“Wimbledon of Classical Guitar” in Austin
By Anina Moore, TCA Program Admininstrator
On June 27, Mia Buentello and I attended a unique night of performances in Austin. The Austin Classical Guitar Society (ACGS) hosted the Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Convention and Competition, dubbed “the Wimbledon of classical guitar,” and drawing attendees from over 25 countries.
Guitar Foundation of America Logo
While many of the conference events were closed to general audiences, there were significant evening events that were successfully marketed to the public. Pepe Romero performed two public programs of different repertoire, and the LA Guitar Quartet did three—one program was a Saturday concert with TCA Touring Roster artists (and kid favorites) the Biscuit Brothers. This overall approach seemed like a great way of providing excellent arts programming to conference attendees, while simultaneously subsidizing expenses through ticket sales, and providing spectacular performances to the public, raising their awareness of classical guitar, the Austin Classical Guitar Society, and the Guitar Foundation of America.
Biscuit Brothers Logo
The evening that we attended started with a performance by 200 young guitar students who had spent the past three days in section rehearsals and coaching sessions. Led by Dr. Michael Quantz of the University of Texas at Brownsville, the guitar orchestra performed several works, including one newly commissioned from one of Austin’s favorite composers, Graham Reynolds.
The education pre-show continued with an address by Dr. Robert Duke, who directs the Center for Music Learning at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Duke extolled the benefits of music education, of course, but distilled the lasting, continuous, it-doesn’t-matter-whether-you’ve-mastered-your-instrument-yet effect of it to joy, something we perhaps don’t talk about enough when we talk about the benefits of involvement in the arts. He spoke as ticket holders were finding their seats for the “main event,” and I hope that they, probably least likely to have heard an engaging analysis on why the arts matter, really got to hear him, and walk away with that message.
The evening was punctuated by the announcement of the twelve finalists for the guitar competition portion of the conference, which gave the general audience a glimpse into the dedicated, disciplined world that was represented by the conference attendees.
Guitarist Adam Holzman
And what drew the audience in for this main performance? None other than Austin’s own Adam Holzman on classical guitar (a past winner of the GFA competition), and the Miró Quartet. The evening was titled “Local Heroes,” and these folks certainly qualify—and mesmerize. The audience filled the Long Center for the Performing Arts for this show, and enjoyed every minute of it. If you missed it, there’s a chance to see it, and more—Austin’s PBS station, KLRU, was taping all performances to create a documentary on the conference and related performances.
Long Center for the Performing Arts
Conferences and conventions are easy examples of tourism revenue; when the arts are involved, and conference events are opened to the public, the advantages multiply: performers can gather more energy from performing to a packed house; conference attendees get a sense of the true engagement and pride community members have for the arts; ticketed events add another way to pay for quality artists; and the public’s awareness of a professional-caliber art form is widened. It’s a great example of making the most of an event.
