This October and November have been filled with an incredible amount of activity. In October NP UNplugged finally had its first Open Mic Night. It was arranged in record time to coordinate with the annual NPHS Open House. We had four acts consisting of eight performers, including myself. I provided impromptu guitar accompaniment for two singers. What a challenge, especially since I was only afforded a couple hours to get my head around two songs I had never heard before. For one of the tunes, I had 15 minutes preparation prior to performance time. The kids had a great time and parents seemed to appreciate their children having an opportunity to perform. Playing the role of back up musician gave me a bit of much needed stage time towards conquering the stage fright gremlin that I constantly harbor. I video-taped the performances but really haven't had the chance to review the recordings. I was very proud of the students.
Much of my time during the past four months has been directed towards preparing for Richard Gilewitz's visit to Michiana. I had orchestrated programs at all of our schools in the NPUSC district and for a concert/workshop at Fire Arts Inc.(the 3-D art based non-profit that I helped found)in South Bend.
Nearly a year earlier I made arrangements for Richard to appear on the Back Porch for an interview with show co-producer, Norm Mast. The Back Porch is a live acoustic music radio show broadcast on Sunday evenings on WVPE by our local NPR affiliate. This interview opened up the week's events with Richard. The broadcast went great as Richard masterfully handled the situation. He displays confidence while dealing with an audience whether they are connected by radio waves or sharing space in the same room. Somehow he manages to be simultaneously entertaining, artistically impressive, humorous, informative and engaging. I again experienced that privileged "fly on a wall" feeling since I was allowed to be in the studio during his interview.
This whole period has been an exciting time marked by hustling here and there, arranging for sound equipment(my Stagepas 500 portable PA played an invaluable role in Cougar Den and at Fire Arts), coordinating concert staging and sound checks at NPHS with Gail Bannister and Greg Hulbert, getting all the ducks in a row for Richard's compensation, countless emails written, school announcements and phone calls made, filling out forms for this that and the other, developing schedules for the school day performances/clinics at NPHS, NPMS, Olive, Prairie View and Rolling Prairie Elementary Schools, arranging lodging for Richard and generally keeping all the stake holders informed and prepared.
In October, I used my artistic and photoshop skills to create two posters for the concerts at NPHS and Fire Arts. I was pleased with the results. Once these were printed I delivered the Fire Arts' concert posters to businesses and public venues in the South Bend area and the LaPorte area received posters for the NPHS concert. I also wrote up event announcements and submitted them to every news agency I could think of within the geographic area as well as to educational and civic organizations in the area.
Here is how the week progressed and after reviewing everything, I am not sure how Richard survived it all.
Sunday-The Back Porch interview
Monday-Morning concert and seminars at NPMS
Tuesday-Workshops and seminars at NPHS
Thursday-Morning concerts/seminars at three elementary schools
Friday-evening concert at NPHS
Saturday-workshop and concert in Livonia, Mi
Sunday-workshop and concert at Fire Arts
This simple list merely outlines all the activities and doesn't come close to detailing the energy needed to make it happen.
Richard's week at the schools opened with a very early morning concert at NPMS. Can you image presenting a concert to a whole school of kids(around 700 students) at 7:30 am. I sometimes have difficulty facing a group of 20 kids for my first class of the day at that time. Well Richard managed to pull that off and then he followed it up with a series of classroom presentations that didn't conclude until around noon. I received very positive feed-back from three of the instructors at the middle schools. They were extremely pleased with Richard's presentations. One down and two more intense school days to go as Tuesday brought a day of activities to NPHS.
I want to include some of detail about Tuesday's activities at the HS since I was able to observe one of the workshop sessions that was open to student guitarists and the seminar for the band classes. We had between 15 and 20 students attend the guitar workshops. From my point of view the participants were attentive and engaged throughout both sessions. Richard adapted to the group's "needs" after his discovery that the experienced kids really wanted to perform and have him critique their performances. The kids ate this up and they were very supportive of each other as well. I enjoyed seeing that aspect blossom. Because I was teaching a class, I missed the first workshop but during this one Richard went over fingerstyle technique and introduced a couple of pieces of music to the students. I had a number of students approach me the next day to tell me how much they enjoyed both of their workshop experiences. At the close of the second workshop the kids begged Richard to play some tunes for them. Of course they had to request "Stairway to Heaven" and Richard had them "drop-jawed" as he played and embellished the well-known riffs of this Led Zeppelin piece. I enjoyed watching the students' faces light up and huge smiles break across their faces while they watched Richard nimbly negotiate the fretboard. They were equally appreciative of his rendition of The Beatles' "Here Comes The Sun". I think some of them left with bruised arms as their neighbors elbowed them to share and indicate enthusiastic approval.
Later in the day we shifted activity to the Cougar Den, a large classroom with a stage and terraced seating. Every one of the 100+ seats was filled by members of the band, choir classes and the workshop attendees. This time Richard performed several tunes and responded to questions from the audience. Again the kids were riveted. Questions flowed especially from the workshop kids who felt the most comfortable since they had developed a rapport with Richard. He also used these students to help set up and break down the stage area. Their conscripted efforts became a learning experience as Richard explained speaker and mic arrangement, sound adjustment etc.
Richard had a well-deserved day off on Wednesday as I went through my daily teaching routine. Our evenings throughout the week consisted of going over the week's schedule, sharing meals at local eateries, and squeezing in a movie or two. I confess to hacking away at sleeping time to make everything happen. Especially valuable for me were the opportunities to work in some individual lesson time which is wonderful compensation for the stress that naturally accompanies this sort of activity. During our lesson time Richard introduced some slide technique, critiqued my right hand mechanics and helped me improve upon the performance of some of my tunes. I found myself feeling almost desperate to take advantage Richard's accessibility. I have this constant drive fueling my efforts to learn whether it is through observation by attending Richard's concerts or direct instruction. There is this nagging pressure to take advantage of having a master teacher within reach. Every minute lost is truly expended and cannot be regained. I felt this same desperation to take advantage of opportunities when I had my lesson time with David Walbert. Life is short and my opportunities to improve as a musician are limited. A negatively minded person would develop a "why bother" attitude but I seem to possess an intrinsic bend towards the creative process. Being creatively productive is as necessary as breathing, sleeping and eating. Richard once asked me why I will bother to attend three of his consecutive concerts when it is geographically possible. I have only recently been able to put the answer to words. His concerts are not mere entertainment for me. They are educational opportunities. I observe his techniques, listen to timing, cadence, and note quality as I essentially try to internalize as much as possible about the mechanics and aesthetics of the performances.
It's a good thing Richard had a day of rest on Wednesday because Thursday made up for it. He started the day at Olive Elementary, then moved onto Prairie View and concluded at Rolling Prairie. He presented concerts and Q & A sessions for the student bodies of each school starting at 8:00 am and finally wrapping up at 2:45 pm. In all over 1500 students were entertained and informed. Reports have come back to me that the kids really enjoyed themselves. Later in the evening Richard and I went back to the district where we met Gail Bannister and Greg Hulbert for a sound and lighting check for the Friday evening concert. This session went very smoothly and the sound was the best it's been in three years. In fact, using Richard's tweaks, Gail and Greg agreed that the sound was the best they had ever heard in the auditorium. Everyone left feeling rather euphoric and anticipating the concert the next evening.
My first chance within this tour to experience Richard in concert was conveniently staged at NPHS in our auditorium. The sound, with Richard's expert guidance, wonderfully filled this large space. This is the third annual concert here and familiarity has bred exceptional auditory results. Richard as the artist and Gail and Greg as supportive personnel have become quite a team that together produced a very professional and quality experience for an impressed and appreciative audience. Richard nailed his tunes and his humor gave everyone a much needed opportunity to sit back and shuck all the stress of the work week.
Early Saturday morning I drove to Livonia, Mi to attend a Gillacamp and the second of three of his weekend concerts. The workshop and concert were staged at Trinity House Theatre which is one of my favorite intimate venues. Since I had this tune memorized, I came into the workshop with the goal of improving the piece and making it a real part of my personal repertoire. I again took a stab at the hot seat by performing "Anji" and one of the other more experienced participants jumped aboard my train and we performed it as a duet until I allowed it to become derailed resulting in some vocal protestations from Richard. ARggh.
Richard again nailed his tunes and jokes throughout that evening's concert. Even though much of the menu was different from the NPHS concert the quality of the performance was exceptional, attesting to his vast and accomplished repertoire. I truly don't know how someone can keep that much music in their head and be able to randomly perform it and at such a high level. Actually I suppose I do know....something like desire and dedicated practice laser focused for decades at the goal of being the best possible guitarist.
Round three began early Sunday morning as I drug myself out of my cozy bed at the Hyatt(thanks Hotwire for the cheap luxury room)and got out on the road arriving home in time to make it to Fire Arts ahead of Richard and make sure things were set for that evening's performance and to get things arranged for the workshop that afternoon. I consider the workshops to be my "selfish" time and I again had a few hours to devout to improving my repertoire. This time my focus was on Walbert's "Study for Margot" and I gleaned some ways to adjust left hand fingering and to add interest and smoothness to the notes. It is always fun to nudge a piece towards improvement.
The evening brought the final concert of Gilewitz Immersion 2010. We staged this fund raising event in the gallery of Fire Arts which is a cozy and unique atmosphere enhanced by being surrounded by displays of the sculpture and pottery of our member artists. An enthusiastic audience was treated to Richard's third two-set concert of the weekend. Even though he was understandably tired from a very intense week of performances, seminars, programs and workshops, no one could discern it. He approached this wrap-up show with as much energy and enthusiasm as the first show on the previous Friday. During all three concerts I don't believe a single member of these audiences left feeling like they weren't treated to anything less than exceptional displays of fingerstyle guitar skill presented in an unpretentious and relaxed atmosphere that was made even more valuable by the opportunity for laugh therapy.
So how does all this affect me as a guitarist? How could it not? Simply planning and implementing the events that I was responsible for tested and contributed to my knowledge of the life of a performing artist. In a sense I was a conductor and at times a delegator. I had many opportunities to learn about playing guitar, including technique, staging and sound adjustment, to learn about developing a repertoire, connecting with an audience, pushing past exhaustion, and making helpful people feel appreciated. I tend to be a spur of the moment sort of person. Everything would have fallen to bits if I applied that attitude to these events. I am constantly reminded of the rewards of hard work. My playing has certainly improved since Gillacamp 2008 and that is the result of two factors, having an excellent instructor and possessing the willingness to do the work. Will I ever develop the confidence to officially throw myself at the mercy of an audience? That remains to be seen. I'd say I am closer to that prospect than ever, but not there yet. Confidence in my repertoire is building, but I still haven't learned to relax, I still get the jitters bad enough to cause mental hiccups. All in due time....
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