Classical Guitar Music…in all its drama and beauty
One of my favorite kinds of music is the sound of the classical guitar.
Michael Lucarelli was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He began his music education on the electric guitar after hearing the group Led Zepplin. Later, Michael discovered the classical guitar and began his studies with Peruvian Guitarist Ricardo Linares. Mr. Lucarelli went on to receive his Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Utah and his Master of Music from the University of Arizona in Guitar performance. (biography)
The beautiful cathedral, in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, shown in the video below is the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene where Michael Lucarelli gives his concert. Here are some facts about this church:
It took 9 years to build the cathedral The property for the cathedral was purchased in 1890 under the leadership of Father Lawrence Scanlan, who became the first Bishop of Salt Lake in 1886. Even though the groundbreaking happened in 1899, construction only began a year later in 1900 and completed in 1909. The main architect, Carl Neuhausen from Germany, never saw the completed project. It was originally painted white and green. Please note all the amazing colors today. Cardinal James Gibbons, the Archbishop of Baltimore, dedicated this cathedral, under the patronage of St. Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene was known for her faithfulness as a disciple of Jesus Christ. The first renovation began in 1917 by Bishop Glass, who had a strong artistic sense. He had studied in Europe in 1899 and acquired oil paintings for the renovation because he wanted to make it more European. The building was rededicated in 1993, after 82 years of its opening. (taken from Temple Square blog)
SACRED MUSIC by Michael Lucarelli AVE MARIA
Classical Guitar…at its best!
Today, I will share with you not only two gifted classical guitarists, Sharon Isben and Berta Rojas, but Stephen Boone whose skill in making classical guitars is incredible. You will also notice in the 2nd Video that he is passing his talent along to his son. This is critical if we are to have future generations who know anything other than video games or how to talk on a cell phones. (Forgive my sarcasm.)
Stephen says, “My classical guitars are made by hand, one at a time, in Bozeman Montana. I make my guitars in the Spanish method using a solera, or building platform, that is made by me in my shop. The guitar is constructed face down on the solera, referenced to a center line. I use integrated Spanish heel construction with wedges anchoring the ribs to the neck. My guitars are heavily influenced by the work of Antonio de Torres with changes made to address the higher string tension of modern instruments.”
We have heard of the famous Andres Segovia and enjoyed his guitar performances. Sharon Isben was one of his students, who also teaches on line about such things a dynamics, embellishment, improvisation, variations and what it is to add your own voice to classical music. She calls it “having soul”. Sharon wanted to be a rocket scientist, but found her gift in music when her older brother turned down private lessons in Italy, where they were living with her scientist father. We are glad she took his place so we can enjoy her wonderful talent today.
The 1st VIDEO: A short performance by Sharon Isben and Berta Rojas at the Ibero-American Guitar Festival ( Turn on your sound) 2nd VIDEO Stephen Boone shows us how he makes a guitar. He estimates that it takes 80 hour to build and 30 hours to finish it. The music you hear is Stephen playing the guitar he has made. 3rd VIDEO Berta Rojas plays
