With so many great stories, concerts, and events, ordering them by their accomplishment would be a task way to hard to decide. So I will start with reflections on the opening day of the event.
The first round of the competition started a little late due to some technical issues with the PA system. Luckily, we were able to get back on track and enjoy the first round. The interesting thing about the selections was that there was quite a bit of variety in the selections. The first year, everyone seemed to play the same piece, but this year, hardly a piece was doubled. We heard selections from Tarrega, Sor, and Brouwer just to name a few.
The one piece that really caught my attention was Mussorgsky's "The Old Castle," played by the eventual winner of the competition. I have only been familiar with Yamashita's transcriptions (referenced in a previous post), and this was the first time I had heard this arrangement. After the contest, I even talked to her for a few seconds and was able to get a copy of the score, which I am currently working on the piece as we speak.
Another standout was a student who performed Afro-Cuban Lullaby. An interesting story came out of our conversation. I know the student, and I also know that he is not taking private lessons from anybody. I asked him where he received his inspiration for the piece and he said, "Youtube." Cool, was it maybe Brouwer playing, or one of the greats. "No, he was some long haired guy playing in his room." I had to let out a little chuckle, and am now searching youtube for a long haired guy who plays guitar (surprisingly, this doesn't narrow it down lol).
The final highlight were my students. The first goes up and opens with one of Brouwer's studies. He plays really well, until he lets his nerves get to him. He stops, recomposes himself, and begins again. While he may not have played the piece perfectly (C#!!!), his feel for the piece was awesome and really was able to bring out some of the more exotic rhythmic sounds.
After him, my other student performed a Sor study. Both guest musicians this year referenced how slower pieces are harder to play than faster pieces, and my students played the piece beautiful. Very legato, and great presence for the style. I made him listen to 3-voice choirs during one of his lessons, and he was really able to separate the voices when he was playing. Great use of dynamics and bringing out the melody line, and musicianmanship, instead of sounding like a MIDI machine.
Overall, the competition round went very well, with several wonderful surprises. Next time, I will talk about the opening concerts.
Dennis Harris
http://www.permianbasinguitar.com/
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