2013 GFA Convention

I will be traveling to Louisville, Kentucky tomorrow to take part in the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Convention and Competition.

For the competition part, I will be competing in their International Concert Artists Competition which is the most prestigious classical guitar competition in the world.  For the first round of the competition, I have had to prepare a piece newly composed for the competition, Aria by William Bolcom which I received just under two months ago, and ten minutes of free choice repertoire, my choices being Etude No. 6 by Giulio Regondi and the first movement of Sonata Giocosa by Joaquin Rodrigo. Tomorrow I will take part in a drawing to decide what time I will perform in the first round of the competition.

For the convention part, I will be performing with the UT Guitar Quartet in the Ensemble Showcase which features some of the best high school and university ensembles in the country.  We will be playing on Thursday around noon, and our program will be Percuson by Gerardo Tamez, my arrangement of the first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 35, and Baiao de Gude by Paulo Bellinati.

There will be three concerts a day to attend and luthiers (guitar makers), vendors, and composers to talk to and try out their wares.  It will be a big week of guitar, and I’m looking forward to it!  I’ll keep you all posted.

Texas Classical Guitar Camp performance

The UT Guitar Quartet will be performing tomorrow at the Texas Classical Guitar Camp!  We just found out about this performance, otherwise I would have posted sooner. Our performance is free and will precede a performance by our friend and great guitarist Steve Kostelnik!

Time and location:

Monday, June 10th at 7pm, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Helm Fine Arts Center recital hall

Program:

Percuson by Gerardo Tamez

“Allegro con spirito” from Symphony No. 35 in D major “Haffner” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart trans. Thales Smith

Baiao de Gude by Paulo Bellinati

 

Performance June 6th

If you’re interested in seeing both great music and great theater, I will be performing before Penfold Theatre’s production of Shipwrecked! this Thursday, June 6th. I will be joined by one or two fellow members of the UT Guitar Quartet, and we will begin playing around 7pm. The play is free and will begin at 8pm. Location and other details can be found here: http://www.penfoldtheatre.org/about/13season/shipwrecked. I hope to see you there!

- Thales