to yourselves during this time. All the solutions proposed above are imperfect, and there will be a ton of troubleshooting in the weeks ahead.
Additionally, feel free to reach out to anyone on the ACG team if you have any questions or need support!
Interview: Ashley Lucero - Composer and Guitarist
Ashley Lucero is a Texas based composer, performer, and teacher. Lucero was recently commission by the ACG Youth Orchestra for their Tour March 12th - 17th. In this interview, she discusses her compositions, and specific challenges and inspirations for the Youth Orchestra piece.
What are your earliest experiences in music?
My parents are both musicians, and my father’s side of the family has a history of musicianship for generations. I would attend my father’s concerts when he played the french horn in the community orchestra and I would create stories along with the music as I listened. I have been singing and creating my own songs for as long as I can remember. One of my earliest experiences with music performance, was singing Christmas music at nursing homes when I was about 6 years old while my sister played the piano. I was extremely shy and hated being complimented for my voice. I went on to learn piano and violin later. However, I never took as keen an interest in them as I did when I picked up the guitar at the age of 17.
What did you grow up listening too?
My parents were both 60’s babies so I heard a lot of 80’s hits around the house, but my dad was always listening to Beethoven and other various classical composers. I believe this really helped me in developing my ear. When I hit middle school, I continued to listen to classical music, but also began listening to a broad variety of styles such as punk rock, ska, and music from many other countries around the world. My parents tried as hard as they could to keep my from listening to pop music and rap when I was younger because they hated the message most of it sent, and I really appreciate that now in a way.
What are you doing now?
I am currently an adjunct professor at the Baptist University of the Americas in South San Antonio. There I am the guitar instructor and I also teach music theory classes. I am preparing to audition for USC in Los Angeles, and I gig pretty regularly as a soloist. I recently formed a new guitar duo with a good friend of mine, a Cuban guitarist, and we are called Duo Morningstar.
Can you talk about some of the themes you explore in your music? Both as a composer and performer?
As a composer and a performer, my goal is to be as honest as possible. By honesty, I mean avoiding the ego and my belief systems as a backdrop - because they can be very inhibitive. I believe that is the best way to connect with an audience and to improve as an artist.
What are some influences in your work?
I am highly influenced by the music that I play, so that changes depending on what I am learning and performing at the time. For example, my earlier music was highly influenced by Baden Powell, Astor Piazzolla, and Roland Dyens. While I studied at UTSA, my music reflected characteristics of my teacher Matthew Dunne’s music and Leo Brouwer along with my old influences. I also include elements of flamenco guitar in my solo works because I love playing flamenco and I have obsessively listened to Paco de Lucia for about 4 years straight.
How do you hope your work influences or affects others?
First off, I want people to know that it is possible for audiences to connect with contemporary classical music. Secondly, I hope that other young guitarist composers can be inspired by how hard I strive to write guitar music that is fun to play but is also sophisticated and challenging. Third, I want young women and those in disadvantaged positions to know that their struggles are valid and constructive towards their journeys as artists. And my own selfish hopes are that my music will open people’s hearts and minds to explore any imaginative inclinations they might have while listening to my music.
What are you hoping to accomplish as an artist?
To remain truthful in my composing, teaching, and performing, and to help others that so desperately want to do great things feel hopeful and confident in the possibilities that exist in their favor. I want to share my discoveries with anyone willing to listen to my music or my words.
Can you talk a little about your composition for the ACGYO?
Magpie Lullaby is a simple yet deceptively challenging piece written in four parts. It is based on the well-known lullaby by Johannes Brahms and features charming little harmonies and textures. Its meant to be a bit of a paradox because it is a lullaby that gets a little rowdy near the middle in homage to the talkative nature of the magpie, but ends with a satisfactory lulling nature.
What are some challenges to composing for a student ensemble?
When composing for anyone you must be aware of their skill level, so with a student ensemble it can be very easy to over-simplify things in fear that they won’t be up for a challenge. As an educator, I am very aware of how to push students’ limits so I think I can more successfully play off of that specific challenge in my writing.
How does working with this ensemble inspire you?
I have always been a fan of the ACGYO and Joe William’s work as a director. I played in the guitar orchestra at the Belton Guitar conference twice under his direction, so I know first hand his standards and expectations.
Seeing young guitarists play so refined is inspiring and to be a part of it is extremely exciting. I have taught young students ensemble music before and hope to do so again in the future, so seeing the possibilities through ACGYO’s work is inspiring for me as an educator.
If you would like to know more about the ACG Youth Orchestra Tour, you can click here.
We are Expanding Let’s Play! Braille curriculum!
We at Austin Classical Guitar (ACG) are extremely proud of our longtime commitment to bringing the universal love of music to under-represented populations.
In response to a worldwide lack of comprehensive tools for Braille-based music learning, we created Let’s Play! In July 2018. The Braille lifelong learning resource, created in partnership with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI), provides meticulous students at school and online with stepwise Braille and audio classical guitar in Levels 1-4, suited for their first six to 18 months of study.
The groundbreaking curriculum, created by our very own guitarist Joseph Palmer, is comprised of newly composed musical selections and others taken from our collection. Of each of the engaging compositions, students receive access to audio recordings and a braille notated version of the sheet music.
“I believe the reason I was asked to be the designer of the curriculum was due to my passion and experience as an educator along with my tendency to be detailed and pour myself into the work I do,” said Palmer.
Jeremy Coleman, who runs the renowned guitar program at TSBVI, aides students through the material, demonstrating how to use the braille notation, as well as assist them in the learning and memorization of the rest of the song.
Students at TSBVI have been extremely responsive to the program, as indicated by Superintendent William Daugherty in a released statement. “There is something about the guitar that connects with these students in a way that instruction on piano and other common instruments had not done.”
“Students who have participated have really enjoyed the camaraderie with other student musicians, the sense of accomplishment in learning something new and self-confidence that comes with a successful performance,” said TSBVI principal, Miles Fain.
It was instrumental to expand on the success of Phase 1 and continue to provide ongoing resources for the enthusiastic students eager to learn more.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the addition of Phase 2 to the program. Through the hard work of our team and Palmer, Let’s Play! will now offer Levels 5-8, providing lessons for up to five years of learning.
At the completion of Phase 2, featuring 26 new pieces of music, musicians will become fluent Braille music readers in first position across all six strings.
“After phase 2 launches, I think the future direction of the project will largely be determined on feedback from the users of the resource,” said Palmer. “A lot of content has been created at this point, and though the resource has been met with much enthusiasm and thanks from users, we're ready to really hear from the students and users of the resource and see the results and impact.”
According to ACG Matthew Hinsley, Phase 2 was always part of the plan. “Learning to read and play (all notes in the first position) and combine it in a sophisticated way is a milestone in the lifelong learning pathway,” he said. “Even though we couldn’t get to everything in Phase 1, we knew we needed to do Phase 2 as fast as possible.”
With the launch, we are excited to hear the success stories across the U.S. and abroad. Shortly after introducing the first four levels of the program, we discovered that Let’s Play! had been utilized by musicians in 25 different countries. Additionally, Palmer received an email from an adult learner in South Africa who expressed gratitude for the program, as he had been seeking someone who could teach him guitar for years.
Rados Malidzan translates Let’s Play! for Balkan learners!
In a recent and outstanding development, we are pleased to announce Montenegrin guitarist and Director of the Montenegro Guitar Foundation Rados Malidzan has secured funding to translate the Let’s Play! curriculum for Balkan learners.
The translation is part of the Music Into All Hearts (Muziku U Sva Srca) program, which was created to bridge the gaps between music schools, teachers and blind and visually impaired pupils. The program will utilize the Let’s Play! Curriculum, as well as acquire braille printers for schools.
The innovative program earned funding by winning the Montenegrin Telekom Contest for Best Socially Beneficial Project.
“This project, not surprisingly at all, has awakened a great wave of sympathy and love among people in the small Montenegrin community... not only by means of a small nonprofit, but also through the participation of the thousands of people who voted for the funding of this project,” said Malidzan.
Malidzan was introduced to Let’s Play! two years ago when he performed in our UpClose Concert Series. Malidzan was amazed, not only because of its importance, but because he too has experience working musically with the blind and visually impaired, and the resources to collaborate with our team and the Let’s Play! program.
“My initial thought was saying ‘God works in mysterious ways’ - I felt like it was not me that heard about the project, instead it was the project that has found me,” said Malidzan.
Malidzan has worked with the Library of the Blind of Montenegro as a performer and assisting them in organizing concerts. Now, after conducting research and securing funding and partnerships, he is ready to make the curriculum available to the thousands of families with blind or visually impaired members in the Balkan region.
During his initial assessment of the region’s music education situation, Malidzan quickly realized how few blind or visually impaired students there are, that music teachers weren’t experienced in assisting them and that schools didn’t have access to braille printers. His program will address these shortcomings.
With the translation of Let’s Play!, Malidzan believes the curriculum will bring guitar music to the homes of those who don’t have an assistant to escort them to music schools, those too old to enter music schools, those who live in remote villages with no available music schools or simply those who prefer to learn to play on their own.
“I find this connection between me and the project nothing less than a miracle,” said Malidzan. “What are the odds that a guitarist with interests, experiences and characteristics needed for the realization of this project, from such a small country such as Montenegro, comes to Austin, Texas, and learns about Letsplayguitar.org?”
To say Malidzan is excited about the partnership would be an understatement.
“Together with you guys from ACG, we can spread Music into All Hearts....I am so happy to have you in my life, and to witness, share and get inspired by your wonderful and truly inspiring work. So, as Matthew (Hinsley) said,‘dear friends, lets make some magic together.’”
- by Benjamin Beane, ACG communications
Sponsor Spotlight: Harlow Russell & Awesome 3D Cards
We’re super grateful to Harlow Russell of Awesome 3D Cards for his generous sponsorship of our UpClose Series concert featuring Mateusz Kowalski at the home of Chaya Rao on Sunday, February 2nd at 6pm (tickets). Guests will enjoy Chaya’s delicious homemade vegetarian Indian Food, and they'll also get to take home one of Harlow’s awesome cards! Harlow has a neat story, and we asked him to share some of it.
ACG: How did the idea of 3D cards come to you?
HR: I lived and worked in Asia for the last 25 years, most of my adult life. The last 4 years were in Vietnam. So, I was very familiar with the Vietnamese artform of "Kirigami". It’s like Japanese Origami, but distinctly different. Kirigami always takes the form of a pop-up gift or thank you card. It contains a 3D paper model inside the card that "folds." For many years I would always bring back the cool cards when I came home to visit my mother in Austin. In fact, she kept all those cards over the years and would frequently show guests at her house because they were so unique. Real paper art.
I moved back to the USA in 2018 and among other things I had to buy insurance. Once I finally settled on an agent he sent me a thank you card and said I was a VIP customer. The card was a plain white generic card. You know, the kind that come in a stack of 100 at the Dollar stores. I didn’t feel like a VIP with this card. Then it hit me! What if he had a custom cool Kirigami card! That would be amazing and make me feel special. And I knew everyone always keeps these handmade Kirigami cards because they are totally unique. Hence...Awesome 3D Cards was born!
ACG: What is something you wish everyone knew about the artistry?
HR: The art and skill is the 3D model inside each card. It’s like a Jack in the Box. When people open any of my cards, they smile. They are amazed. They play with the cards. Gen Z or Boomer, male or female, CEO or house sitter, every single person who has received one of my Awesome 3D cards in the last 12 months has had a moment of joy and fun. That’s the special artistry of these custom handmade cards.
ACG: You make a lot of custom designs for people in Austin. Why is it important to you to make special things for our community?
HR: I first lived and work in Austin in the 1980's. Then I moved west to LA and west again until it became "East"...Jakarta Indonesia, 1992. I always remembered how wonderful Austin was as a young person. My mother retired from Philly to Austin in 1994. So for 25 years, I've been coming back "home" to Austin once or twice a year. In early 2018, I came back home to take care of her in her final chapter of life. I loved being back, to the Live Music Capitol of the World, to the BBQ scene, to the "keep Austin Weird" scene.
When I decided to start my Custom 3D card business, I first produced two Austin-themed concept cards: our beloved, historic, State Capitol Building, and the “Bat Bridge” (Congress Ave. Bridge) - where people from all over the world come to watch our 2 million bats go out on the town every evening. These two cards also demonstrated the skill and fine detail of using Vietnamese Kirigami but in an "Austin" style. Now I create cards for companies and organizations in Austin and across the US and Canada. If you’d like to know more, email me anytime or call 512-571-1615.
'together' Artist Profile: Jennifer Choi - Violinist
We are thrilled to be collaborating with some incredible artists for our January 24-26 season centerpiece together. Jennifer Choi will be the violinist on the show. We asked Jennifer to tell us a bit about the process and a bit about herself.
Austin Classical Guitar: You’ve been part of this series form the beginning. i/we, dream, together. What does this series mean to you?
Jennifer Choi: I feel so honored to have been a part of all three concerts in this series, which is one of the most unique projects that I have been involved in. I loved how much the community at large has been interwoven within the programs, and that we heard these voices from the heart. It brought us a real perspective and deeper understanding of the events happening around us each day, and made the music so meaningful to perform.
ACG: What do you wish everyone knew about the process of creating, collaborating on, and sharing new music and new art?
JC: With new music, there is always a sense of adventure because you are meeting the music for the first time, and on some occasions, you're meeting the composer for the first time too, like going on a musical blind date! You don't know exactly what you're gonna get, so of course there's a feeling of the unknown. But then, you take a peek, and when the music speaks to you, it can feel like something strikes a chord in your being and that something can be soul-moving, bring you to tears.. or it can be joyful and exciting, and you just want to get more of it! I have so much respect for composers. They are putting all their energy into something they believe in for us to listen to and be moved with them.
ACG: What’s it been like work with this team?
The process here at ACG has been one of deep connections and collaboration from the beginning. So much thought has gone into each concert with a vision that is large and all encompassing. I loved that there were no constraints. Every idea was considered, and in the end, a wide range of music and genres has been incorporated into the format. It says a lot about an organization when year after year, the core team stays the same and everyone is in it for the same, beautiful purpose.
ACG: Tell us a little about what else you have going on - how can people learn more about you?
JC: Last month I was in Toulouse, France playing with Les Freres Meduses -no strangers to ACG- guitarists, Randall Avers and Benoit Albert. I have found that chamber music with guitars and violin to be a divine combination. The Texas Guitar Quartet with Isaac Bustos and Alejandro Montiel have also graciously invited me to perform with them and I also brought Isaac and Al to NYC last season and it was just so much fun to reunite then as it is now. I continue my various collaborations with composer/performers in New York, and most recently I have joined the Artist Faculty of Juilliard Global which takes me around the world for performances and master classes. My website is www.jenniferchoi.com if you'd like to know more about me go to https://www.jenniferchoi.com.
If you would like to know more about the inspiration of ‘together,’ we invite you to read this article by Artistic Director, Joe Williams, and Education Director, Travis Marcum.
'together' Artist Profile: Celil Refik Kaya - Composer
We are thrilled to be collaborating with some incredible artists for our January 24-26 season centerpiece together. Composer and guitarist Celil Refik Kaya has created a beautiful and moving new work for these shows: There Is Life In This Room. We asked Celil to tell us a bit about the process and a bit about himself.
Austin Classical Guitar: Tell us about together? What has this project meant to you so far, has anything surprised you?
Celil Refik Kaya: I believe this project is very enlightening in an age that people are disconnected from each other. Today, we as a society are more disconnected than ever. When we think about a family, it is like the smallest country. Family members love, trust and support each other. We should achieve this as humanity as well. When I heard the interview with the young patient, it was one of the most touching things I have ever heard, and I dedicated “There is life in this Room” for her. The title is taken from her interview expressing her feelings and life in the hospital room. I believe the commissioned pieces that we will hear for this project will change the way people see each other, and will guide us to have superior empathy toward each other.
ACG: What do you wish everyone knew about the process of creating, collaborating on, and sharing new music and new art?
CRK: Today new music and arts in general should be supported more. Performing, composing and sharing beautiful projects as artists are possible thanks to the support of people. People often don’t realize how important music is in our lives as a whole. It is everywhere—we almost don’t live a moment without it. New music and arts in general reflect our civilization, and people should realize how important this is not only for today but also for future generations. All the creation, collaboration and sharing process comes with a tremendous amount of work, practice and sacrifice just so we change people’s lives and touch people’s souls.
ACG: What’s it been like working with this team?
CRK: Working with the Austin Classical Guitar team is a wonderful experience. They are full of creative ideas and every project is meaningful and immortal in my opinion. I always think of an artist as a person of creativity rather than imitator or craftsman. Although we don’t create from nothing, the unique ideas come from an artist’s mind and this is what ACG is doing. Over the years, I enjoyed collaboration with Matthew Hinsley, Joe Williams and all my other friends in ACG team. I was able to express myself as composer and performer.
ACG: Tell us a little about what else you have going on - how can people learn more about you?
CRK: I have a busy performing schedule while teaching classical guitar privately. For the future, I have 4 CD projects coming up with Naxos records. I will be continuing recording the works of Agustin Barrios Mangore, Jorge Morel and Carlo Domeniconi. Sometime around next year my 4th recording, the music of Joaquin Rodrigo, will be released. I am currently planning on publishing new works that I have written including Five Turkish Folk Dances for solo guitar, Dicle ve Fırat (Tigris and Euphrates) for trio and many others. My recordings are on Naxos Records and can be found on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Some of my compositions, recorded by me and my colleagues, are on Youtube. People can also visit my website for more information about concerts and other news.
If you would like to know more about the inspiration of 'together,' we invite you to read this article by Artistic Director, Joe Williams, and Education Director, Travis Marcum.
'together' Artist Profile: Isaac Bustos - Guitarist
We are thrilled to be collaborating with some incredible artists for our January 24-26 season centerpiece together. Guitarist Isaac Bustos has been with us since the beginning of this series playing in both i/we and dream, and many others. We asked Isaac to tell us a bit about this project and a bit about himself.
Austin Classical Guitar: You’ve been part of this series from the beginning. i/we, dream, together. What’s it mean to you?
Issac Bustos: It has been a powerful experience to be part of each of these projects because of the profound impact each event has had on me as an artist and person. I/WE, in particular, hit so close to home because of how I related to the refugee experience expressed in the interviews. This short anecdote encapsulates how significant this concert was for me: I vividly remember that while working on the solo of "I am not afraid", I was overwhelmed by how perfectly Joe's music captured the message of the text! I remember how my own experience was guiding my phrasing, the way I breathed with the music, which colors to bring out, what kind of touch to use on the strings, how loud/soft to play. All these things, obviously, are always part of our interpretative process, but the fact that they were serving a greater purpose - at least from my perspective - made the whole experience much more meaningful.
ACG: What do you wish everyone knew about the process of creating, collaborating on, and sharing new music and new art?
IB: The music, collaborative efforts, creation, and production of these new works of art reveal our humanity and how much we have in common. One of the most fascinating aspects of these events is the fact that most musicians involved in these concerts have never worked together! Somehow, however, the music brings us all together to serve a common purpose - which we in return share with audiences that have come to experience something new. This entire process takes open minds and hearts.
ACG: What’s it been like work with this team?
IB: Inspiring! The professionalism, dedication, and camaraderie are nothing short of exceptional. I have gotten to work with top-notch musicians in settings that allow the creative process to flourish. Plus, we get to share beautiful and impactful music.
ACG: Tell us a little about what else you have going on - how can people learn more about you?
IB: This spring is full of exciting new adventures for me! I have concerts with the Texas Guitar Quartet in Feb, March, and April! In the summer, we are touring Mexico. Plus, I am hosting the Southwest Guitar Symposium and competition in March (13-15) as part of my new position as director of guitar studies at UT -San Antonio! Then, a solo show in Anaheim, California followed by a performance of the Concierto de Aranjuez with the Rapides Symphony in Alexandria, LA. Lots of music to be made and I can't wait to share it with people.
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If you would like to know more about the inspiration of 'together,' we invite you to read this article by Artistic Director, Joe Williams, and Education Director, Travis Marcum.
'together' Artist Profile: Alejandro Montiel - Guitarist
We are thrilled to be collaborating with some incredible artists for our January 24-26 season centerpiece together. Guitarist Alejandro Montiel has been with us since the beginning of this series playing in both i/we and dream, and many others. We asked Alejandro to tell us a bit about this project and a bit about himself.
Austin Classical Guitar: You’ve been part of this series form the beginning. i/we, dream, together. What’s it mean to you?
Alejandro Montiel: I can’t believe this is the third and final one! It has all been building up to “together” - this idea that we are never alone. “i/we” dealt with the very real and terrifying act of uprooting your family to seek a better life for them. Through his harrowing story, our protagonist appealed to our shared sense of humanity. “dream”’s universal message of hopeful fear of the future in our youth successfully bridges across generations because we all share in the experience of growth, and we all remember how difficult it was (and in some cases still is). While I’m sad to see it end, “together” seems like the natural stopping point to the story Joe has been telling for the past three years. I’m so incredibly proud and fortunate to have played a small part.
ACG: What do you wish everyone knew about the process of creating, collaborating on, and sharing new music and new art?
AM: Birthing a new chamber work varies from one piece to the next. Sometimes the process is quite easy and will quickly comes together. Other times, it’s incredibly difficult and we’ll have to roll up our proverbial sleeves. Eventually, the piece reveals itself and the story begins to take shape. It’s during these “ah hah!” moments when I regain my sense of magic and wonder at the power of music - and it never gets old!
ACG: What’s it been like work with this team?
AM: It’s a bit like going to camp: I get to see old friends, make new ones, and then there’s a big performance at the end! For three years (four if you count “Persona”), the ACG team has had the difficult task of putting this production together and making it run smoothly. Their tireless professionalism never ceases to amaze and inspire me.
Working with spectacular musicians is always a highlight of my year. In the past four years I’ve learned so much from Hakan Rosengren, Louis-Marie Fardet, Esteli Gomez, DaXun Zhang, Chris Lyzak, Ta’tyana Jammer, Travis Marcum, and Line upon line, but it’s two-thirds of the trio at the core of the pieces whom I’ve learned the most from. Jennifer Choi’s ability to do anything and everything on the violin is frightening, but so amazing to watch from five feet away. Isaac Bustos, my friend and Texas Guitar Quartet brother, is someone I always look forward to working with because he makes it ridiculously easy. Jenni and Isaac are two of a handful of people I’ve played with in the past 25 years who share in my musical sensibilities, and I’m incredibly lucky I get to perform with them.
Of course, there’s Joe Williams. Every time he calls, I always say yes without asking what I’m doing. I know that whatever the project is, it will be beautiful, magical, and spiritually rewarding. It’s Joe’s vision we are bringing to life - his lead we are choosing to follow and believe in. I’m going to do my very best to help.
ACG: Tell us a little about what else you have going on - how can people learn more about you?
AM: This spring semester, I start my 11th year at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. In addition to being part of Conspirare’s world-premiere recording of Nico Muhly’s “How Little You Are”, the Texas Guitar Quartet has been hard at work on an album of new compositions which we hope to have ready by next year. I’ve been arranging a few pieces (one of which will be performed in “together”) which should yield some exciting new collaborations! I’m also traveling to Virginia, New Orleans, and Brownsville with the quartet as part of a few festivals and residencies, and we’re planning a multi-week summer tour of Mexico.
While I personally keep a very low online profile, people can learn a little bit more about my main project, the Texas Guitar Quartet via our website.
Postcards: Cleveland Classical Guitar Society - Cleveland, Ohio
Postcards is an Austin Classical Guitar (ACG) and GuitarCurriculum.com series that explores the guitar programs around the nation and strives to bring the guitar teacher community together.
This week’s Postcards is written by Erik Mann, Executive Director of the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society.
In this postcard, Erik discusses the arts renaissance in Cleveland, OH and the work the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society is doing in the community.
Postcard from Cleveland by Erik Mann
An arts renaissance is happening in Cleveland. And the societal impact is incalculable.
Under the Arts Mastery initiative of the Cleveland Foundation, eight organizations are changing the city, one student at a time, in the areas of theater, written and spoken word, photography, curatorial arts, dance, voice, stringed instruments, and classical guitar. The Cleveland Classical Guitar Society is proud to be one of these members.
Out of the 71 largest cities in the U.S., the City of Cleveland has the second highest child poverty rate. This is felt on almost every level of a child’s life, presenting numerous barriers to an equitable life. One huge area of inequality is in the arts. Despite one of the greatest arts scenes in the country, few children in Cleveland have a chance to be engaged in meaningful arts learning, including learning an instrument. That is where CCGS has found the opportunity to change a lot of lives.
Since 2012, Cleveland Classical Guitar Society has been working with schools and neighborhood centers to build classical guitar classes where the need is the highest. In the last few years, the achievement of our students has been so exciting to watch, with a feature nationwide on CBS This Morning, two of our students getting into a fellowship at Cleveland Institute of Music, performances prestigious venues like Severance Hall (home of the Cleveland Orchestra) and Cleveland Museum of Art, acceptance in Interlochen and Brevard summer camps, and much more. Thanks to a recent grant from the Cleveland Foundation, which represents the largest grant in CCGS history, we now have over 550 students in grades 2-12 studying in our program.
Most exciting of all has been the impact on the kids. The Cleveland Foundation recently sponsored a video documenting our program. In it, students and administrators talk about how learning the guitar has increased kids’ confidence, social skills, grades, and attendance; and how our teachers’ mentorship has filled the gap when a parent is missing.
I am so excited for the future of the program. We are moving toward a 5-year goal of increasing the depth of the program while expanding to 1000 students. That means that we are always looking for more teachers with passion and excellence. If that describes you, view our job postings here. And keep using your talents to bring good to the world.
Erik Mann - Executive Director - Cleveland Classical Guitar Society
We’d love to hear about guitar in your part of the world next! Reach out to Jess Griggs anytime with your story and a photo or two.
Top Ten Moments of 2019!
The year is almost over, and that means it’s time for the ACG Top Ten! As always, we wracked our brains and then lobbied hard for our favorites, but because this list is brimming with so much beauty and gratitude, we’re all still smiling at the results.
We hope you love perusing these as much as we do. We hope our services make you proud. If you find something that inspires you, and it’s the right time to support our work, we hope you’ll consider making a year-end gift to help our Top Ten list a year from now sparkle even more!
And as always, if we forgot your favorite, by all means let us know. From all of us at ACG, Happy Holidays!
#10 National Guild for Community Arts Education
For more than fifty years the National Guild has been a leader in community arts education, bringing together educators and community servants from around the US and beyond, sharing ideas, and establishing best practices. So it was a big deal when they decided to have their 2019 conference at the JW Mariott Hotel in Austin, Texas this fall! It was an especially big deal for us for four reasons:
We gave a talk! Long-time board member, and current Nominating/Governance Chair Kendal Gladish, joined Director of Education Travis Marcum, and Executive Director Matt Hinsley to give a featured 90-minute presentation called Board and Staff Engagement: Service with a Purpose. It was a translation of our Five Elements education theory into a board, staff, and volunteer engagement strategic framework (you can learn more about the Five Elements here). Ask us about it – it’s actually really cool! And people seemed to like it.
We got a grant! Led by our operations Director Karen Gallant, along with Travis, ACG became one of twenty organizations nation-wide to be selected for a National Guild Catalyzing Creative Aging Grant. Look to out Top Ten of 2020 for something related to our roll out of new service for older adults!
Matt got an award! They give out “Milestone” awards for arts leaders who’ve made a difference for more than twenty years. Our Director of Development, James Fidlon, along with Travis, nominated Matt for the award and he was selected along with five others from around the nation. It was a nice moment.
Margaret Perry was honored. Margaret was a personal advisor to Matt, an ACG board member, an Austin arts icon, and a long-time member of the guild. She encouraged ACG for years to get involved with the guild. Her spirit was strong at this conference, and among many beautiful moments, the standout tribute was ACG board member, and Director of Armstrong Community Music School’s Liz Cass performing in her honor at the trustee’s reception.
#9 Heroes & Role Models
Great artists have great impact. Three artists in particular lifted us this year.
Berta Rojas inspired everyone with her soulful performance at our February gala. The evening’s student performers were from Crockett High School. The students met Berta after the show, but for the seniors in the group it was a special reunion, since they all remembered Berta’s visit to their school four years earlier. In fact, they told us they’d been fired up from the moment they learned they would be sharing the stage with her.
Xuefei Yang opened our season in October. She prepared a special program of music from China and Spain representing her two greatest cultural influences. It was divine. But that’s not all she did here! Xuefei also gave a special interview and performance with the Austin Chinese American Network, taught talented students at UT Austin, visited with season ticket holders at our Gusto season opening dinner, and performed a private concert at Karrie and Tim League’s home in support of ACG Music & Healing.
Raphaël Feuillâtre gave a wide-ranging virtuosic performance on our International Series in November. He was mind-blowing. But while he was here he also visited Bedicheck, Travis, McCallum, and LBJ schools. Perhaps his deepest impact was felt at the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center where the young people connected quickly and deeply to his warm presence and beautiful playing. We’d never witnessed anything quite so powerful in a guest artist visit to the facility.
#8 Tickets for Good
In early September 2017, we joined forces with our friends in the Miro Quartet, Conspirare, and Austin Chamber Music Center to raise disaster relief funds in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. Hope After Harvey, as the fundraiser concert was called, raised $37,500, two car-loads of donated goods, and 200 clean-up volunteer names, in four days.
When things settled down at the ACG office and we reflected on the experience of running an event and sending 100% of the proceeds away to charity, we realized that we wanted our efforts to continue to benefit area nonprofit organizations doing vital work in our community. ACG Tickets For Good was born.
Since then we’ve raised thousands of dollars allowing supporters of local nonprofits to designate partner organizations to be recipients of 100% of their ticket purchase to our major events. One fun story we heard was from David Conger, Director of the guitar program at Lamar Middle School. He used ACG Tickets For Good to raise money to buy a new bass guitar for their school program. When we sent Lamar their check for $1,582 we were delighted to get David’s reply that the bass guitar they were purchasing was going to cost $1,595 – just $13 away!
Perhaps our most memorable fundraiser in 2019 was at the home of Mai Barazi and Hachem Dadouch. The concert featured UK-based Syrian guitarist Ayman Jarjour, and raised more than $7,500 for a scholarship fund for Syrian refugees.
#7 Music & Healing
Travis Marcum, ACG Director of Education, has been leading the way in ACG’s Music & Healing initiative for the past five years. It all began with our Lullaby Project in partnership with Carnegie Hall. Since then Travis has developed programming and worked directly with individuals facing a range of challenges from incarceration, to hospitalization, to homelessness.
Here’s a bit of a story from Dell Children’s Hospital Travis shared in May:
In early April, I met with a teenage girl – I’ll call her Anna – who expressed interest in taking guitar lessons during the three months she was hospitalized for a major procedure. We met every few days to have a lesson, play guitar, and talk about life and music.
Within moments of our first meeting, I learned that Anna had lived in Spain, and was a huge fan of flamenco music. Soon after, I found out that ACG’s good friend and world-class flamenco guitarist, Grisha, would be in Houston for a concert in May. I had an idea.
You can read the whole story online here.
#6 Kids Being Awesome Together
Kids got together in awesomeness a lot this year. Like, literally thousands of them, thousands of times! But a few of those times standout as particularly noteworthy.
In The Schools: In November, ACG Executive Director Matt Hinsley and ACG Artistic Director Joseph Williams conducted Austin ISD All Region Middle and High School ensembles with students from all over town, and in April nearly 1,000 kids in over 40 ensembles participated in Austin ISD’s Concert and Sight Reading Contest. These events are a big deal any way you look at it, but for us they’re particular pride points because the overall level is high, and because ACG has literally created these events for the district from inception, to design, to execution over the course of the past decade. Now we help other districts make similar standard-setting celebratory events around Texas and beyond.
In The Studio: Long time ACG Youth Orchestra (ACGYO) member Lennox Kolics is interested in recording tech and asked to be a summer intern, ACGYO has awesome players, and the ACG curriculum used around the world (GuitarCurriculum.com) is hungry for model recordings of the vast number of pieces in its teaching library. So a match was made! Thanks to some willing ACGYO colleagues, and generous support form Shay Brown and Chez Boom Audio here in town, ten (that’s right, ten!) new recordings were made for the curriculum with ACGYO artists and Lennox at the board.
ACG Trio: Can’t believe it took this long for something like this to happen, but this summer three amazing ACG alumni got together to form the ACG Trio! The players are Justice Phillips (UT composition graduate, and current full-time ACG Operations Associate who we’ve known since Lively Middle School), Angelica Campbell (UT guitar major, junior, who we met at Crockett High School), and Alex Lew (UT guitar major, senior, who we first met at Lamar Middle School). They’ve been super busy performing all over town including two appearances at UT’s James Turrell Skyspace where they gave the premiere performances of the ACG-commissioned new work by Matthew Lyons called Skyspace, written for the occasion (Matthew is an alum too, who went on to San Francisco Conservatory, before a composition degree at UT!!).
ACGYO San Francisco: It was our first ACGYO tour, and it was awesome. Members and parents worked alongside ACG Artistic Director Joseph Williams to plan, raise money, and elevate their level of playing to “sublime,” before heading out to San Francisco where they joined other amazing young people at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, performed to open an Omi Foundation Dynamite Guitars series event, and then played at the Alamo Drafthouse San Francisco to open a sold-out screening of Back To The Future. Why? Because when kids play guitar, the future gets better!
#5 A Whole New GuitarCurriculum.com
It may seem like a website redesign doesn’t belong in fifth place in a Top Ten list but trust us, this place is hard-earned!
First, it’s important to know that GuitarCurriculum.com is at the center of all our education program building. The shortest version of the story? We started in school-based guitar education in 1 school with 15 students in 2001. By 2004 we were in 2 schools with 100 students, and while we’d had good times, and 6 kids that had gone to college with music scholarships, we’d also come to realize that the world lacked the resources we needed to build the guitar programs of our dreams. So we worked like crazy from 2004 to 2008, invested about $250,000 in the early development, launched GuitarCurriculum.com in October 2008, and now it’s used in our 60 central Texas programs, across the state, in forty other US states, and in about 20 countries. Whew!
Second, about the redesign. Let’s just say it’s a process we started in 2012, it includes work in multiple countries, multiple languages, many web developers, firms, and consultants, several notable power outages, one car accident, one particularly disruptive invasion, a reunion across the world, and loads of good, old-fashioned elbow grease.
What’s new? Lots of things you can’t see, but make updating, data management, and functionality all superior in the backend. Then there’s the new logo, the appearance, and tons of awesome new content from video, to news, forum, and plenty of marvelous music. Now we’re cookin’, and wildly excited about the future of ACG Education now that we’ve got a shiny new machine in the garage!
#4 Javier Niño Scholarship
In February 2019 the world lost a marvelous young man long before his time. An impaired driver took Javier Niño’s life on the way home from the gym partway through his first year at St. Edward’s University.
Javi was a beautiful human being, warm, talented, and generous. We first met him as a high school freshman at Eastside Memorial High School. He fell in love with guitar, worked with ACG’s Jeremy Osborne to win a scholarship to attend McCallum High School. There he worked with McCallum’s Andrew Clark and would proceed to take lessons with ACG’s Performance Engagement Artist Joseph Palmer. Javi distinguished himself as a soloist and in ensemble. His many performances and competitions with his McCallum Quartet were particularly notable. As part of a college essay, Javi wrote this about Joseph Palmer:
After seeing Joseph play, I was inspired to pick up the guitar. I decided to give it my all and be just as cool as him. I even started taking guitar classes in high school. I ended up coming in contact with Joseph later, and he took me under his wing as one of his students.
Becoming his student taught me how to be disciplined. It was hard, but I had so much enthusiasm to become a better guitarist that over time I was able to develop discipline. I also applied the strict discipline of practicing guitar to my schoolwork.
I always strived to be as good as him. I admired how amazing Joseph played and how easy he made it seem. It helped me understand what determination is and how to pursue it. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you are willing to set everything aside just to accomplish that goal? That’s exactly how much I wanted to become a great player, and I established my determination to do so.
It was later in the spring that Diane Skeel, the mother of one of Javi’s McCallum Quartet partners Aaron Baldauf, approached us about beginning a scholarship fund in Javi’s honor. Through Diane’s hard work and the generosity of many including the Skeel/Baldauf family, the scholarship was begun. We awarded the first scholarship in October to Elijah Flores, a terrific guitarist from Crockett High School. You can read more about Elijah online here, and learn more about the Javier Niño Scholarship Fund online here.
#3 St. Louis & Cleveland
As ACG Education has grown many service-minded educators and organization leaders around the US and beyond have approached us to collaborate for training, strategy, or just plain-old advice. Two places our team has spent the most time in person, on the phone, and online, have been St. Louis and Cleveland. We have enthusiastically invested a lot of resources in both areas because the leaders have reflected back such tremendous energy, and such willingness to do the hard work of growth and community development, while at the same time always putting the needs of their communities first.
Cleveland Classical Guitar under the direction of Erik Mann has been so incredibly beautiful to watch. They have produced innovative programming, been in the local and national news a bunch (like this beautiful CBS Sunday Morning Broadcast), and this year won a $150,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation to grow their programming to reach 500 students each week.
St. Louis Classical Guitar, run for many years by Bill Ash, and now led by super-talented Executive Director Kevin Ginty, has built more than twenty beautiful school programs. Out team has been in St. Louis training teachers every summer for seven years. The reach of their services has been a beautiful thing to watch first-hand. So you can imagine how happy we were when Bill Ash was recognized this year by the Missouri Arts Council as Arts Education Hero of The Year!
You have to imagine with us for a moment a time ten years ago when we had no sister organizations building education programs of this caliber anywhere in the country. Or twenty years ago when school-based guitar education was rarely found anywhere at all, few resources or standards existed, and our ideas were met with skepticism. Fast-forward to today when so many thousands of kids are finding joy and identity in school through participation in guitar, and partner organizations are winning major grants and awards, it’s like jet fuel for the ACG engine!
#2 ACG Global Services
Who would have thought that a nonprofit music service organization in Austin, Texas, could help inspire kids in Mexico, could help put guitars in the hands of students in Cambodia, could train teachers in Nicaragua, or help build and fund a music education program in an orphanage in Kathmandu, Nepal? Who would have thought that the same organization could develop a Braille and audio guide lifelong learning resource that people as far away as Montenegro would want to raise funds to translate and bring to serve blind and visually impaired students in the Balkan Peninsula?
Not us! Yet here we are.
We’ve been overjoyed this year by our many wonderful connections across the globe. Some of our partnerships are well-established, like our work with Ravindra Paudyal at the Early Childhood Development Center in Kathmandu, Nepal. Ravindra regularly sends us videos of kids playing beautifully and confidently, and has plans to grow the program in Nepal soon.
Other initiatives are bubbling rapidly, like Rados Malidzan’s plan to bring our LetsPlayGuitar.org Braille lifelong learning resource to Montenegro. Among other things, Rados was on national TV shows raising money for the effort, which begins in January (seen to the left).
And still more programs, like our new partnership with the Caring For Cambodia network of schools, are just getting started. With our friends at Calido Guitars we’re just now sending twenty new guitars to Cambodia, and will begin teacher training soon.
A bonus item we’d like to mention here is the new KLRU PBS television special that came out the day after Thanksgiving on our April 2019 production of FlamencoIndia with Oliver Rajamani and Jeronimo Maya. We’re putting this here because it’s awesome. And also because we believe strongly in our role as an agent of positive international cultural exchange through arts, but that exchange can happen right here in Austin too, and there’s no better example than Rajamani’s FlamencoIndia. [Watch it here]
#1 ACG Juvenile Justice Services
We are coming up on ten years of ACG Education for incarcerated youth in Travis County. We made a commitment in 2010, and we’ve been teaching kids in the Gardner Betts Juvenile Justice Center virtually every school day ever since. It’s hard to encapsulate what this program means to us, and what we believe it means for the kids we serve. The best we can do, perhaps, is to invite you to come see them perform. The experience is life-changing.
But just loving a program is not enough to land it in first place on the ACG Top Ten list! We placed this program here for a few other reasons. First, 2019 saw the development of a second ACG Education program for incarcerated youth, this one in Williamson County. Instruction began there on June 3rd, and there have already been three beautiful public performances, and some amazing stories of courage and transformation.
Additionally, in September the Austin American Statesman published the most extensive article ever about Austin Classical Guitar (over 3,000 words!). Michael Barnes’ beautiful piece began with a story about a paper guitar made for ACG’s Jeremy Osborne by a grateful student in Gardner Betts, and the article online even includes a video feature about the new Williamson County program.
We are now in talks with yet another county judge about building a third program in 2020, so stay tuned! We truly believe that this program could bring indescribable benefits to court-involved youth across Texas and across our nation in the years to come.
Thank you for being together with us. For helping make the ACG family beautiful, vibrant, and loving. And we can't wait to see what the new year and decade has in store for us!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year
