The fall was beautiful in Sewanee as usual. One particular morning of Nov. 3 I took this photo and uploaded the time lapse video of the sunrise. It was an amazing view of the 'alpenglow' of the morning sun on the ridge. It was this morning that I made my last boat trip of the season on the TN River. Second photo - click on it to see the whole view.
The following weekend, I had a great fall party, but it was much cooler. About 30 friends showed up from Sewanee and Murfreesboro. The deck wood stove cranked out enough heat in the 35ยบ weather that many friends were hanging outside on the deck. It was a fun time.
Great party, biggest yet... about 30 people showed. Happy to have hosted some of the Sewanee music faculty - Jessica, Stephen, Peter and to have had such great music. Performers for the night included the Hendley / Bevers duo, many guitar students playing solo, Joe playing blues, Linda playing her own cool tunes, and Peter and I playing Piazzolla.
Weather was great, nice sunset. About 10 people came from Murfreesboro, and most of the rest from the mountain. The mulled wine and pasta turned out great.
Old guys from the 'Boro at sunset - Will, Bill, Jan, and Andrew
My phone ran out of memory, was hoping to get more video but here's a few brief clips. I got Peter and I playing the entire "Cafe 1930" by Piazzolla. Jan got some too.
Jacob and Michael played great...
Since the audio didn't come out on this video, here's their performance from the concert a few days ago at MTSU. I just love this piece...
It was good to play with Peter and there was a discussion about us playing at the Sewanee faculty Christmas party - which would be a very high visibility gig on campus, much bigger than a concert since virtually all Sewanee faculty attend this event. I was there 2 yr ago and there must have been at least 200 - 300 people there.
Happy to have Stephen over and with my upcoming Guitar Festival, I feel quite a bit more integrated into the college scene. Also, I had a discussion and interest expressed in starting a guitar program in 2019 at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Hilary, the Asst. Director of SSMF, seems quite interested in helping me develop it.
Bruce Holzman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame on June 30 at the the GFA Convention in Louisville. Bruce just finished his 40th year of teaching, and I'm about to start my 25th, how time flies. Making the decision to pursue my Doctorate at FSU was one of the best decisions of my life.
GFA is always a huge party, and I was happy to have seen a lot of my long time friends from FSU and colleagues from the guitar community. What a wonderful time it was, very inspiring and fun... a great community.
This photo was shot just after Bruce and Adam played a duet written by Sergio Assad especially for the occasion. It was a rare treat to see Bruce and Adam play together.
It exceeded all expectations. 28 competitors of the highest quality. An awesome performance by Dr. Silviu Ciulei, and by our guest artists Carlos Castilla, Ben Bolt, and Richard Todd. The competition judges had their hands full.
What keeps this festival growing is 'the hang' ... the parties and the celebration of our culture and music. This year was really spectacular. I think classical guitarists spend so much time alone refining their art, when it comes time to party, it is a particularly fun celebration. Some of these guys that I've seen year after year and especially former students and colleagues like Jerry, Howard, Ben, and Silviu, feel like family to me. We'll do it again next year and at GFA in a few weeks.
The competition was as high a caliber as any. There were some exceptionally fine players who didn't make the semis, and all 12 semifinalists were superb. The Finalists were truly some of the best guitarists in America, world-class.
Photos:
1) Paella!! We filled the big dish twice. 10lbs of seafood.
2) Our competition winners, the 'usual suspects' - Jeremy, Chad, and Joseph.
3) The awards presentation with our judges and prize winners
4) A brief clip from the flamenco portion of Silviu's recital. Just listen to the first 5 seconds, wow.
They describe themselves as: "Chicken-fried, Pre-war, Hokum-billy Jug Music".
Playing blues and old time acoustic music, it's about as fun as it gets. You'll hear fiddle, banjo, tuba, trombone, washboard, spoons, guitar, bass, accordian, jugs, mandolin, great singing, jokes, and then some.
Congrats to the TN Guitar Competition winners and all those who attended.
First Prize, $1500 - Max Zuckerman
Second Prize, $750 -Jeremy Collins
Third Prize, $500 - Antoniy Kakamakov
Fourth Prize, $300 - Edgar Ivan Resendiz
Awesome performances by Jorge Caballero, Carlos Castilla, and Ben Bolt. The competition level was extremely high. Jorge gave an incredible masterclass to 5 performers lasting almost 5 hours, without a break.
Jorge's concert was spectacular. Many said that it was the best they'd ever seen. He played the Mussorgsky "Pictures at an Exposition." I remember seeing the America premier of that transcription by Yamashita 28 yrs ago in Toronto. Jorge's was even better.
This dish came out well. This spanish rice paella had 9 lbs of seafood: 4 lbs shrimp, 2 lbs scallops, 2 lbs cod, and a lb of mussels. I don't make it the traditional way in an open paella pan, I saute all the seafood in garlic butter with parsley before mixing it with the cooked rice. Garnish with mussels in the shell and slices of lemon and red roasted peppers. I think it makes for a tastier and less dry paella.
Paella, wine, music, and everyone in the pool. It was great.
This paella was awesome, 3 lbs shrimp, 2 lbs scallops, 2 lbs mahi-mahi. Trim with mussels, lemons and roasted peppers... all in buttery Valencian saffron rice, wow. So good.
After a while, Silviu, BJ and Taylor gave an impromptu farewell performance of Tequila flamenco.
It was great to welcome Julie, Michelle, Mandy, Andrea, Javier... all who just finished their first year as MTSU staff. Tana came in Renaissance garb, directly from the Ren Faire. Don Rung came from Sewanee.
Soon after, most everyone was in the warm pool and hot tub.
In the final concert, John Johns played great. Matt Palmer was again stunning. For the 3rd time, he received the only standing ovation of the TN Guitar Festival. Funny, but by coincidence we were on the same plane on Friday to Atlanta. Me connecting to Orlando, him to Tucson.
I love this photo, from L to R: Tana (in all her sweetness), Matt, Silviu, me and students.
Matt and Silviu are likely to be the finest guitar students I will ever see in my career, it's great to see them together in this photo. Matt is most definitely one of the top ten best guitarists in the US right now (in my highly qualified opinion). He is an amazing player. There was video of his concert and I hope to see it on Youtube soon. Silviu is the Romanian prodigy who is graduating MTSU this semester and has already received several Graduate Assistantship offers from various universities around the US. Matt is finishing his Doctorate in Music at U of Arizona.
My pasta of the night was rigatoni with sauteed onions, garlic, mushrooms, olives, chick peas, diced tomatoes, celery, Italian spices and marinara sauce. As Matt said, "it hit the spot."
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“The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in air, but simply walking on this earth. ... The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.”
Paella, wine, music, and everyone in the pool. It was great.
The final party was pasta and wine. 
