EDITOR'S KEYBOARD: SEPTEMBER 11, 2002 WOW!


I cannot restrain my excitement over this season's roster of guitar concerts in greater Seattle. SCGS has outdone itself in mounting both the Benaroya series and the Frye Museum Sunday series, which are detailed on this site. In addition we have Seattle Symphony's series of three guitar concerts (John Williams and Friends, Manuel Barrueco with Al Di Moela (guitars), and Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg (violin) with Sergio and Odair Assad (guitars). Equally important are the many solo concerts that don't fit into these series, the lecture-recitals being encouraged and sponsored by SCGS, the regular master classes presented by our Benaroya artists, and homey affairs like July's annual 'performing' picnic. Finally there are concerts unrelated to SCGS yet of great interest, for example Ravi and Anoushka Shankar (sitars) at Benaroya in October, and Andre Feriante and Savannah Fuentes, Flamenco guitar and dance, on September 14. Looking back earlier in summer, one has to single out the SCGS sponsored June 9 performances of guitar concerti with orchestra, at Benaroya, as a sign of the remarkable vitality of Seattle-area guitarists, composers and orchestras (see neighboring bullet for description of what was played and by whom).


Sitting at the Website desk gives one a particular view over this, in which SCGS's activities run along in parallel with guitar societies all over the world. I was in Edmonton, Alberta in July, visiting the university there and took the opportunity to meet a couple of members of the Edmonton Guitar Society (which is linked on our page). They too have a high-profile concert series each year, and have fully committed professional guitarists among their membership. One of them, Trevor Sanders, told me about the University of Alberta's music degree programs and the enthusiasm in the city for their concerts. Another view is seen in reading Classical Guitar magazine from England, in which there is a listing of guitar societies from all over the world. England predominates in this list, likely because of the emphasis of the magazine (SCGS is there with a terribly out-of-date listing). Nowhere have I yet encountered a society with as much apparent activity as ours, hence be proud you members!


Ensemble playing is something that many of us are interested in (yet not so many of us actually do). Mark Wilson's Guitar Orchestra is a major creation of this kind. Michael Partington has experimented with ensemble groups, drawing largely on his students. In a recent encounter they worked on the Handel G Minor Passacaglia that comes from his keyboard (harpsichord or organ) suites (a lovely piece I enjoy playing on piano, sometimes referred to as a 'student piece' by keyboardists but they should hear Murray Parriah's CD performance of it!). It appears on David Russell's CD featuring Handel. Michael suggests that this ensemble work might happen again in future and that interested parties could contact him at Rosewood Guitar, or via email: michael@michaelpartington.com


Today we experienced the 'Rolling Requiem', another Seattle creation in which the Seattle Symphony and Chorale joined with about 17,000 other orchestral and choral performers round the world, presenting Mozart's Requiem at Safeco Field. At 8.48 am, local time, groups from New Zealand (the earliest) to Hawaii and American Samoa (the latest) presented the Requiem in memory of the victims and heros of September 2001. Music is powerful, as we know, and here we could see its power in lifting us up from tragedy. Let us hope and work toward a future in which music takes the next step in overcoming the discord between peoples and nations. ~~


Peter Rhines