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The Frank Wallace Memorial Festival & Competition May 15-16, 2021

We are delighted to invite all to celebrate Frank’s musical legacy in an online festival sponsored by the Boston Classical Guitar Society. Headlined by Bill Kanengiser, the weekend events include two concerts and a masterclass. The events are free; donations will benefit the new BCGS Frank Wallace Scholarship Fund. For more information please visit http://www.bostonguitar.org

Frank, as a recent San Francisco Conservatory graduate, taught Bill Kanengiser, then a teenager, his first classical guitar lessons at Appel Farm summer music camp (NJ) in 1974. Frank continued on to Boston that fall, never to return to the West Coast. The rest is history…

Bill Kanengiser

The Frank Wallace Memorial Festival & Competition May 15-16, 2021 was originally published on Gyre Music

#BCGS #Bill Kanengiser #classical guitar #frank wallace #solo guitar

Sweet Enigma | a memorial

Sweet Enigma is now available for download at https://gyremusic.com/products/sweet-enigma/

Sweet Enigma | a memorial was originally published on Gyre Music

#classical guitar #Gyre #memorial #Wallace

Yo-yo time | the up and down of life and death

It’s yo-yo time folks. Please pull yours out and think of me. Down, up, down, up… Down.

One day I am in enough abdominal pain (intestines, stomach, liver, kidneys) to want to die, and then I have a day like Wednesday and Thursday last week. I somehow willed myself into our greenhouse to record thirteen new videos using four different guitars. Never felt so alive. I am so grateful to be able to fulfill one more dream of recording many of my newest works ( if I can finish the editing!). Of course, the next day I had to get myself to the chiropractor to fix the damage I did from pushing myself so far. Then I slept most of the next two days, followed by a tired but wonderful afternoon with both of our boys, Gus and Adam.

The special video from these sessions is appropriately Sweet Enigma, which I wrote for an old, old friend who I have not seen in 50 years. Dave Blanchard commissioned me in January to write a memorial for his daughter who tragically died at age 17. Read more here. The title came to me while thinking I could not possibly understand the pain of such an event, and what mood do I try to strike—enigma: a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand. “Death is the ultimate enigma and we’ll never know its secrets.”

So the yo-yo is a little strange in that you have to throw it down. Most things drop. Footballs, basketballs and baseballs all fall after you throw them up. Gravity—we normally don’t pay much attention to it—is always there, pulling us down to Earth. As my legs get weaker, I am more sensitive to very subtle changes of slope. The slightest rise and I struggle. Staircase – forget it. But down is a relief, and that is the direction I’m headed. Into the Earth. Gravity will swallow me and I will be embraced by this grand globe and all the souls who reside there. And I will be relieved.

BTW, I think “passed away” is a terrible euphemism. It symbolizes our culture’s fear of death, and dying. After all, we don’t refer to the “passed away.” We talk about the dead. Even “deceased” is a distancing from the stark, inevitable and totally natural reality. I will die. And my body will go away. But hopefully my spirit will remain in the hearts of those I know and love and those who encounter my legacy of compositions and recordings.

I am pleased to mention that a dear friend of mine asked for permission to use my last blog post, I look west, for the words to a new choral work. I’ll let him do the announcing when it is done. But he mentioned that the words made him recall singing a choral piece by Heinrich Schütz – Selig sind die Toten – as a freshman in college. These are the words:

Selig sind die Toten, die in dem Herren sterben, von nun an. Ja, der Geist spricht: sie ruhen von ihrer arbeit, und ihre Werke folgen ihnen nach. — Revelation 14, v.13

Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit,  that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

And finally, a recent poem of mine:

Where I Go

No pencil No pen No voice?

No PDFs No MP3s No CD, VCR, TV or apps No .com, .biz, .wav —Heaven!

No thoughts No trails No tears

No fears, fights, or fools No trials, triads or trills No practice No proofs No Pringles, no jingles

I go to the primordial jungle the source where all is created where all is consumed where Nothing resides

All is remembered All is forgotten Nam myoho renge kyo.*

—FW May 11 2020

* Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華經; sometimes truncated phonetically as Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō) (English: ”Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra” / “Glory to the Dharma of the Lotus Sutra”) are religious words chanted within all forms of Nichiren Buddhism.

Yo-yo time | the up and down of life and death was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#cancer #death #dying #Fleta #memorial

I look west

The sun rises in the east while I meditate and do yoga. Heat comes from the south during my practice time. The north remains cold. But I look west, to the setting sun. My time is setting, my twilight has begun. Scared? I really don’t know. Yes, scared of giving up, scared of losing my abilities and knowledge, scared of hurting my precious young sons and wife. But the setting sun brings a new beginning. The spirit rises and the dark side prevails and night blankets the earth in mystery and a view of the stars, the universe itself. It soon will blanket me.

Trees, the forest, block my view of the setting sun. I have long wanted to open the woods in that direction to have a better view, to see the colors and drama of the waning of light. But it’s probably too much for me to accomplish now. My body is weaker, my goals and dreams get smaller – and yet expand through time and space, through word and prayer, through internet and ether. Is this the end of the day, or the beginning of a long night full of dreams and wandering the universe?

My morning rituals begin here, in my practice room, with my friends: the art work that surrounds me. Works by Nancy Knowles, Erika Radich and Adam Wallace. Those beckoning western trees are seen through the windows. But I look east first, to the coming potential of another day enriched by love and play and work. What a balance to maintain — especially when my family is drawing close and we have many friends who want to communicate. I feel selfish ignoring beautiful emails and notes from friends, but I must protect what is nearest and dearest. With already limited energy waning, my priorities must be brutal: me, my family, my work come first.

I would like to give a particular shout out to Erika for her most magnificent and loving set of monotypes called A Distant Wind. She made these while listening to, and feeling inspiration from, my newest CD of the same title. There are two more similar sets at her website, as well as many other works, please visit and solicit. Her deeply spiritual images will inspire.

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I look west was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#art #cancer #meditation #prayer

I'm taking lessons again, from myself...

Am I Ready?

I am in a phase when I am learning music I wrote from September 2019 to January 2020. It’s a blast. I want to record soon, but am I ready? Never, of course! But my time is limited and so I struggle to look deep and deeper into my expressive capabilities. As always I want this to be my best ever…yeah, yeah, it’s a silly notion, but it’s there. How can I do it?

Let’s go Deeper

I go to great lengths these days to make sure my expressive markings are clear and thorough on my new compositions. In my early years as a composer, coming out of two decades of focusing on early music that had no marking whatsoever, I was committed to the idea that the performer had total freedom, and total responsibility to be intelligent, responsive to the musical language, etc. Tempo, dynamics, etc. were not to be ignored, but rather puzzled through and creatively crafted.

Along the way, I became aware that modern players need guidance particularly when they don’t have a lot of time to prepare a score. Large guitar ensembles or even smaller chamber groups need assistance, and so I changed and started to enjoy the ability to finely craft what I was doing. Improvements in Finale software made it gratifying when listening to a few of the more authentic midi sounds of flute, English horn, cello and violin.

I have also been working intensely on a pamphlet to guide students and professionals in the special techniques and demands of polyphonic music. Some of these ideas (presented in Polyphonic Exercises) are very useful in crafting dynamics and many expressive devices as well. I have some personal concepts of particular markings, such as when I write mezzo piano I mean to play sul tasto. Fortes I generally intend to be more ponticello to enhance the quickness and drama of louder notes, chords and passages. There is more resistance in the string closer to the bridge and the natural response of the hand is to meet that resistance with more force. As always, these are just guidelines. a starting point for true inspiration in performance.

In this example, I use one of the suggestions I make in Polyphonic Exercises: on each crescendo I move from sul tasto to sul ponticello to enhance the growth and expressive potential. So at the beginning of the second measure, the high A is played with my a finger close to the bridge, while my thumb is extended far to the left, over the sound whole, so as to be soft both timbrally and dynamically. The two staccatos in the third measure contrast markedly with the legato that follows on exactly the same notes and the staccatos that follow need to be very clear.

sample of expressive marks from Of the Spheres

Teaching Myself

So, all that is written into the score. Am I doing it? NOT! That’s where the teacher comes back — the teacher being me the composer! Telling me the performer what to do. But I often ignore or alter the markings myself! Come on — the composer is not God, certainly he couldn’t mean all these things literally! Sometimes this leads to a change in the concept and I do alter markings, but often I simply need to pay attention. So “going deeper” is no big mystery, it’s just a refinement of attention to be totally present in the sound I am making now. If it’s soft, how soft? Go softer. Should it be a pianissimo, or just a piano. If mezzo piano is sul tasto, what is pianissimo? That’s a rhetorical question for you, but my opinion is that it can be whatever you want, determined by the gesture, the phrasing, the musical intention. Extreme sul ponticello can be used for a very light free stroke that does NOT meet the resistance, but rather passively submits to it. What timbre might be most supportive of the dynamic, the mood, the intent.

Ultimately, the performer has all power, and she is right, the composer is NOT GOD, simply a human trying to do the best they can at the moment. But those highly pondered markings should not be totally ignored and can in fact be used for real inspiration and contemplation. They should inspire the desire to always be searching for deeper truths about the music and ourselves. All in all, I’m going deeper into the endless subtleties that are possible in music, on the guitar, in the mind, the concept, the execution. Following instincts can be good, but sometimes the mental process can examine new possibilities and lead to creative solutions as well.

I’m taking lessons again, from myself… was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#techandtone #articulation #expression #expressive #practice

New Life for Easter

Diagnosis

Yesterday was the anniversary of my diagnosis of liver metastasis. A truly momentous occasion and reason to celebrate re-birth. For I have been born again — not in the common sense that I have adopted Christianity as my fundamental belief. But in the true sense, my soul has come alive in the past year like no other time in my life. I am grateful for life, for love, for music, for family, for friends, for ancestors, for breath, for the Earth and all its beautiful inhabitants.

Why JOY?

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been wondering about why I called my Christmas CD of 2007 or so, JOY. That was not my modus operandi! I was constantly battling mild depression and though I loved what I did in life, I was not aware (shall we say) of just how meaningful and full it was. I was driven. Now I know. As I mention in JOY’s liner notes, my memory of Christmas Eve services in San Carlos CA were magical. Candelarios, hundreds of them, lined the roof and porch of our church as the congregation emerged from service singing and carrying more candles. I feel now like that was the most gracious and ritualistic moment of my youth. An annual call to feel life in its profound richness: light/dark, music/silence, congregation/individual presence.

My parents were deeply religious and active members of our Presbyterian church. They reveled in their new-found freedom from their deep roots in Texas and the southern Baptist and Lutheran denominations. But they did not care for ritual. The church was there to promote social good and service. The minister was to inspire congregants to do good work in the community. Raising money for a new organ or choir director was frowned on. And so joy itself was not central. Personal growth was relegated to private prayer with God.

I embarked upon adulthood with a fierce determination to do good in my way, and to pursue personal growth however possible. As most of you know, that was primarily a music-related pursuit: guitar lessons, breathing lessons, voice lessons, lute lessons, expanding my repertoire in unexpected directions—be it folk songs, medieval chants or Renaissance polyphony, while premiering contemporary works on the guitar by various Boston composers.

And so all that ground work, in all its madness, glee, and frustrations has brought me to where I am: a profound presence in the joy of life that surrounds me.

Guest blog

Let me conclude with a guest writer. My wife Nancy posted this yesterday on CaringBridge for our devoted friends and followers there. She says it much better than I…

Today marks the one year anniversary of Frank’s Stage Four diagnosis. We are all so proud he is still with us in spite of his rare and virulent ocular melanoma. Although he tires easily, has tumors inside and out, has digestive issues and is now on hospice, he is still doing his two-hour morning meditation and yoga, playing gorgeous guitar, writing blog posts, editing his new compositions and updating gyremusic.com (home to all his work), as well as clearing paths in the woods and hanging with me and our sons.

Adam left yesterday after being here over a week and Gus arrives today. Our greenhouse is getting warm enough for Frank to record his wonderful new pieces. With this heartwarming family time it is hard to keep up with thank you notes to all who have sent us their love (in myriad ways). We will write soon, but meanwhile please know we love you right back and you are all making a big difference for us as we navigate our way.

We both hope you are healthy and finding some peaceful moments in these strange times. The unknowingness around cancer has been one of our family’s biggest hurdles for the last three years, and one of the hardest feelings to express. The world now joining us in a state of unknowing is oddly comforting.

New Life for Easter was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#cancer

Guitar as Choir | polyphonic origins of guitar music

In my article Loud, or Robust?, I mentioned performing Narváez in a 12th century cathedral with a 4-5 second reverb. It was magical. It was transformative. I heard every voice of a four-part texture as if it were being sung. I must assume that this is how Narváez and his colleagues and audience of the 16th century heard their music. It is not the same in a carpeted room with soft plaster board walls and absorptive curtains. I’m sure old Luys did not always play in a magnificent acoustic, but the norm in Spain today is very, very different than the norm in America. Floors are NOT covered in rugs and carpet – they are hard tile. A bar in Spain is LOUD – voices carry and reverberate as do the stone streets. It is downright cacophonous. Play a guitar there or a vihuela and it is loud, not muted, and the notes are much more sustained, or vocal, if you will.

Where did Narváez’s music come from? Why did he write what he wrote and from what traditions did he emerge? The vihuela repertoire commonly played on the modern guitar is but a tiny portion of the extant repertoire: roughly 700 pieces contained in seven books. Of that at least half the pieces are arrangements (intabulations) of choral repertoire. And most of the rest are fantasías in the choral, or polyphonic style. The few sets of instrumental variations called diferéncias are in fact quite rare and dance music is virtually non-existent. Some might surmise that dance and diférencias traditions were the more popular style that did not need to be written down. I don’t believe there is any evidence for that however, and even if so, it would have certainly been considered of lesser importance, or sophistication. Afterall the guitarra was deemed the instrument of the street.

Miguel de Fuenllana makes it clear in his introduction that the purpose of his book is to teach the art of composition through the study of the great masters of his day: Guerrero and Morales, Flecha and the Flemish composers Josquin, Gombert, Willaert, etc. By the very nature of his written format [red numbers in the tablature which are to be sung] he makes it clear that his practice involves singing one part of the texture while playing all the parts. One piece demands that you sing the bass, another the alto and so on through all the voices. Teresica Hermana is a great example of very quick complex polyphony demanding great technical skill of the left hand while singing the bass part. [Listen Teresica Hermana]

I Fedeli is an ensemble specializing in the performance of 16th and 17th century music. It was founded in 2006 by cornetto player Josué Meléndez with the aim of reviving the best and most exciting repertoire written for the cornetto… You can watch a video of magnificent polyphonic playing on Facebook

The first masters of the guitar were thinking vocally – the lute or vihuela were the only way to play all voices at once by oneself. The desire was to experience these vocal masterpieces in the privacy of one’s room. Certainly any professional musician of the day had spent his youth in a choir and was a highly trained vocalist. Keyboards were not yet dominant and orchestras did not exist for another 200 years. Instrumentalism, as we generally think of it, emerged from this vantage point.

What if we were to regain this viewpoint? What if we were to figuratively sing our music? What would that entail? On a practical scale, that is a huge topic I do not aim to deal with now, though it is worth noting that communal singing on both small and large scale has become rare in our culture. From a conceptual point of view, there are things we can do as practicing guitarists. We don’t need to add words but rather play with the concept of a constant variety of attack [consonant] and timber [vowel]. A singer uses consonants to release, or articulate, vowels. There is an infinite palate of vowel sounds, variations in every language and dialect are endless. Each vowel has a distinct color: an a sounds much warmer than an e; an u a little darker than an o. Try to play those two vowels on the guitar. Play other vowels. How do you make an u, or an o? Does each string have any particular vowel color it likes, or can you make all vowels on all strings. If you were to play Lagrima right now, would the first four melodic notes all be the same vowel? Or each different? Try it both ways. Does each nail sound different? How can we use that to our advantage, rather than always trying to even out our sound.

Segovia famously said the guitar is like a mini-orchestra: a flute section here, a trumpet pops out there; the strings alternate with the winds. It’s effective, but not subtle, not moving. Playing as if one were singing demands a constant gradation of tone, subtle or not, given the textures and mood of the music. This idea need not be limited to melodies, any texture can be colored in this manner: arpeggios, repeated chords, pointillistic sections. Indeed the purpose of arpeggio or tremolo is to create a more sustained texture, but that texture can be constantly shifting in hue.

In this scenario, one can take advantage of the inherently different tone of each nail, or each finger’s proximity to the bridge. Don’t just alternate i and m because it’s what your supposed to do – rather explore using one finger or changing not only attack, but timbre for an accented note. Dissonance or consonance can be greatly enhanced by the use of color – try playing the dominant chord nasally and the resolution more roundly: or use an e vowel on the dissonance and an ah to resolve it.

Finally, the ultimate use of these techniques can be greatly enhance the execution of cresendos. Start soft and tasto, progress toward loud and ponticello. If, as I show in the blog Polyphonic Basics, you are practicing a simultaneous crescendo and decrescendo, the use of this technique of timbre can greatly enhance the separation of voices, though it obviously can’t work literally at the same time without great contortions of the hand positions. I will show this further in Part II of Polyphonic Basics.

Explore. Have fun experimenting on simple melodic pieces. Go to YouTube or your CD collection and listen to the approach of your favorite guitarists. Are they exploring the full subtlety of timbre the guitar has to offer, or merely making broad gestures in one color, then another.

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Guitar as Choir | polyphonic origins of guitar music was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#choir #chorale #part-singing #polyhony #polyphonic #vihuela

Inner Smile

Photo by Nancy Knowles at Parker House cafe in Peterborough NH

I’m crying. A lot. Unexpectedly. When I see my boys, or just sitting in a chair, not thinking about much.

Sinking into my fear?. Fear of what? A tear? A query into life itself. Where from? Where to? And holy moly, why!?

It’s a new tier. A new level of acceptance I’m looking for. Accept! That’s been my key word. All of you who think I’m strong, zen-like, positive and determined, whatever of that is true has come from acceptance. But when little mother-fuckers start creeping all over and through my body, there for me to feel, assess, poke and prod, man it’s a new day. A new way of thinking is needed.

Accept the bumps on head, tummy and leg and move on. Get a grip on this reality — I’m still here! I’m still writing and playing, loving and living. Music still flows through me. It’s time to play. It’s time to peak, and peek into my soul and your soul. Our soul. We are one, on a long slippery slope, skiing into eternity. Sledding if you prefer (yep, that’s mine). BTW, can’t stand my feet sliding around on ice or snow! You may not know that I’m from Texas, not NE!

I think I have written that I don’t like the word remission, or survival. I wanted cure. Maybe that ain’t going to happen, but a new PA named Jamie met with us last week and convinced me the it’s time to live with cancer. I truly think I have not delusional, but it is time to believe that I can live on with whatever trials are thrown at me, whatever visual, tactile or other manner of awareness of my illness manifests.

Mr. Kuwahara, the Japanese acupuncturist my dear friend Aaron Green has taken me to in Watertown a few times, leaves me with an Inner Smile. Is he healing me? Maybe he’s not even trying to heal the cancer, but he is healing my soul and leaves me joyous. I use his moxa most days and lie in shavasana while they burn in two or three spots. It always brings back the smile — it’s time to believe that is all there is. An inner smile that will carry me through and beyond. It is, after all, called the Corpse Pose. Ha! Not yet, thank you very much. (He said with an outward smile!)

Banner and portrait photography by Nancy Knowles.

Inner Smile was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#cancer #life #smile

Meet the Composer | workshop in Provence Sept. 2020

MEET THE COMPOSER

Frank Wallace shares his own new works September 13-20, 2020 Centre Artistique de Piègon, Provence, France Contact Frank Wallace at wallacecomposer[at]gmail.com to register or for more info http://www.art-piegon.org/ | [email protected] Fontatière, 26110 Piégon | Tel: 33 (0) 475 27 10 43

Frank Wallace w/Aaron Green guitar, photo by Daniela Spector

Spend a week immersed in silence, music, nature, great food, wine and art. I spent one week at the Centre Artistique de Piègon, Provence, France in the fall of 2019. It was magical, restorative, healing and filled with art and creative inspiration. I invite you to join me there in the fall of 2020 to share the beauty and the peace as well as insight into the interpretation of my musical works. Students will participate in daily master classes, private lessons, presentations and informal discussions. I will consult with each pupil upon registration to choose appropriate repertoire, then will send scores and links to blogs and videos about the music and exercises that will be presented in the technique class (*more info below).

Limited enrollment of six participants. Each will receive two private lessons, two masterclass lessons and participation in technique class, lectures and concert. Partial scholarships for tuition are available to students and young professionals. To be eligible, you must become a member of my Patreon group.

Room and full board $780 (700 euros) – Please pay directly to the Centre at PayPal Tuition $500 – $50 discount for early registration paid in full by July 1, 2020. Send check to PO Box 339 Antrim NH 03440, or to [email protected] at PayPal. Thanks to my Patrons at Patreon scholarship money is available for a portion of tuition. Please describe your need in an email to wallacecomposer[at]gmail.com.

Schedule

Arrive Sunday afternoon September 13 6pm Greetings and short concert by Frank Wallace and Nancy Knowles. 7:45pm dinner Monday-Wednesday, Friday-Saturday 7:00 yoga in studio (informal and optional!) 8:30-9:30 Breakfast 9:30-10:30 technique class 10:30-1:00 Free practice time and 45 minute private lessons 1:00-2:00 Lunch 3:30-5:00 masterclass 5:30-6:30 general discussion and presentation of solo, song and ensemble works by Frank Wallace 7:45 Dinner Thursday will be free for individual practice, exploration of the gorgeous countryside, local wineries, long walks, etc. Saturday night will be an optional performance for all participants, TBA Sunday departure after breakfast

*Technique Class

Each day will focus on different musical concepts from a technical point of view. With guitar in hand, we will work through: how true legato is achieved, how to render polyphonic lines on the guitar, clearly expressing melody and accompaniment, the subtleties of articulation, etc. Both original compositions by Frank and historical works by Bach, Sor, Narváez and others will be used.

Sheela & Claude Eichenberger welcome you all year round in this timeless place located in an exceptional site. At the foot of Mont Ventoux, in the silence of harmonious hills, guests enjoy a holiday full of artistic atmosphere whether they come alone, as a couple, or in small groups. The Artistic Center is located in an area of great tourist interest both by the surrounding festivals and by the variety of landscapes and picturesque villages. Hikers will find multiple paths and climbing trails on the Dentelles de Montmirail and the rocks of Buis-Les-Baronnies.

In the center, Art is omnipresent, by the paintings on the walls, the frequent passage of musicians, the sensitivity of the remarks made during the meals to the inventive and refined cooking. A walk in the surroundings, the exchanged words, the meeting with guests from all walks of life, an artist, an interpreter, create an atmosphere where everyone can express themselves with confidence. These spontaneous contacts nourish the heart and the mind. Spiritual, scientific and cultural topics have their place in the Center’s vast discovery program.

The message could be, “Let’s encourage each other to communicate with each other!”

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Meet the Composer | workshop in Provence Sept. 2020 was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#classical #France #guitar #Piegon #Provence #student #Workshop

Meet the Composer | summer workshop in Vermont

MEET THE COMPOSER

Frank Wallace shares his own new works with Frank Wallace and Christopher Ladd July 20-26, 2020 at Stone Church Arts: music, art & spirituality at a retreat and conference center in a Vermont village. 12 Church St, Bellows Falls, Vermont 05101 | 802-460-0110 | just blocks from The Vermonter, Amtrak from DC and NYC.

Spend a week immersed in the music and expertise of master guitarist/composer Frank Wallace and Christopher Ladd, professor of guitar at the University of Hartford Hartt School of Music. Chris has been a longtime advocate of Wallace’s compositions and will record a CD devoted to those works early in 2020 with violinist Asa Guojonsdottir. Frank and Chris will share insight into the interpretation of Wallace with participants in daily master classes, private lessons, workshop presentations and informal discussions. Frank will consult with each student upon registration to choose appropriate repertoire, then send scores and links to blogs and videos about the music and exercises that will be presented in the technique and ensemble classes.

Limited enrollment of ten participants. Each will receive two private lessons, two masterclass lessons and participation in technique class, lectures and concert.

Room and board

Tuition, Single Rm B&B, Dinners – $1035 (4 available) Tuition, Shared Rm B&B, Dinners – $885 (8 available) Tuition, Commuter, Dinners – $710 Tuition, Commuter, No Meals – $500 $50 discount for early registration paid in full by July 1, 2020. REGISTER NOW** Thanks to my Patrons at Patreon scholarship money is available for a portion of tuition. Please describe your need in an email to [email protected].

Schedule

Arrive Monday afternoon July 20 Greetings and short concert by Frank Wallace and Nancy Knowles. 7:00pm dinner Tuesday-Saturday 7:00am Yoga in studio (informal and optional!) 8:00-9:30 Breakfast 9:30-10:30 Technique class* 10:30-1:00 Free practice time and 45 minute private lessons 1:00-2:00 Lunch 3:30-5:00 Masterclass 5:30-6:45 Rehearsal of ensemble works by Frank Wallace 7:00 Dinner

Saturday night will be an optional performance for all participants, TBA, with Frank, Chris and mezzo Nancy Knowles playing as well. Sunday morning departure after breakfast.

*Technique Class

Frank Wallace

Long known as an elegant and virtuosic performer with Duo LiveOak, Frank Wallace is one of the most prolific composers for guitar solos and ensembles of the past two decades. Wallace is currently focused on solo performance of the repertoire he has known and loved for decades as well as his own new works. Wallace plays and sings 16th century Spanish and Italian works for vihuela de mano and lute in Orpheus’ Lyre. He shares his love for old guitars from his personal collection in Three Spanish Guitars, and performs his own exciting virtuosic guitar solos and songs in Father Said. He has toured widely throughout the U.S., Europe and South America since 1976. Performances include the Holland Festival, Regensburg Festival, Música en Compostela, Taxco International Guitar Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, Barcelona Festival, International Guitar Festival of Arequipa, the Festival of Spanish Song of Granada, and Guitar Foundation of America. Frank Wallace founded and directed for four years the Boston Classical Guitar Society’s Festival 21, celebrating 21st century guitar. He served as the Society’s director from 2007-9. In New York City he founded, and with John Olson co-directed, the Second Sundays Guitar Series run by the New York City Classical Guitar Society and Roger Smith Hotel. He has served on the faculty of the New England Conservatory, Guitar Foundation of America, Lute Society of America and various universities in New England. He holds a B.M. in classical guitar performance from San Francisco Conservatory.

Christopher Ladd

Award winning and internationally renowned classical guitarist Christopher Ladd is recognized throughout North America and abroad as one of the most promising classical musicians of his generation. Fingerstyle Guitar hails his performances as being“… rendered confidently and expressively.” Praised as“… an exercise in extremes.” by Soundboard Magazine, he is highly sought after as a soloist and chamber musician. Most recently Mr. Ladd was a featured performer at the 2017 Sarajevo International Guitar Festival. Noteworthy performances include appearances at the Vijećnica in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzgovina, Mengi and the Kaldalon Theater at Harpa in Reykjavik, Iceland, the DiMenna Center in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Viennese Opera Ball hosted by the Austrian Embassy, the historic Byrdcliffe Theater in Woodstock, NY and for former vice-president Al Gore at his residence in Washington, D.C. Active also as a chamber musician, Mr. Ladd is a founding member of The Pandora Duo which features acclaimed flutist Janet Arms, and The Amaranth Duo with Icelandic violinist Asa Gudjonsdottir. In addition to performing pieces of standard repertoire, Mr. Ladd has premiered numerous new works by composers such as Kenneth Steen, Robert Carl, Nolan Stolz, Lief Ellis, Kathryn Swanson, Ty Alan Emerson, Ernst Bacon, Phillip Houghton and Frank Wallace. Recently he had the opportunity to work with GRAMMY and Academy Award winning composer John Corigliano, in a performance of his work Troubadours for guitar and chamber orchestra conducted by Edward Cumming. Mr. Ladd currently serves on the faculty of The Hartt School in West Hartford, Connecticut, as an Artist/Teacher, Director of The Hartt School Guitar Festival, and as the Chair of the Guitar and Harp Program.

**Register and Pay: There are three ways to register and pay:

send payment to frank[at]gyremusic.com

By check payable to Stone Church Center, mailed to 12 Church St., Bellows Falls, VT 05101. (Please write “Meet the Composer” in the memo line). Please include your name, dietary preferences (if applicable), and your choice of single, shared, commuter or commuter no meals (your payment amount should reflect this choice), or

By phone. Call 802-460-0110, select option 1, and you will get a live person who will take your registration details and credit or debit card over the phone.

Meet the Composer | summer workshop in Vermont was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#Bellows Falls #Christopher Ladd #Sotne Church #Vermont #Workshop

Gratus Sum | thanks to the musicians

I have much to be thankful for, as I have said many times in these blogs. And so today, in the spirit of my nearly completed 4th Guitar Sonata, Gratus Sum – I am Grateful – I give thanks to all the musicians who have done so much to inspire and support me. Gratus Sum is dedicated to long time friend William Kanengiser and gives special thanks to the the seven musicians listed below who will present two concerts in my honor next week.

Frank Wallace Tribute Concerts in Boston and Hartford

Friday, October 25 pre-concert talk 7:30, concert 8:00 First Lutheran Church, 299 Berklee St., Boston BCGS calendar listing

Saturday, October 26 8:00 Alfred C. Fuller Music Center, F Berkman Recital Hall at the Hartt School, 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT 06117 Phone: (860) 768-4100 Hartt Calendar

It is with great delight and thanks that we announce our dear friend and colleague Bob Ward and the Boston Classical Guitar Society will present A Tribute to Frank Wallace this October 25th in Boston and again Oct. 26 in Hartford CT. The concert of my compositions will feature Bob with Alex Dunn playing Duo Sonata #1; Chris Ladd, guitar and Ása Guðjónsdóttir, violin, on Gryphon, Violin Sonata #1, Daniel Acsadi playing Débil del Alba, David William Ross on Cyrcles, Sonata #3 and Nick Cutroneo on Shadow of the Sun. See complete program below.

Video Tributes

Various artists have posted videos on Facebook and YouTube as well as some private messages of my works. All are special, but one stands out for my deep and long connection to a great artist, one of America’s best. William Kanengiser and I met in the summer of 1974 while I was teaching at the Appel Farm Arts Camp and he was a summer camper playing electric hot licks from Mahavishnu Orchestra and studying Villa-Lobos on classical. Bill pays tribute to my music and our friendship with a visit to GSI. Read the complete tribute and see all three videos at the GSI blog. Here’s one of the videos:

Thanks to other musicians

Juan Carlos Laguna has been performing Caracara in his concerts of contemporary music

Watch Dieter Hennings-Yeomans play Rain in VT

Randall Avers posted a beautiful rendition of A Distant Wind on Facebook

Bob Ward initiated the Tribute concert idea and made it happen and Chris Ladd organized the Hartt School concert

Chris Ladd went to the Faroe Islands to debut Gryphon when I was incapacitated in the summer of 2018

John Holmquist has shared a beautiful poem and several lovely folk songs – he has an incredible voice if you don’t know!

David William Ross commissioned and recorded Cyrcles, Sonata #3, which was just released on Parma Records.

Nick Cutroneo did an independent fund-raiser for me by going 12 hours on Twitch.

Cyro Delvizio sent a video of he and his wife performing Mi Jardín de Calla recently

An old friend bought every single guitar solo I have written from gyremusic.com — I now know how much my music is worth – $293!

Another friend bought all my cello music to send to a fabulous cellist in Caracas who is also suffering from a very rare cancer

Composers

William Beauvais wrote a piece for me last November – Prayer for Frank

Gilbert Isbin – recently completed Kept Promise for solo lute, dedicated to me

Concert program for Tribute to Frank

All works composed by Frank Wallace

A Distant Wind Performed by Christopher Ladd

Tjaldur

Drunnhviti

Débil del Alba Performed by Daniel Acsadi

Tjaldur

Drunnhviti

Cyrcles, Sonata 3 (selections from ) Performed by David William Ross

Solstice

The light

Darkness falling

Solstice II

The great sleep- Ko’s way

First truth

Anoushka (from Film Scores) Performed by Robert Ward

Duo Sonata 1 Performed by Robert Ward and Alexander Dunn

Vivace

Adagio

Finale

Gryphon for Violin and Guitar Performed by Christopher Ladd and Asa Guojonsdottir

Lions’ tale

Eagles talon

Feather and claw

Shadow of the Sun (from Suite Hartt) Performed by Nick Cutroneo

New England Sextets Performed by all

A Distant Wind CD

now available for purchase at Gyre Music.

A Distant Wind music inspired by faraway times and places CD by Frank Wallace guitar and composer music by Wallace, Britten and Sagreras; guitar by Aaron Green, 2018

The title track

https://gyremusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/06-A-Distant-W-t2-EDIT2-v1636-320.mp3

Puerh

portrait by Daniela Spector

A distant wind blows from the sun. It blows from China and the Faroes, It blows from Chichén Itzá and Paris, Machaut and Britten Basel, Boston and Brittany.

My cup is filled, sun, soil, soaked leaves flow in my veins. Ancient wisdom bathes cells in silence. A distant wind flows through.

–Frank A. Wallace, Antrim NH, 9-7-19

Gratus Sum | thanks to the musicians was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#A Distant Wind CD #classical #Composition #Event #guitar #New Music #Performance #Recording #Solo Guitar #Tribute #William Kanengiser

Cacti and other pleasures | large ensemble music by Frank A. Wallace

I recently came across a few older, less-than-perfect-videos of some of my large ensemble music. It’s a pleasure to reacquaint myself with old friends, and inspires me to share them with you and dream of new works. Here’s one:

Keene State College guitar ensemble rehearses Spring Symphony with the composer conducting

My most recent guitar ensemble piece is Cacti, commissioned by Arizona State University Phoenix, Glendale Community College, and Arizona School of the Arts. The three ensembles joined forces on April 7, 2018 to give the debut of the work under the direction of conductor Charles Hulihan. Chuck, Frank Koonce and Josh Pierce conspired to have me visit the previous fall to teach, perform and conduct some other ensemble pieces.

“Each piece composed by Frank Wallace that I have had the opportunity to see has been a joy… I am very happy to find, throughout his music, that he seems to be one of those guitar music creators who really has something new to say.” – Uros Dojcinovic, Soundboard, on Random Act for cello and guitar

I have also been commissioned to write mandolin orchestra music by Das JugendZupfOrchester des Landes NRW, Christian de Witt, director and Robert Margo for the Providence Mandolin Orchestra, Mark Davis, director; and guitar ensemble pieces Higfor Timberlaneh School and the NH All State Guitar ensemble. Larger chamber works of four or more have been written for Fabian Hinsche, the Hartt School 50th Anniversary concert and a tribute concert to my work in 2007 for the BCGS.

My goal in writing these works is to bring joy to the performers, conductor and audience, but also to challenge. Challenge all the particpants to broaden their interests outside arrangements of standard classics and popular music. It seems to me there is a move to make classical music more “accessible,” more appealing to a general audience. In the “good ol’ days,” the great classical composers either wrote for an erudite noble class, or an elite business class who found prestige in going to concerts — after all, the populous could not afford it. Aside from any social issues, the musical result was unquestionable.

But let us not forget a fundamental drive to create and explore new ideas. We must support the creative act itself with money, interest, exposure and opportunity. My friends at ASU, GCC and ASA are model proponents of new music and give regular stimulation to their students through intense involvement with the creative act. We must not simply “have a good time.”

Our art and craft require enormous amounts of skill and devotion. It’s not always easy and first impressions of something new are frequently not accurate or sustained. Large ensembles must rise to the task of performing sophisticated, detailed and even complex scores.

To watch continuous play of all available videos of these works, go to my YouTube playlist Large Ensemble Works with Guitar. Several selections are provided below. To purchase any of these works, please select from this list at Gyre Music.

New England Quintets | performed by the Providence Mandolin Orchestra, Mark Davis conducting

La Perla del Pico | performed by Duo Alterity and friends at the Hartt School

Un Establo de Oro | rehearsal video of Fabian Hinsche and friends

Changes Upon the Guitar | debut at the Hartt School

——

Cacti and other pleasures | large ensemble music by Frank A. Wallace was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#All State #conducting #guitar ensemble #Keene State College #Mandolin orchestra

Balance in the Dark | to create in peace

Dreaming | from Nocturnal by Benjamin Britten

http://www.frankwallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/17-Dreaming-Nocturnal.mp3

A Distant Wind is blowing pre-buy your copy now at Gyre Music

It’s dark outside

I got up extra early today to start my meditation and yoga, so it was still dark at the end of my session. I’ve been practicing one leg balance stands for several months now and have become quite stable – but only on one spot! Forget it if I go out on the grass or even turn directions. There is a magical bump of 200 year old knotted floor board rising into the arch of my foot that supports me. I focus on a lamp, and the light of two windows on either side engage my peripheral vision. Today dawn was still dim and I could hardly hold the pose for two seconds. I’ve been kind of low for a few days, so I must be “out of balance” and need to re-focus my attention to this pose and my psyche.

Then I realized how important light and vision are to our sense of balance. But why? I can’t give the scientific reason for it, but clearly vision is our primary sense of the world around us and it follows that it is crucial to our sense of balance. But might it be possible to develop better balance in the dark? I’ve always stumbled in the dark, tripped over my darker side. I get out of balance when the dark moods hold sway over me. My yin is overshadowed by my powerful yang, my urge to create and project.

A joy that rises (from Timid Nightingale) on A Distant Wind CD

http://www.frankwallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/11-IV.-A-Joy-that-Rises-Timid-Nightingale.mp3

As I said in my last blog A Time of Retreat, I need to curl up and hibernate in joy, not in shame and failure. It should be natural to accept the balance nature teaches us, but I have bucked that my whole life. Never accepting the need for rest, good ol’ R&R. I always want more. Not materially in the classic American way, but maybe I have been a victim of the materialistic instincts of our culture. Desperate to acquire more attention, more kudos, more CD releases, more repertoire, more instruments in my collection. No Mercedes or mansions in my needs, but still a sense of impatience, dissatisfaction with my life and how it’s going.

So this winter I will seek balance in the dark. Eyes closed, or cupped hands warming my eye balls, while I learn to maintain a balanced posture of peace and wonder at the goodness of life. I want to return to the indulgent sense that I make art for art’s sake because I simply have to. It’s not a question, it’s a command the universe has given me. There’s no guilt, no rush, just love of the simple gifts life has given me and the healing it brings to the world.

Thanks to Nancy Knowles for the untitled photograph at the top.

Save the date, please…

It is with great delight we announce that our dear friend and colleague Bob Ward and the Boston Classical Guitar Society will present a A Tribute to Frank Wallace this October 25th in Boston and again Oct. 26 in Hartford CT. The concert of my compositions will feature Bob with Alex Dunn playing Duo Sonata #1; Chris Ladd, guitar and Ása Guðjónsdóttir, violin, on Gryphon, Violin Sonata #1, Daniel Acsadi playing Débil del Alba, David William Ross on Cyrcles, Sonata #3 and Nick Cutroneo on Shadow of the Sun.

Friday, October 25th, Pre-concert talk at 7:30, concert at 8:00 First Lutheran Church, 299 Berklee St., Boston BCGS calendar listing

Saturday, October 26, 8:00 Alfred C. Fuller Music Center F Berkman Recital Hall 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT 06117 Phone: (860) 768-4100 Hartt Calendar

Email notifications

Balance in the Dark | to create in peace was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#balance #dark #peace #rest #yin

A time of retreat follows a full summer

A Distant Wind CD is born

Before my main message, I want to announce my summer project is about to conclude. I have finished editing my new CD A Distant Wind. You can pre-buy it now at Gyre Music, and it will be shipped in a few weeks. Here’s one track, The sweet voice sings, 1st movement of Timid Nightingale, Sonata #3

http://www.frankwallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/08-I.-The-Sweet-Voice-Sings-Timid-Nightingale.mp3

A bright summer

Photo by Daniela Spector

Around the last summer solstice I shared my article Coming out with Cancer. A bright light shone on my soul, and that light was you, my friends, my family, my colleagues. You loved me, you blessed me, you opened me. Once again, I am grateful for your well-wishes and blessings. I thank you for being there in my time of need.

But the social media frenzy has exhausted me to some degree and now the light retreats. The summer was bright and magnificent, but the day shortens now, and night takes over. The long winter begins. It’s time to curl up in my cocoon with my wife and my guitar and my music, and continue my silent metamorphosis. My blogs have reached so many of you and I have received so much positive feedback. I am deeply touched and heartened.

A quiet fall

Now I need to pull back into a quiet place and retrieve my muse. I have not composed for a year and that is the longest in the past two decades. But three weeks ago the muse suddenly grabbed me, shook me and started to flow. I will follow that urge and replace my keyboard with a pencil and paper. Five line paper.

My new composition is titled Gratus Sum. Through it I seek to thank all of you, especially the musicians who have offered so much in doing the Tribute to Frank concerts in late October. I also want to thank those healers, artists and other musicians who have not been mentioned. And so a few blogs will follow at random times with mention of my healers and the artists who surround me with beauty in this difficult time. I am not disappearing! Merely taking a much needed rest – something I’ve never been very good at – it needs practice!

Blessings! Frank

…but before we go, Rufus has something to say…

A time of retreat follows a full summer was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

I will be.. | and Rufus returns

Cancer is a laughing matter

First, please laugh again with me at these wonderful takes on the awful reality of cancer, penned by Trevor LaBarge, former student and dear friend here in NH. I asked Trevor a few weeks ago if he would make some cartoons about cancer. A common cure for cancer and other dire diseases is to laugh, right? Well, to my surprise he agreed. After sitting on the back lawn vamping on silly ideas for an hour, he left with an image of our four dogs surrounding him seared into the experience. Thus we have Rufus and his buddies…

As you read on, please enjoy another preview of my coming CD A Distant Wind. This is The Sweet Voice Sings, from Timid Nightingale, Sonata #2.

http://www.frankwallace.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/08-Sweet-Voice-t9-EDIT2-v16-35.mp3

I will be…

I will be better. I will be happier. I will be more productive. I will be less judgmental. I will be cured. Really? Are you sure?!

I will be me. You will be you. That we know, but we don’t know exactly what we will become, what tragedies or joys may change our lives. We can’t, it’s simply impossible! We are what we are now. I am better now. I am more loving now. I am. That’s all we can be. Present Now.

Dance the Qigong with me

I have just begun reading the book Qigong – essence of the healing dance by Garri Garripoli. It’s a great healing inspiration for me. It helps me live in the Now, to enjoy every living moment with less worry about the future and my plans for it. Less anxiety, less pointless wandering about in my mind. I have not studied Qigong formally yet, but the author takes great care to point out that following forms strictly is not the point. Gathering Qi, life force, is the point. I love that approach. It hearkens back to my early mentor Marleen Montgomery who insisted on complete presence in the breath and body. No musical gesture should sacrifice that awareness.

And so I have begun using more flowing movements of my hands in my yoga practice. My hands hold my heart and mind at some distance from my body. Is this my aura? I never really believed in that concept, until now. For the last several days, the circle my hands create is widening, and they are now “holding” my heart some 10-15 inches from my body. Today I spontaneously said out loud, “My full heart will calm my angry liver. My full heart will cool my angry liver. My full heart will heal my angry liver.”

Love is the answer

I have hundreds of well-wishers and 150 contributors to our GoFundMe campaign to thank for that. I have been immensely grateful and clear that that love will heal me. But I had never felt it so directly, so physically. The close proximity of heart and liver struck me and my liver felt engulfed by my expanding heart.

The meditation grew into a prayer for the seven chakras:

May this day Bring light to my eyes and peace to my mind. Bring resonance to my throat and wisdom to my voice. Bring love to my heart to embrace my friends, family and self. Bring breath to my lungs and clarify my intentions. Nourish my body and feed good thoughts. Root my feet, ankles, knees and hips in the earth and give life to my spirit.

Thank you all for this wonderful process. I had no idea I could feel love from my community in such a deep, moving and physically direct manner.

October 25: Save the date, please…

It is with great delight we announce that our dear friend and colleague Bob Ward and the Boston Classical Guitar Society will present Tribute to Frank Wallace on October 25th in Boston and the 26h in Hartford CT. The concert will feature my compositions with Bob with Alex Dunn playing Duo Sonata #1; Christopher Ladd, guitar and Ása Guðjónsdóttir, violin, on Gryphon, Violin Sonata #1, David William Ross on Cyrcles, Sonata #3, Daniel Acsadi playing Débil del Alba and Nick Cutroneo on Shadow of the Sun.

Friday October 25th, First Lutheran Church at 299 Berklee St., Boston. Pre-concert talk will begin at 7:30, concert at 8pm. BCGS calendar listing

Saturday, October 26, 2019, 8:00 – 9:30 Alfred C. Fuller Music Center F Berkman Recital Hall. 200 Bloomfield Ave, West Hartford, CT 06117 Phone: (860) 768-4100 Hartt Calendar

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I will be.. | and Rufus returns was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#A Distant Wind #cancer #chakras #meditation #qigong #remission #Rufus #Trevor Labarge

Remission? | and new guitar work Gratus Sum

We eagerly await the results of last week’s CT scan to determine where we stand in my dance with cancer. In the meantime, I am so grateful to everyone who has sent me good vibes and well-wishes. And so I began my first new composition in one year in thanks to you all! I left off with Friends last August, a work dedicated to ten friends who had in some way stepped it up – frequent phone calls, heaps of love and kindness. [See video below]

I considered simply continuing that series, but it would take me years to accomplish with so many friends who have sent so much love in the past four months. And so I will soon offer Gratus Sum – I am Grateful! I chose a Latin title because it implies a sacred tone and impact. This is a sacred time for me, one of immense meditation, contemplation, silence and love. There will be a dedication to the seven musicians offering a Tribute to Frank Wallace on October 25 in Boston: Bob Ward, Alex Dunn, Chris Ladd, Ása Guðjónsdóttir, David William Ross, Daniel Acsadi and Nick Cutroneo.

Here’s the beginning of the piece in all its raw glory.

Please enjoy Friends #6-10

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Save the date, please…

It is with great delight we announce that our dear friend and colleague Bob Ward and the Boston Classical Guitar Society will present a concert in my honor this October 25th. The concert of my compositions will feature Bob with Alex Dunn playing Duo Sonata #1; Chris Ladd, guitar and Ása Guðjónsdóttir, violin, on Gryphon, Violin Sonata #1, David William Ross on Cyrcles, Sonata #3, Daniel Acsadi playing Débil del Alba and Nick Cutroneo on Shadow of the Sun.

The concert will be held at the First Lutheran Church at 299 Berklee St. in Boston. Pre-concert talk will begin at 7:30, concert at 8pm. Calendar listing here. I hope you can make it. —Frank

Remission? | and new guitar work Gratus Sum was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

Rufus meets Fred | by Trevor LaBarge

I need a break, so I’m going to let Trevor LaBarge speak for me this week. If you did not meet Fred last week, please read In Sickness and in Health first, then laugh! See you next week.

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Save the date, please…

The concert will be held at the First Lutheran Church at 299 Berklee St. in Boston. Pre-concert talk will begin at 7:30, concert at 8pm. Hope you can make it. —Frank

Rufus meets Fred | by Trevor LaBarge was originally published on FRANK WALLACE

#cartoon #Fred #Trevor Labarge

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