Dear Subscriber,
Exciting things coming up! Our December salon with special guest TY Zhang is coming up next Sunday. Our exclusive Thank You video featuring Jordan Dodson and Raphaël Feuillâtre is live and available for viewing by members and donors. And the first virtual concert of our 2020-21 season is just on the horizon.
December Salon
Our December salon has always been a special time to come together and share music and conversation. Past December salons have featured catered and potluck meals, guests including Celil Refik Kaya, Simon Powis, David Pace, Danielle Cumming, and Kevin Sherwin, and some of my favorite moments as part of this community. Well, just because we can’t get together in person doesn’t mean we can’t get together.
This Sunday Dec. 20, please join us at 6:00 pm on Zoom for our virtual December salon featuring special guest GFA winner Tengyue (TY) Zhang! TY is going to talk to us a bit on how he prepares for competitions, recordings and concerts, and share some advice on how we might all prepare so we can perform our best. Bring your questions! Following the talk we’ll have an open stage for anyone who wants to share some of their music. Holiday tunes are not required, but are encouraged. We’ll abstain from our regular critiquing this salon so we can all just relax and enjoy the music.
The link to this weeks Zoom salon is the same as in the past.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/149817292?pwd=Mmk3R0VKRWliNXp3ZFJJeXJtb255UT09
Meeting ID: 149 817 292
Password: 625369
Instructions for setting up for the Zoom meeting are below for your reference.
Exclusive Video
This year has brought many challenges, but there is still a lot to be thankful for. Although we had to cancel our concerts with Jordan Dodson and Raphaël Feuillâtre in the spring of 2020, through the generosity of our donors and members we were able to pay our cancelled artists in full. As a special thank-you, Jordan Dodson and Raphaël Feuillâtre have recorded a virtual concert just for you!
Please enjoy this special concert just for our donors and members on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vmgv7vbbqhA
It is through your kindness that music perseveres.
Season 2020-21
We’re excited to be bringing our 2020-21 season online in the coming months. Rather than try to shoehorn our idea of what a traditional concert is/was into the present virtual model, we’re going to take a different angle, utilizing some of our archival footage from our remarkable past concerts to put together short concerts that spotlight some of the wonderful musicians that have graced our stage in the past 10 years. These Spotlight Concerts will feature some of your favorite performers from our past concerts, including Xavier Jara, Tenguye Zhang, and Celil Refik Kaya. Look for our first in the series coming up at the end of January.
Thanks for your continuing support and patience while we work on bringing you this exciting new programming series.
Zoom Meeting Instructions
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/149817292?pwd=Mmk3R0VKRWliNXp3ZFJJeXJtb255UT09
Meeting ID: 149 817 292
Password: 625369
Our Zoom meetings have been going great thanks to some preparation we all take part in to help things run smoothly. Please follow the instructions below to ensure we all have the best experience possible.
1) Set up your laptop (preferably) or other webcam-enabled device (tablet or phone) in a quiet space in your home.
2) Plug in headphones or earbuds to ensure the sound quality is optimal (conferencing software will otherwise garble your audio as it’s trying to filter voice from background noise).
3) Download the Zoom videoconferencing app and install on your computer or device.
4) Once installed, create an account, and then test your mic and speaker connections in the Zoom app. On the computer app, click on the gear icon (Settings) in the upper right corner under your initials to access the Settings. In settings, click on Video in the menu on the left to preview your video feed. Make sure you have sufficient light on your front for the camera. Click on Audio to test and preview your mic and speakes/headphones.
5) If you plan to perform, while in the Audio settings, click on the advanced box in the bottom right. In the Advanced section, select DISABLE in the “Suppress Persistant Background Noise” and “Suppress Intermittent Background Noise” options. Echo cancellation should be left to “Auto.”Check the box at the top to “Show in meeting option to enable Original Sound from microphone.” Note: not all of these settings are available on other devices. Change what you can.
6) An newsletter will be sent to you the week prior to the meeting. Click the link to join. The link is also available in our Facebook members forum.
7) Once joined, click the “Turn on Original Sound” button in the top left of the screen. This will use the unfiltered feed from your microphone, allowing for your most musical performance. If you’re not performing, this isn’t necessary.
8) Have fun! Any further instructions will be given in the meeting.
Note you can always create your own meeting to try out the system and familiarize yourself with what it can do. If you have any questions, please let me know and I’ll try to answer them for you.
Oh, and I wouldn’t plan on playing any duos, unless you really want to give it a chance. The latency issues will yield very mixed results.
We will continue to hold our monthly meetings on Zoom until it is deemed safe to meet again in person. Hopefully, that won’t be too long from now, but I still anticipate it will be several months.
**If you are coming to the salon, please arrive between 5:45 and 6:00. Join up and get your settings straight, and have fun chatting with everyone else.
*NOTE: The following salon will take place on January 31, ONLINE. Mark your calendars!
2020 Salon Schedule
December 20th (please note the date change!) (online)
January 31st (online)
November Meeting Recap
We had another great turnout at last month’s online meeting (12), and some great performances (9), including several performances of our Challenge Piece. Thanks everyone for showing up and participating. Hope to see you all again this Sunday.
Performers from October in performance order:
Scott Kuykendall – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (October challenge piece)
Heidi Wert – Black Orpheus/Manhã De Carnaval by Luiz Bonfa
John Nguyễn – Op. 32, No 1, Andantino by Fernando Sor
Robert Guerrero – Exercise 2 by Dionisio Aguado and Birds flew Over the Spire by Gary Ryan
Simon Varley – Moon Dance by Raphael Scarfullery (November super challenge piece)
Jo Daneman – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (October challenge piece)
Carl Abramson – Moon Dance by Raphael Scarfullery (November super challenge piece) and Partita 1 Bm Double (Allemande) by Johann Sebastian Bach
Viet Nguyen – Prelude BWV 998 Johann Sebastian Bach
Ralph Dominica – Une Dia De Novembre by Leo Brouwer
Check out our Facebook group for some great insight into what’s happening online with classical guitar. There are all kinds of new things popping up, from festivals, masterclasses, competitions, concerts, and lectures.
To submit an event for our event calendar, please Email our event calendar coordinator at events@wilmingtonguitar.org.
We’re at 2,305 likes on Facebook! Make sure you’re one of them, and help us break the 2,500 mark! https://www.facebook.com/wilmingtonguitar
Bestn wishes, and stay safe,
Matthew Lavanish
President & Artistic Director – The Wilmington Classical Guitar SocietyWCGS Member Newsletter – September 2020