Hi everyone,
It's been a while since the last blog post and so I thought I would write another update just as the world is opening up again (or at least trying to!)
I was recently a part of Classical Minds International Guitar Festival and Competition as a faculty member alongside Valerie Hartzell (Artistic Director), Daniela Rossi, Mat James and Jeremy Garcia. We had a weekend full of lessons, masterclasses, workshops, talks, and concerts (as well as a fabulous guitar exhibit video)! All of the concerts and lectures can be found on YouTube (my concert - shared with Daniela Rossi - is here). I was fortunate enough to have a guitar on loan from Steve Toon who is a luthier based in Gloucestershire UK. I recorded a piece on it for the concert so please have a listen and do check out Steve Toon's website - the guitar was truly beautiful. It was a pleasure to be part of the festival and to engage with students from the UK, US, and Argentina. Although it was all online this year, it still felt very personal and connected and was a fabulous weekend of guitar.
As an extension to our April festival, in July (14th) there will be a day of technique workshops with me, Valerie, Daniela, and Mat. There is the option to be either an active or passive participant for the full day of technical exploration (with some evening concerts, too). More details TBA on this, so keep your eyes peeled...
Whilst under lockdown, I have almost completed my PGCert in plucked strings teaching with ESTA and the University of Chichester. The course has been invaluable in helping me discover more about my own teaching and in working out how to get the best out of students. I'm already changing how I think and approach teaching and I'm really excited to keep developing and learning over the remaining time on the course.
From 1st May, I'll be back in Alicante, Spain, to finish off my performance Master! After COVID rudely interrupted our studies last year, it will be so amazing to be back in the Spanish sunshine- I mean practise room- and to reconnect with my peers after a year of little to no music making. The repertoire we will focus on will be: 20th century repertoire, South American repertoire and chamber music, as well as having the opportunity to record our transcriptions, sit in on other masterclasses, participate in a flamenco workshop, and of course, play concerts.
In the meantime, I'm preparing for a couple of online concerts for the Classical Minds event in July, and for Women's Musical Leadership Online Project in June, and for my 'real life' concerts in Spain and the UK from July onwards.
Hopefully we can keep making music!
Stay safe...
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