Randall Avers

Ben and I just wrapped up our trip to Austin.  In five days, we crammed in 10 performances in Austin City Schools as part of the ACGS community outreach concert series.  We really enjoyed having the chance to perform for so many – the students were really engaged and asked some pretty amazing questions.

When we weren’t practicing or playing, we managed to sneak in a few dinners with long-time buddies Matt Hinsley and Glenda Lee.  During our trip we also taped an interview with Tony Morris, host of the Classical Guitar Alive radio show to be broadcast at a later date.

We’d like to express our sincere thanks to the Mayne’s for their hospitality, and for Matt, Glenda, April, Jeremy, Joey and Travis for making us feel at home.  We hope to be back very soon.

Benoît and I just came back from a week of performing and teaching in my home state, Ohio.  We had stops at the University of Akron and the Massillon Museum, along with a private performance at my father’s workplace, Hennis.

The Massillon Museum hosted a Stark County artists exhibit and we were invited to give a performance for the 400 attendees.  Photographer Brian Thornberry was there to take photos of the event.

The University of Akron guitar department hosted us for two days.  During our visit, we taught a 3 hour masterclass and were on the judging panel for the Jim Stroud Competition.  We heard some compelling performances over those two days. Congratulations to all the participants, and to the finalists: John, Adam, Stephen and Margaret. Benoît and I gave a performance that included some solo music by Benoît Albert and Ralph Towner, and duo performances of the Brouwer’s Micro Piezas, the Piazzolla Tango Suite, Silly Songs written by myself and Rami Vamos.  We dove into two separate free-improvisations entitled “Noise I and II”.  We decided to make a third “Noise” for the encore.  Comments about the improvisations ranged from “Amazing” to “Bizarre”.

We’d like to thank all the arrangers for inviting us: Steve at Akron, Christine at MassMU, and the Hennis family.  We hope to be back again soon.

UPDATE (7 DEC) It was fun while it lasted…  The announcement for the nomination “Best Chamber Music Performance” was announced.  ”Music from Raritan River” had a great run, but was bested by some pretty stiff competition.  Thank you to Michael and Laura for playing our music and putting it in the spotlight!   Looking forward to your next recording.

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Spanish composers of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries found themselves torn between two almost irreconcilable poles of musical influence, those of Spanish nationalism and French modernism. The musical and artistic magnetism of Paris was inescapable for European composers in the nineteenth-century. Indeed by the time Isaac Albeniz arrived there to pursue childhood piano studies in 1867, Paris had already been the musical capital of Europe for some forty years.

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Right hand technique can be a frustrating matter for all classical guitarists – beginners and advanced. Being no stranger to this, I’ve been experimenting with all sorts of methods trying to clarify those mysteries both in etudes and large pieces.

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