A Talk with Tesoros Trading Company

Art provides communities the opportunity to come together and appreciate a new viewpoint and, hopefully, gain a new perspective.
- Jonathan Williams & Kisla Jimenez, Tesoros Trading Company

Tesoros

Tesoros Trading Company is one of Austin’s cultural treasures not only for the amazing arts and crafts they bring to Austin from twenty different countries, but also for their deep commitment to supporting our community.

Tesoros is a sponsor and partner for this summer’s Brasil! series. Not only are they supporting our artists, but they have also donated twelve gorgeous and evocative prints by iconic Brazilian printmaker Jose Francisco Borges that will be available in the lobby of our shows as a benefit for ACG Education.

I spoke with Jonathan Williams and Kisla Jimenez about their relationship to Brazil, to Austin Classical Guitar, and the importance of international arts in our community.

Matthew Hinsley: What is your relationship with Brazil, what do you love the most?

Jonathan Williams:  I was given a grant to study Portuguese at UT in the early 1980’s. Brazil in general is fascinating mix of European-Portuguese, African, and Indigenous traditions that has shaped its visual arts and music. The Folk Art traditions also reflect this unique blend. And of course the music is among the most beautiful in the world. We appreciate it all: from forro, to choro, to samba.

MH: You have generously donated prints by J. Borges for us to display and sell as a benefit at our summer series. Tell me about his work, and your relationship with the artist?

JW:  On my first trip to Brazil I was most interested in meeting Jose Francisco Borges. The curator of the San Antonio Museum of Art- Latin American collection had introduced me to his work, and I went specifically to visit him in his small town, Bezerros, about two hours outside of Recife.

Borges
Jose Francisco Borges represents a centuries-old tradition of chapbook writing, illustrating, and performance.  Since medieval times in the Iberian Peninsula writers have created short folk stories that were self published in small pamphlet size booklets called “Literartura de Cordel” or "Stories on a String.” The stories were hung on small cords in the weekly markets, and sold by their authors. They are normally written as poetry using the regional dialect of the author. Frequently they were sung out loud in the market place by the author to attract attention and sales of his latest creations. The topics could be humorous political satire, children’s folk tales, or even risqué dreams of the writers. J. Borges regards himself primarily as a poet/author.

However, he became internationally know for his self-taught talent of creating woodcuts to illustrate the covers of these small stories. Originally the size of his woodcuts were very small, about 3 by 5 inches, the size of the stories on a string.  He is credited with being the first artist to expand the size beyond this small limit.  His international fame came from his large woodblock prints that illustrate many folk traditions, animals, and legends of Northeast Brazil. He has created thousands of different woodcut images over the last 60 years.

Tesoros has sponsored several trips for him to visit Austin and Santa Fe. Approaching 80 years of age now, he is considered a national treasure in Brazil, and is the nation’s most well known folk artist.

MH: You are long time supporters of Austin Classical Guitar, you’ve even hosted us in your home for a Salon Concert. What do you wish everyone knew about ACG?

Jonathan & Kisla: The one thing that impresses us the most about ACG is the fact that thousands of kids have been impacted by the guitar lessons offered by ACG throughout the Austin public school system. We know first hand as parents that learning music benefits children in so many ways: improved self esteem, increased academic success, genuine appreciation for the arts, just to name a few.

Offering guitar lessons to kids from all walks of life undoubtedly opens doors to kids who may have not have the opportunity otherwise. Learning an instrument like the guitar, considering it's popularity in all types of music, hopefully provides a gateway to pursuing other instruments or other art forms. We love the professional performances that ACG organizes but more importantly, we think the educational component is extraordinary.

MH: You have traveled extensively, worked with artists, and heard music form around the world. From your perspective, what is the importance of art in our communities?

J&K: For us, art is vital in helping all of us understand and interpret our own daily struggles and joys. Looking at beautiful colors in an art piece or listening to the melodic notes of an engaging musical score provides a balance to this fast-paced, information-overloaded world we live in.

Art provides communities the opportunity to come together and appreciate a new viewpoint and, hopefully, gain a new perspective.

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A Conversation with Brent Baldwin

When we realized our director of Austin Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra, Joseph Williams II, would be unable to conduct them at this Saturday’s performance (on account that he also needed to perform in the concert as a member of the Texas Guitar Quartet!), our first choice to lead our elite youth guitar orchestra was conductor extraordinaire Brent Baldwin.

Brent, as you’ll find out below, is a truly astonishing talent, one of the most creative and dynamic cultural forces in Austin.

He’s done a tremendous job with the talented young players of ACGYO, and he shares conducting duties on Saturday night with Conspirare’s Nina Revering as they lead our youth orchestra, and Conspirare’s Youth Choir, in a breathtaking opening half.

Still need tickets? Information is online here.

We asked Brent a few questions about everything from working with the young talents in ACGYO to playing for tens of thousands on his recent tour in Asia with a rock band.

Greg Coleman/LensPortraits Photography
Greg Coleman/LensPortraits Photography

Matthew Hinsley: What has it been like working with ACGYO?

Brent Baldwin: It’s been an absolute treat to work with such exceptional young talent. I think it’s a testament to ACG’s impact on the arts world. Austin is truly a classical guitar hub thanks to this organization.

It’s really inspiring to see intelligent and immensely talented young people work together toward a common goal. The world needs more of this! If I had a single regret about working with ACGYO, it reminds me that I didn’t have an opportunity to play in such a group when I was younger!

MH: What is most exciting to you about this project?

BB: I can’t narrow it to just one! This project combines three specific passions of mine—guitar music, choral music, and contemporary music.

The guitar is where my journey into music began. My initial focus was punk and noise rock, and while I never lost my love for the electric guitar, I stumbled upon an excellent classical guitar teacher (Christopher Kane) while at college in New Hampshire. The result was a change of major (from visual art to music performance) and a brand new outlook on what guitar music—and music itself—could be.

Choral music was likewise something I stumbled into by chance. There’s really something about the communal sharing of sound—sans instruments—that electrifies the air. I’m not remotely religious, but there are times when the harmonics of certain sonorities lock in just so, and it really does become a spiritual kind of moment for me.

In my twenty plus years of conducting, contemporary music has been a huge focus of mine. There’s so much emphasis on the masterworks of the past, and while they’re all wonderful works, we’re doing a great disservice to future generations of listeners and musicians if we fail to also make room for contemporary composers like Nico Muhly and Graham Reynolds. If people take the time to seek out and embrace the Beethovens and Mozarts of our time (after all, these guys were the contemporary weirdo composers of their time), there’s so much richness to be discovered. How exciting is that!

MH: You’re working with friends and colleagues like Graham Reynolds and Craig Hella Johnson in this project. How significant is it to make music with friends?

BB: SO very significant. These beautiful friends contribute so much to the Austin musical world, and any arts scene is going to benefit when artists gather forces for a common cause. Graham and I witnessed this last year when we worked together with Texas Performing Arts and Fusebox Festival to create Mozart Requiem Undead, which would have been far less successful than it would have been if any of us had tried to produce it alone. Texas Choral Consort’s most recent event, Indie Orchestra Night, brought together a chorus, an orchestra, and independent rock/pop figures like Dana Falconberry, Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg, the Rocketboys and Hip-Hop artist Zeale. All this in the spirit of making something exciting happen that we couldn’t easily pull off ourselves.

In my book, artistic collaboration trumps artistic competition any day. It’s a lot more work, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun!

MH: You’re a busy guy, from leading Texas Choral Consort, one of the most critically acclaimed Austin arts organizations in 2014, to touring Taiwan and Japan in a rock band and playing for tens of thousands. What else are you up to, what do you wish everyone knew about?

BB: In the wake of a pretty big year, Texas Choral Consort is gearing up to premiere a new large-scale work by Austin composer Russell Reed alongside the Ralph Vaughan Williams masterpiece Dona Nobis Pacem (August 16th at the Austin ISD Performing Arts Center). We’ve also got a number of terrific collaborations in the works with Line Upon Line percussion ensemble, Convergence and many, many others.

I’m in final negotiations regarding some upcoming domestic and international tours… things are still being worked out, so I won’t jinx things by spilling too many beans! Traveling to other parts of the world to share music with people is one of my very favorite things.

I’m also finalizing details on a number of world-premiere works which I’ll be conducting in the coming year or two. There are a number of recording projects in the works as well, including a brand new symphony by Austin composer Nathan Felix and a number of indie band orchestral collaborations. I’m keeping pretty busy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love what I do!


A Conversation with Kathy Panoff

I am fascinated by how things get done in the arts.

How do great series develop? How do thriving service-based programs grow? How are new works imagined and created and supported?

Kathy Panoff, after 13 years running the Modlin Center for the Arts at the University of Virginia, became Director and Associate Dean of the University of Texas at Austin Performing Arts Center (now Texas Performing Arts) in 2009. Since her arrival, Texas Performing Arts has been an extraordinary force in the development of bold and exciting programming, collaboration and vision in the arts in our community.

Our upcoming collaboration with Texas Performing Arts and Conspirare on April 18th was her original concept. The new work our organizations will premiere was commissioned by Texas Performing Arts with the help of the Mellon Foundation.

If you want to go, information and tickets are online here!

I asked Kathy a few questions about this project and about her vision and leadership in the arts. Enjoy!

Kathy Panoff resMatt Hinsley: You made this. I’ll never forget the lunch when you first pitched the idea to Craig Hella Johnson and me. Why us? What led you to this bold and unprecedented collaborative vision?

Kathy Panoff: This particular commission provided the perfect opportunity for Texas Performing Arts to demonstrate our commitment to cultural leadership, one of the three key pillars of our mission-based work on the UT campus and in the community. As the largest arts organization in the region, Texas Performing Arts has an implied responsibility to both steward and elevate our cultural resources, including classical music, so that they may continue to grow, thrive and retain relevance in today’s rapidly changing world. I wanted to do something collaborative since we are known for that kind of programming with our faculty, and ACG and Conspirare seemed ideal partners since I wanted a work for voices and guitars, and since the guitar is essentially embedded in our culture in Austin.

MH: From your perspective, presenting some of the most important performing artists in the world as you do, and commissioning new material of great significance with regularity, what does it mean to have Nico Muhly creating this work for Austin?

KP: Presenting world class performing artists is a critical component of the teaching mission of the College of Fine Arts and The University of Texas at Austin at large. The commission of new work functions as the research and development arm of the various arts disciplines. It really is not unlike other types of research which, through trial, error and discovery, researchers aspire to move a particular area of study and/or research forward. In the arts the creation of new work is one of the most important ways to help advance the art form and ensure relevance in perpetuity.

MH: Tell me about your vision of community engagement in the arts. How does this project, and your broad efforts at Texas Performing Arts, feed that vision?

KP: For me, it goes back to cultural leadership and Texas Performing Arts' belief that leadership is best demonstrated by example. Competition for the arts and entertainment dollar is incredibly challenging. I believe we can best compete by developing collaborative projects like this, that will, by design, attract a broader range of constituents than doing something on our own. Honestly, I think it's a great way for all the participants to distinguish themselves. TPA has had great success with this collaborative approach with major projects that involve the elite student ensembles from the Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music performing alongside professional touring artists, like the centennial performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring with the UT Symphony and the Joffrey Ballet, and projects like How Little You Are.


A Conversation with Nico Muhly

Several years ago I got the kind of invitation that people in my line of work dream about. Kathy Panoff, Director of Texas Performing Arts, asked me to join her for lunch with Conspirare’s Craig Hella Johnson to discuss the possibility of a large-scale collaboration.

What Kathy envisioned, however, was much more than I could have imagined. She was in the process of applying for a grant from the Mellon Foundation—a grant with an enormous vision for community arts engagement in Austin. Part of her vision was to bring Austin Classical Guitar and Conspirare together with the commission of a new work, the scope of which would enable us to engage nearly any composer in the world.

Nearly any composer in the world.

We chose Nico Muhly.

A stunning talent with prolific and wide-ranging creations, Nico has composed for some of the most important performing arts groups in the world including the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Ballet, New York Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, American Ballet Theater, Paris Opéra Ballet, Barbican Centre and Wigmore Hall, along with several film scores including a 2008 Best Picture nominee.

The result of that vision and commission is How Little You Are for voices and guitars. The premiere of this work, commissioned by Texas Performing Arts with support from the Mellon Foundation and performed by Conspirare, the Dublin Guitar Quartet, LA Guitar Quartet, and Texas Guitar Quartet, will take place on Saturday, April 18th at 8pm in Bass Concert Hall. Tickets and information are online here.

Here’s how Nico describes the work:

How Little You Are is a large piece, for twelve guitars and choir. I found a sequence of texts written by pioneer women in Texas and in other places in the 19th century expansion to the west. Their concerns range from the agricultural to the spiritual, and from the wonder of the open spaces to the horrors of infant mortality. The camera moves away from the woman in the final section of the piece, towards the cowboys and wranglers working in the far distance.”

Intrigued yet? I think I speak for all of us when I say I was overwhelmed with Nico’s dramatic vision for the piece, and so I asked him to share some of his thoughts on the project as a whole.

Nico MuhlyMatthew Hinsley: What excites you the most about this project?

Nico Muhly: This piece is exciting for a few really specific and nerdy reasons. First and foremost, this is my first exploration of a totally homophonic texture: twelve identical instruments creating a large blanket of sound. This allowed me to really have fun with patterns and rhythms.

MH: What led you to the subject matter of this work: texts written by pioneer women in Texas and in other places in the 19th century expansion to the west?

NM: It seemed like I needed an excuse to use the multiple guitars, and I thought about the old sense of portable instruments: fiddles, guitars, things that could be thrown into the back of a wagon and brought across the country. Also, I’ve worked with American folk music as source material for a large range of compositions, but have never worked with cowboy music, which felt like a noticeable oversight. This piece ends with two old cowboy songs sung in a highly stylized fashion.

MH: Is there anything you wish everyone listening to this piece for the first time knew, or started thinking about, in advance?

NM: I would say to listen to how the guitars interface with another—they are divided up into three equal quartets, but sometimes information bounces between the groups and between individual players. Sometimes the guitars create a romantic environment and other times an austere, shrub-dotted landscape. I would also call attention to how the choir functions—sometimes as a collection of individuals and elsewhere as a giant mass.


A Conversation with Craig Hella Johnson

Craig Hella Johnson is the Artistic Director and visionary leader of one of the greatest choral organizations in the United States. With an astounding six nominations, only a few weeks ago Conspirare won their first Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.

It’s been a longtime dream of mine to collaborate with Craig and Conspirare, and that’s why it was such a thrill when Kathy Panoff, Director of Texas Performing Arts, invited us to lunch a few years ago to discuss a vision she had for an ambitious and totally unique collaborative project.

That project’s world premiere is now just a few weeks away. On April 18th at Bass Concert Hall, we bring together the Dublin Guitar Quartet, Texas Guitar Quartet and LA Guitar Quartet (also Grammy winners) to perform with Conspirare the premiere of a new work by superstar composer Nico Muhly. The work was commissioned by Texas Performing Arts for this occasion.

Tickets and information are online here.

I asked Craig a few questions about the project and wanted to share our conversation with you:

Craig Hella JohnsonMatthew Hinsley (MH): We’ve talked about working together for a long time. What do you think is magical about Austin Classical Guitar and Conspirare coming together in this project with Texas Performing Arts?

Craig Hella Johnson (CHJ): Well, magical is indeed the right word! Wow. For so long now, I've been inspired by ACG and the incredible range of things you all do. The broad range of opportunities is extraordinary—from the amazing professional concerts with world class artists to the dynamic programs you have for beginning guitarists from all walks of life. I feel that Conspirare shares these values with you—holding really high musical expectations for everyone involved and, at the same time, wanting to make the experience available to as many people as possible. You all have such a fresh and fun perspective, and this makes it a joy to collaborate.

So to combine the talents and vision of these organizations and to have it presented and curated by the incredible Texas Performing Arts series is truly special. It really took this essential partner—Kathy Panoff and Texas Performing Arts—to make the project possible. I am so grateful for her bold vision of creating new music for a choir of guitars and a choir of voices. This had been a long-time interest of mine—to explore this kind of texture play with the sounds of multiple guitars and voices, and it is exciting to see this come to fruition through such a significant commission.

MH: What excites you about Nico Muhly as a composer? What should we all know about this magnificent talent?

CHJ: Nico is just the bomb! Such an outrageously gifted composer, incredible craftsman, so intelligent. Although his urban, modern, fresh and bold voice is what so many people are responding passionately to these days, his music, for me, also feels deeply rooted in ancient traditions and gestures in a way that is compelling and can feel delightfully modern.

MH: You’ve had a chance to study the score. What can you tell us about what we might expect? Did anything surprise you?

CHJ: I really love it—it is an amazing score. I have already told him that I think it is a masterpiece, and I am not being hyperbolic when I say that. The textures and colors he has envisioned with these twelve guitars create a truly unique sound realm—like something we have not heard before. The vocal writing is first rate and carries such emotion. I feel that this will be a lasting piece in the repertoire. Beyond the fascinating compositional elements, I was surprised by how much the piece moved me, even just seeing it on paper. It really touched me.


Music and Love: an International Action Adventure

They wanted to know how long I’ve played, how many guitars I’ve played, what other instruments I’ve played, and how long it takes to “play guitar perfectly.” They were curious how much money one can make with the guitar, and if you can learn guitar in college. One girl was curious about our programs in the foster care system, and wanted to know if we had any programs in Ohio (the teacher introducing me had mentioned we work in foster homes).

One boy said he’d brought his guitar and wanted to know if I could stay and teach him something over recess. Another girl asked if I would pray for her grandmother who is ill. That caused another girl to remember being held in a sling by her grandmother, who is no longer living, when she was very small while her “gran” would play guitar for her. Another girl wanted to know if playing the guitar is soothing when you’re upset, because she’d heard that it is.

I had just finished performing for Cedar Elementary School in Canton, Ohio as part of the String Festival here. I knew I’d be playing for a group of fourth and fifth graders, and I woke up this morning wondering what I might play for them. These days I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of storytelling in music, and it occurred to me that it might be fun to play them a series of pieces and have them make up a story as we went along. I started with Evocación by Jose Luis Merlin—a slow, beautiful, and brief piece—and then I asked them who would like to start our story. Five hands went up, and one boy said it sounded sad, and another boy said it sounded like a guy had lost his true love, that she had left, and that he was sad.

And we were off! After each new part of the story, I asked them to tell me if the next section should be fast or slow, happy or sad, and I did my best to come up with selections matching their requests. Sometimes in the middle of a piece, when the students’ enthusiastically wiggling hands reached critical mass, I would pause to collect more parts of the emerging story.

Here is my best compilation of the story these students came up with. Along the way we got many divergent ideas, many of which I’m sure I won’t recall. But here’s my version!

Music and Love: an International Action Adventure
By the students of Cedar Elementary School in Canton, Ohio.

[Evocación, by Jose Luis Merlin]
They met and fell in love. Everything was great. But then she left. He didn’t know why, but he knew he was sad, and he knew he had to find her.

[Joropo, by Jose Luis Merlin]
He got the in car and started driving. He couldn’t find her anywhere. He asked people in town where she might be, and they were super helpful! They had seen her, and they pointed him in the right direction.

[Tango en Skai, by Roland Dyens]
Driving down a side street, he just got “one of those feelings,” and decided to stop. Before getting out of the car, he remembered he had her cell phone number! So he tried calling her up, but she didn’t’ answer. So instead he went to the door and found her waiting inside.

He was so excited! Until he learned that he’d found her twin sister instead. His twin sister explained that her sister, his girlfriend, had gone to Italy.

[Etude No. 1, by Giulio Regondi]
He and his girlfriend’s twin sister went to Italy. They were able to arrange this easily because he was, in fact, a secret agent with crazy skills and important connections. Ah Italy! In their search for his girlfriend, the beauty and romance of Italy almost caused a little spark between he and the twin. But that just didn’t seem right. Eventually, they found his girlfriend.

[Sunburst, by Andrew York]
He was reunited with his true love! But just as they were approaching one another, she was kidnapped. This was such a traumatic experience that the manner in which she was actually kidnapped became the source of quite a debate between he and the twin in later years. They cannot agree to this day if she was snatched and placed on a jet, if a helicopter came by and whisked her away from him, or if some nasty guy swung by on a vine like Tarzan and carried her away.

Their memory is totally unified, however, about other key details. There was definitely an evil mastermind behind the whole thing. She definitely ended up in a speeding car that flew over the edge of a cliff, and our hero most assuredly saved her from certain death in an airplane flying by at precisely the right time.

[Fantasia, by Silvius Leopold Weiss]
Bandits! Just when they thought they were out of the woods, they were accosted by evil bandits. He was fighting them off valiantly when he was surprised to learn that his girlfriend (we think the twin lingered back in Italy) had some mad fighting skills too. Together they were able to eliminate the enemy and decided to fly to…Texas!  That’s right, Texas!

[Julia Florida, Agustín Barrios Mangoré]
Some baddies were still hanging around in Texas. As they continued to fight for their safety and their future together, it was revealed that she, too, was a secret agent.

They fell in love all over again, got married, and moved to an island where they admired the beautiful sunset every night happily ever after.

The End

###

My deepest thanks to the organizers of String, the incredible staff at Cedar Elementary School, and the amazing, brilliant, creative kids I met who took this wild journey with me for an hour or so this morning.

Cedar Elementary Cropped
Deep in our creative brainstorming session.

 


A New Year's Reflection from Matt

Xuefei Yang Photo
Photo by Arlen Nydam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been reflecting lately on the power of listening.

Music is about listening, of course. But so too, I believe, is community service.

New Direction

Last week we gave performances for residents at Safe Haven, Corona House, and Next Step-homes for individuals with mental health struggles. In November we gave our first performance of many at Austin Public Library. In the coming year we're making a significant commitment to a whole new level of performance outreach.

In each of these cases we have responded to requests, and passed the needs presented to us through our sense of our capabilities, of our strengths, and of our mission. We were there because members of our community asked us to be there. The New Year will bring new direction, and the course will be charted together with you.

New Connections

Gardner Betts has asked us to double our service beginning this coming month so that all students in this juvenile justice facility will have the opportunity to take our guitar classes. Austin ISD has asked that we begin a brand new program in January at Garza High School, which employs a "solution-focused" alternative education model that's achieving outstanding results.

A dear friend of ACG introduced us to a maternity home for young women in challenging circumstances who are experiencing unplanned pregnancy. Young mothers live at the facility, which has an onsite UT Charter School, for up to two years after the birth of their children. Two weeks from tomorrow they will take their first music class, which we will offer as an ongoing education course combined with our collaborative Carnegie Hall Lullaby Project.

More and more I am convinced that we do our best work at ACG when we think first of who we serve, and second of how we'll serve them. We have found that the more carefully-constructed and flexible our programming is, the more deeply we are able to make a difference.

New Commitments

We have built, and now support, fifty thriving guitar programs in Austin schools. Our education team trained teachers in Houston last August and, next week, eight new Houston elementary and middle schools will begin classical guitar programs serving hundreds of diverse kids. We have even been helping raise funds in Houston to buy the instruments for some of the more challenged schools!

We traveled to St. Louis last July and worked with over 30 teachers there. Earlier this month we spent three intensive days in Austin with a talented and dedicated young teacher who will oversee the development of new St. Louis area programs, including two in the Ferguson School District that begin next week.

It's simple: Without you our education program would not exist. Your support at Guitars Under the Stars, throughout the year, at our concerts, and during our Changing Lives Fall Fund Drive, makes ACG Education possible. This is your program, it's a reflection of your values, and those of us privileged enough to work directly with it each day are thankful beyond words.

New Year

Austin Classical Guitar turns 25 in the New Year. For about ten years now we've been the largest classical guitar nonprofit organization in the United States. Colleagues elsewhere continually ask for advice to build their own organizations and services, and we help as much as we possibly can because we believe this:

The world is a better place with art and music.

On behalf of all of us at Austin Classical Guitar, I would like to thank you for placing your faith in us. I pledge that our team and I will work as hard as we know how in the coming year to make you proud of your commitment to us, and I pledge that we will listen.

With very best wishes for a bright and musical New Year,
Matt Hinsley, Executive Director

Support ACG
512-300-2247


Together we can change...

Austin Classical Guitar Logo
I received an email early this morning from one of our graduates who is now in college. She has big dreams of owning her own studio and writing, arranging and producing commercial music, and today she asked me for advice on what courses to take and what professional experiences to pursue.

She graduated from a Title I school with an 87% low-income student population. She was an Austin Classical Guitar scholarship student, she distinguished herself as a member of our youth orchestra, and she volunteered for ACG events. She graduated and earned significant college scholarships, and she's pursuing her dreams.

Together we can change lives.

Last Thursday, a graduate student from Yale University called and asked me many questions about Austin Classical Guitar. He's involved in a New Haven outreach program where he teaches our curriculum - he says the materials "saved him" in the classroom.

He's been watching ACG from afar for years, considers us to be the greatest classical guitar organization ever, and hopes one day to create something similar in another community. Friday he asked if he could intern with us this summer, and I look forward to his arrival.

Together we can change the future.

On Friday I got a call from a young man in Dallas who was recently appointed to a university faculty position. He had attended our national teacher training this summer, and one of his first orders of business in his new role is to work together with our education team to establish rigorous school programs in his area like he has seen here.

Together we can change communities.

I've never been so excited about our service as I am right now. I spoke with an excited educator in Houston last week who has launched a teacher support model we helped design, and it's working wonders. I spoke with a community organizer in New York City asking if we would establish programs there next year, a trainee from Killeen asked if he could bring his kids to our Austin adjudicated contest in hopes that he can develop one in his own district soon.

Each fall during our Changing Lives Fall Fund Drive we ask for your support. We are able to serve thanks to your trust in us and your belief in the power of great music to change people's lives. With your help, I am proud to say that we are actually changing the world. And we could not do it without you.

You can donate online here, or call us any time at 512-300-2247.
Changing Lives Storyboard


Grgić & Chalifour Program

We are so excited for Saturday’s summer series finale with Mak Grgić and Martin Chalifour.

Martin is a violinist, originally from Canada, who has been the concertmaster of the LA Philharmonic since the mid-90’s! It doesn’t get any bigger than that! Mak is a fabulous young Slovenian talent with extraordinary abilities.

On Saturday’s concert we’ll get to hear them each play solo as well as in duo and the program looks stupendous!

Get tickets and information online here.

 

Mak Grgić & Martin Chalifour

Concert Program

Sonata in G minor for violin and guitar, BWV 1001 by J. S. Bach (arr. Chalifour/ Grgić)

Prelude

Fuga

Siciliano

Presto

 

Somewhere/Tonight by Leonard Bernstein (arr. A. Sedlar Bogoev)

 

Danza Espagnola No. 5 by Enrique Granados (arr. M. Llobet)

(Mak Grgić, Guitar)

 

History of the Tango, for violin and guitar (Part 1) by Astor Piazzolla

Bordel

Café 1930

 

Solo Violin Sonata op. 115 by Sergei Prokofiev

Moderato

Theme and Variations

(Martin Chalifour, Violin)

 

History of the Tango, for violin and guitar (Part 2)  by Astor Piazzolla

Night Club 1960

Concert d’aujourd’hui

 

Selections for Violin and Guitar by Fritz Kreisler (arr. by Grgić)

Liebesleid

Schön Rosmarin

 

Spanish Dance from “La Vida Breve” by De Falla- Kreisler

 


Carl & Margaret

Our summer series closes Saturday with two simply stunning artists, Mak Grgic and Martin Chalifour, performing a recital of amazing music for violin and guitar.

Carl Caricari and Margaret Murray Miller are our sponsors for the evening. Carl has been on our Board of Directors for six years, serving during that time as - among other things - chair of our education committee and chair of our nominating and governance committee. Margaret has been deeply involved in ACG also, most recently as our lead volunteer for the Lullaby Project which we carried out in collaboration with Carnegie Hall this past spring.

Carl & Margaret

So when they offered to sponsor Saturday night’s concert, I wanted to learn and share just a bit more about what has driven their passion for ACG and our mission of community service through music.

Matthew Hinsley: What do you love about live performances with ACG?

Carl Caricari: One of the most enjoyable parts of live performances is the respect the audience has for the artistry of the performer. A classical guitar concert audience is characterized by a lack of noise, coughing, and movement. Another aspect we find enjoyable is the connection the performers make with the audience. They usually give insight about the piece they are about to perform, describing not only what the composer was intending, but how they interpret the work. We always come away from a performance feeling enriched by the experience.

Margaret Murray Miller: Carl and I prefer to sit in the side seats of the concert hall. We always arrive early enough to attend the student portion of the evening. It is such a pleasure to view the concentration and rapture of the audience while we are all enveloped by the artist. When leaving a concert, last year, I overheard a young couple: “Thanks for texting me about this concert, this is the coolest guitar music I’ve ever heard.” And, Carl and I have become “fans” of some of these student artists, attending their recitals when we can.

MH: Carl, you've chaired our Education committee, Margaret, you were deeply involved with our Lullaby project. What strikes you about ACG community service?

CC: The extent of the community outreach aspect of ACG sets it apart in my mind from most fine art institutions. The effect of the education program in the Austin schools is a major contributor to the life of the children participating in the program. Ninety-percent of the participants in the school guitar programs would not be in any music program if ACG did not exist. It gives them an appreciation of great music while creating for them a sense of accomplishment. They are playing great music almost immediately with the innovative approach ACG has brought to music teaching.

MMM: I was honored to be involved in the Lullaby Project, initiated by Carnegie Hall, this spring. A small community of divergent people came together and created musical magic in less than a week. Two mothers from Any Baby Can joined local musicians in creating Lullabies for their children, one in English and one in Spanish. In the recording studio one mother told me, “We are all the same here.” She fashioned a phrase, “You are so bright, you are my light” for her children. We at ACG feel this way about all of the students in our education programs!

MH: What do wish everyone knew about ACG?

CC: It is much more that a provider of concert music. ACG is a leader of innovation bringing many different ways to enjoy music with Classical Cactus, the Salon series concerts in private homes, FlamencoAustin, collaborations from the Austin Symphony and Conspirare.

MMM: On our second date, six years ago, Carl asked me to an ACG concert. Well, it was a wonderful evening…the artist and Carl, of course! Ever since then, classical guitar has been part of our daily lives. We have met terrific people that we might not have crossed paths with. Classical guitar bring together an amazing variety of people. Standing in the lobby during intermission is rubbing elbows with a large part of Austin’s far ranging cultural community.

MH: Margaret, you volunteer for Dress For Success, I'd love to hear more about their work - or any other charities you're passionate about here in Austin.

MMM: Thank you for asking, Matt. Dress For Success Austin is dear to my heart. Six years ago I began volunteering at our affiliate on Tillery Street in East Austin. DFSA is a non-profit and part of the worldwide organization Dress For Success.

Women are sent to us from about eighty agencies in our community. Their challenges include domestic abuse, homelessness, lack of education, mental illness, wounded veterans, blindness, and deafness to select a few. We initially spend time dressing them in a beautiful, professional outfit, including the suit, shoes, handbag, jewelry, and cosmetics.

Often, our clients are touched and somewhat overwhelmed. There can be hugging and tears shared. Special attention is often lacking in their lives. All of our items are donated. We are beholden to the wonderful people who decide to drop by after cleaning out their closets. And, especially to those who have lost a loved one, and manage to think of DFSA.

We also offer career counseling, follow up programs such as financial literacy. We want to remain in these women’s lives, as they help themselves, then each other, and, amazingly when some of them become DFSA volunteers themselves!