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Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice.

Run by the awesome pianist Stephen Drury, this was a week-long festival for crazy, dissonant, weird-sounding music. Something very cool about getting a bunch of classical musicians who all love weird stuff together in one space.

Stephen asked me to play Takemitsu’s “Towards the Sea” with a wonderful flutist from Montreal, Amelie. During the week we had four very relaxed, very fun, low-key, and surprisingly productive rehearsals.

I was only able to attend two of the evening concerts with performances by Stephen Drury (piano), Scott Deal (percussion), Eliot Gattegno (saxophone), Yukiko Takagi (piano), Jeffrey Gilliam (piano), Heather O’Donnell (piano) and many, many others.

This year featured the music of Walter Zimmermann. I’ve actually never heard of this composer and the bit of his music that I was exposed to  this year was very interesting.

On the final evening Stephen again had his incredible SICPP marathon. We started at 5pm and I think I got out of the hall at around 11:30pm. (My Takemitsu went on at around 10:30.) How cool is that! All the freak music you could ever want. I’m a huge fan.

The Boston Globe, by the way, gave a really cool article about SICPP. Check it out!

Alright guys! Let’s do it!

9:22 am: my caller ID read “Dan Acsadi,” a GuitarFest staff. I quickly learned that for the next few days, my phone would be the devil that pried my eyes open. Last-minute confusions, questions, and clarifications were always part of the gig. We dealt with them and put them out like small fires.

There were two major tasks today: airport transportation and setting up check-in.

Coordinating airport runs was crazy as Boston’s traffic. Joaquin Clerch, one of our Cuban faculty members, was held up at US Customs for a good while. We had a wild entourage of a Honda CR-V and a rented Ford Escape to pick up Tlen Huicani, the incredible folk trio from Veracruz (Mexico) and their massive folk harp.

Back at NEC, check-in went along. It went on smoothly, and I was met with happy faces, hugs, and smiles at the reception. Eliot gave a short introductory speech afterwards. I guess it was no official! After a short mingle, Joseph Williams and I checked ourselves into Jordan Hall.

Concert time came. The AC units in Jordan Hall were broken and the stage was lit dimly to reduce heat emissions. I walked out onto the stage, thinking, “This is it! Awesome!”

Like with most performances, this one came and went in a flash. I loved the energy from the audience though. But at the same time I felt extremely at peace doing my thing. During the month before GuitarFest I never had much time to practice but I was still happy with the way I played. Joseph played the second half beautifully. The crowd loved his Scarlatti and the Rochbergs were driven with energy.

Now that I had the concert behind me, all that remained was the second Boston GuitarFest!

The day before the day – always a day to be remembered.

It was the kind of day where I had already talked away countless daytime minutes before I even had a chance to make coffee, and by the time I filled my mug, e-mails were flying at me like fastballs.

Knowing that people were coming from all over the world, from places as far as Columbia, to attend Boston GuitarFest 2007 was a strange feeling. The attendees were trickling in like the rain that began to cover the city. “Flight delays,” I thought to myself, as I embarked on my long day of running around New England Conservatory.

The day of final preparations went by in a flash. At 9:30 pm I decided it was time to head home and make some dinner. Joseph Williams, who was playing in the concert with me tomorrow, finally showed up after many airport delays at 11:30 pm. After some food, beer, and conversation, we rehearsed for almost 2 hours.

It must have been around 3:30 when I turned off the lights and pulled on the covers. Boston GuitarFest 2007 was ready for blast-off.

On May 15, 2007 I went with Erik Puslys to Wheeler School in Providence, RI. Mark Davis directs a high school guitar program there and he wanted Erik and I to listen to some of his student quartets, to play a bit, and to talk a bit about majoring in music and being a musician.

It was a morning call for sure–we got there at around 8:50 and, like rock stars, parked right in front of the entrance. The kids were incredible–the two guitar quartets were well-rehearsed. The younger quartet played us some Piazzolla and it was very groovy. The older quartet with seniors and a junior played a beautiful Faure Siciliano arrangement, which was also very beautiful.

What struck me deeply was the genuine interest these students had for the guitar and music. In a world where bombs and violence headline front pages, it’s very reassuring to know that there are people like Mark Davis keeping these beacons of hope lit. Even more comforting is the  knowing that there are young men and women like these who, no matter where they end up in the future, will always have some of our music in their souls.