Steve Lin - Classical Guitarist

The world walks for diseases, cancer and other causes. Power and strength in numbers. Musicians have that potential too, which is why I’m seriously thinking about organizing a Boston Guitarathon 2007. It will involve the guitar from all walks of life–classical, jazz, contemporary improvisation, our young students, the lovely folks from Boston Classical Guitar Society, a special appearance by Eliot Fisk, chamber music with musicians who are dedicated to larger causes, contemporary music, etc. We’ll draw heavily on the multi talents of NEC’s guitarists. This will, of course, be a Boston Guitar Project presentation of community service.

I’m sure you all think it’s a lovely idea and I’m to reassure you that this has some sensible groundings. I would love for local banks and businesses to participate. Our mailing list is increasing confidently while we are building very important partnerships throughout the Boston area. This will also be a preview of what is to come at Boston GuitarFest 2007. Most importantly, I believe this will be a great opportunity for all involved.

How do all the forces of responsibility in my life affect my overall output as a human, musician, student, teacher, friend and dreamer? I’m finding that the more things I have to do and the more roles in life I assume, the more I play guitar. Recently I’ve been practicing quite a bit because the weather has been supportive of my street-bench-Bohemian ways. But I think my increased time with my instrument is a result of a reluctance to check my E-mail, make phone calls, run errands and–yes–do homework.

Amazing, if you think about it. I practice not because of my lessons, an upcoming concert, an inner drive, nor my upcoming recording project, but because I’d rather not think about the rest of the world for a few hours. Therein lies my solitude. And I get to carry her in a shiny, yellow case.

Somehow I can still manage to get all the rest of the other stuff done though. I just made some publicity materials for Boston GuitarFest 2007. Why? The work inspired me, I think.

Yes, I want to do stuff that inspires me. Sounds fair, no?

With charisma, charm and wit Anuradha Pal welcomed us to an engaging glimpse of the tabla at New England Conservatory. As she spoke about her instrument, her life and her music, I sensed an artist who beautifully fuses her deep respect for tradition and her spiritual upbringing with youthful energy, broad perspectives and boundless ambition. As she played she smiled with the innocence of a ten year-old and gazed at us with deeply telling and sensitive eyes. With breath-taking technique and imagination, her tabla was as versatile as language and told a story through tones, inflections and rhythm.

One of the most important lessons watching her was the way she presented the tabla. She was dynamic, made us laugh, impressed us, took us for a ride. If guitar outreach could be even half as effective perhaps our general audience would not be so small.

John Gibbons performed the whole thing (with repeats) tonight and it was a truly fantastic concert. Few have the guts to do something like this and I feel blessed that I was able to be a part of this concert.

I’m so mellowed out from the music that I can actually hold off complaining about the backwater ways of New England Conservatory. In Bach I found some way to forgive New England Conservatory for the inefficient administration, poor management, rotting facilities and a sluggish response to make it all better. Put it another way, a beautiful concert like this one makes the world a better place–you forget about the questions that have no answers and for a while the world seems like an ok place.

In 2005 Eliot Fisk already asked me to be his assistant for the GuitarFest and I happily agreed. Some weeks I did lots of work for it–others I practiced guitar instead. Whatever the case, I had decided early on that I would not compete for many reasons. (Eliot wouldn’t be anywhere near the jury, so that wasn’t one of them.)

March 2006 was my recital and after that there was very little guitar playing, just more phone calls, E-mails, and more school assignments. By late May, it was still the same–I was buried underneath tons of festival-related work with no guitar in sight. Something struck me this time though–two very different reasons why I should enter the competition.

1. For the heck of it. I mean, it’s right here in Boston, at New England Conservatory, right under my nose. Why not? Plus, I get to play in Jordan Hall–how cool is that! Just go up there and have a good time! Yea!

2. More importantly, entering the competition was a reminder of why I got into all of this in the first place. I’m not suffering from any identity crisis but having gotten myself into all kinds of different responsibilities, it was important to go back to where I started.

I tied first with Joseph Williams II and I could not have been happier with the outcome. The following trip to San Francisco to record and meeting Vince from VGo Recordings, then finally the creation of this website… It was supposed to be a boring summer in Boston–practicing a bit, transcribing a few pieces, getting caught up with things. It turned out to be the most productive summer of my life yet!

It’s a crazy thing but I love the social aspect of NEC. I love practicing outside, soaking up the sun and the friendship. If only I could also have a beer as well. I should start bringing a camera to school though–sometimes when the guitarists hang outside it’s such a nice scene and it would work so well with the Boston Guitar Project and possibly even the Boston GuitarFest.

Along with the start of school is my annual jab at NEC to get some more of it’s act together. Then there’s the work and the rehearsing. It’ll all start very soon, I’m afraid.

School will resume on Wed, 9/6, and seeing that life will soon assume less meaningful activities, I’ve decided now would be a good time to recap on last year, 2005-2006.

In August 2005 I was happily back in Boston and was excited as ever seeing old friends from NEC–Eliot Fisk, Grisha Goryachev, Santiago Diaz, Zaira Meneses. We spoke of the coming year and considered various goals and projects. The Boston Guitar Project was born around that time as was the Boston Guitar Quartet (myself, Grisha, Santi and Zaira).
School started–and I quickly sought out my favorite species: the composers. Among them, Matthew McConnell has become my collaboration (and drinking) buddy. School work came and went as usual and a professor I respected turned out to be just another one of them musicologists. The theory teachers turned out to be totally cool though. Eliot Fisk soon announced his plan for Boston GuitarFest 2006 and I became his assistant.
NEC is still the same. Getting better, but still the same. I started this blog to get a conversation going. I’m sure it will pick up again once the school year starts up in two days.
The Boston GuitarFest and Boston Guitar Project were both big turning points in my life. I didn’t just find a reason to learn more about Photoshop and Dreamweaver but they gave me something new for my mind to chew on. Fresh food is always fabulous.

Sigh… school is starting soon. Oh well, let’s throw some parties and makes some new friends!!!

You ever leave a rubber band out in direct sunlight and see it a month later? Well, add 11 months and that’s how I feel right now. I didn’t know my new lease had a Stairmaster clause. Anyhow, I like my new apartment and I’m settled in and that’s the most important thing.

Apparently there’s a jazz sax player somewhere near me and I listened as s/he warmed up with various arpeggi. That inspired me to try it on guitar and finally look for some reasonable fingerings for playing all those major thirds and those perfect fourth leaps. After messing with some diatonic ones I went to try out some 9th chords and I got to say, this is a great way for me to learn more of the fret board and keep myself motivated to practice technique!

I’ve begun editing my upcoming CD and I got to say, it’s LOTS of fun. I thought recording was fun, now listening to the takes is fun too. There’s something exciting about the rediscovery of the music that you made, the different sides. Every artist will say they have their way of interpreting a piece but really, what is that way? At best your subconscious decides, and even then, poorly. Some takes are strikingly similar, others are very different and mysteriously so.

It’s about time classical musicians stepped into the real world and dropped the taboos about recording. Forget music. Take those beautiful models from the catalogues in Victoria’s Secret–just about every pixel was tampered with. Or the Honda commercials that lasted 25 seconds but took hours to shoot and months to edit and splice. For something less extreme, take the papers that I write for class. I proof them the best I can in the 2 hours before they’re due. Point is, everything in this world now is edited and I think it’s a beautiful thing.