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Hello June…
• A new free piece (…and a couple student highlights)
• BHS Spring Guitar & Piano Recital
• Ben Verdery & Friends in Concert
• City Lights Hide the Stars - Videos
• Some recommendations
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Free Piece & Some Student Highlights
Being a public school music teacher is a pretty sweet gig. Over the years, I have taught grades Pre-K - 8 (general music, choir, & band) and high school grades 9-12 (choir, music theory, music history, & classical guitar.) I have had many students who drove me to the brink of madness, and many who have filled me with pride and joy. As I come to the end of my 30th year of teaching, I can honestly say that still I enjoy it every single day.
This month's free piece was inspired by my student Naairah Scott. She is a senior who is getting ready to graduate in a few weeks. Naairah has been in my guitar program for four years, and is a NJMEA All State guitarist this year.
Last year, Naairah discovered country blues. She quickly started learning tunes by Elizabeth Cotton and Mississippi John Hurt. This resulted in her earning the nickname “Blues Queen” in class. She is a sponge. She hears it, finds the sheet music, and learns it. She is always motivated to get better, and learn more every single day. She is this year's winner of the BHS Gary Oberwanowicz Award for Excellence in Guitar. (This award is named after my classical guitar teacher in high school.)
Here's a video of Naairah performing Martin Tallstrom's “Country Blues” at our recital a few weeks ago…
As I sat down to write a tune for this month's newsletter, I found myself truly inspired by Naairah's musical journey. She reminds me of myself in high school. I thought it would be fitting to compose a blues for her. I hope you enjoy playing the blues, or just giving it a listen.
I would also like to highlight another student of mine, William Castro Roman. William is also a senior who has been in the program for four years. He is a two time NJMEA All State guitarist, who also teaches music lessons and performs for his church.
William is one of those rare students who looked like a professional classical guitarist on the first day he held a guitar. His posture and positioning were immaculate. I knew immediately that he would be an accomplished guitarist by his senior year.
William has really taken to classical guitar and its repertoire. Along with all of our ensemble music, he has learned several solo pieces and music theory on his own. He may occasionally have a question or two, but I rarely need to help him. What impresses me most about William, is that he understands how to play musically, and always focuses on his tone and phrasing…not just playing the notes.
He is the winner of this year's BHS Classical Guitar Award.
Here is a video of William performing Andrew York's “Home” from our recent recital. He learned it and worked it up on his own. I am very proud of his dedication.
Incidentally, both William and Naairah performed Andrew York solos at our spring recital. They had the opportunity to meet Andrew last year after his performance at NJCU. That meeting was the catalyst for them to explore Andrew's amazing compositions.
Naairah Scott, William Castro Roman, Andrew York, and me @ NJCU 6/24
BHS Spring Guitar & Piano Recital
While I am on the topic of school, here is a playlist of our recent spring recital. It features our honors guitar ensembles, guitar class ensembles, and both guitar and piano soloists. There's even a couple singing guitarists thrown in there. Enjoy!
Ben Verdery & Friends : Some Towns & Cities
I recently had the opportunity to go see Ben Verdery & Friends : Some Towns & Cities at 92NY a couple weeks ago. Ben was celebrating his many years as the director of the 92NY Art of the Guitar program. He also recently retired from Yale University where he has been teaching guitar since 1985.
The concert program was made up entirely of Ben's compositions, and featured guests including: JIJI, guitar; Rie Schmidt, flute; Wayne Escoffery, saxophone; Mark Martin, beatbox; Fire & Grace (William Coulter/Edwin Huizinga), and the Yale Guitar Ensemble.
The program included premieres alongside older works which were newly arranged to include his guest artists. The entire concert was brilliant. The program showed the breadth of Verdery's compositional skills, and each performance had me on the edge of my seat.
A few highlights…
“From Aristotle” - The piece features Mark Martin voice/beatbox. If you never heard it before, check it out here. This was wild to experience live.
“Winston Salem, NC” - This was a premiere performance of a piece that was inspired by numerous bird songs indigenous to North Carolina. These bird songs were all quoted within the duo piece which was performed by Ben and Jiji. So amazing!
One of my favorite moments of the concert was Ben playing “Tread Lightly, for You Tread On My Dreams”. This is one of my favorite pieces of music. The piece was written in memory of Ben's brother…such a beautiful tribute. Here's a video of JiJi performing it.
The Yale Guitar Ensemble closed the show with a performance of “Scenes from Ellis Island”. All of the guest artists joined in for the final section of the piece. This was killer.
After saying hello to Ben after the show, I was able to meet William Coulter. I have been a fan of his since I first discovered his The Road Home album, so it was a thrill to be able to thank him in person for his influence. In talking with him, I also found out that he is from Bergen County, NJ. Small world…
Ben Verdery's compositions, playing, and teaching have long been inspirational for me. We connected about six years ago when I was able to have him visit my guitar program for a day and work with me and my students. (Here's a fun sound exercise he did with my kids.)
If you know Ben, or have even seen some interviews with him, you know that his personality is uncontainable. He is always bursting at the seams with enthusiasm and love for what he does. It's impossible to not be inspired by him. Ben has been very kind to listen to my music and always provide me with positive feedback, for which I am extremely grateful.
CLHTS Videos
I recently completed the final video for my “City Lights Hide the Stars” album. There are now videos for all 16 tracks on the album. I really enjoyed the process of making these videos. If you haven't had the chance to watch them, here is a playlist.
Recommendations
Here is what I am listening to and reading…
That's all for this month…
Marie and I will be celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary on June 24th. We will be taking a few weeks to drive out to Montana and Utah to visit Glacier National Park and Zion National Park. The rest of the trip we will play by ear. We do hope to visit a few friends along the way. We actually drove across the country for our honeymoon in 1995, so we will be reliving some of that trip. If anyone has any recommendations for us, please let me know.
I hope you enjoy the start of your summer. See you some time in July…
