WCGS Member Newsletter – November 2020

Dear Subscriber,

The inevitable return of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic means it will be even longer before we can get together again as a group, so be sure to take advantage of all the online concerts you can in the meantime, and be sure to join us for our monthly salon coming up this Sunday! And wear a mask, please.

Wilmington Classical Guitar 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 historic 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 in January (slightly delayed from previous newsletter). These Spotlights will likely be premiered as a pay-what-you-can event, and will be available for future viewing by WCGS members. Thanks for your support and patience while we work on bringing you this exciting new programming series.

DATE CHANGE: December Salon
Things keep changing, and we’re just trying to keep up. Despite intending to keep our December salon more traditional, we are indeed going to have a guest lecturer. GFA Winner Tengyue Zhang will join us live for a discussion on music preparation. We’ll have time in the second half for sharing music, and we’ll abstain from our normal critiques so that everyone has a chance to share (if you wish) and enjoy the music.

Note the date of the December salon has been changed to December 20 (please make a note of the change in your calendars), so save the date, and take some time now to polish up a holiday song or two!

Upcoming Salon: This Sunday November 22
Join us this Sunday the 22nd, at 6:00 pm on Zoom, for our September Members Salon. We’ll all be playing and critiquing from the comfort of our own homes, as we have been for a good time now, so please plan on joining us for some fun and good music! We’ve been having great turnouts for our online Zoom salons and I’m looking forward to seeing you all again Sunday.

This months challenge piece is the advanced challenge piece Moon Dance by Rafael Scarfullery. Originally commissioned for the Beatty Guitar Competition, it’s a beautiful and challenging piece, and is available in our Facebook Group.

Future and past challenge pieces will be available on our Facebook Group in the “Units” section, so check back there for updates. You can even check off the pieces as you complete them!

The following Zoom meeting link will remain the same every month, so feel free to add it to your calendar.

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 December 20, ONLINE. Mark your calendars!

2020 Salon Schedule
November 22nd (online)
December 20th (please note the date change!) (online)

October Meeting Recap
We had another great turnout at last month’s online meeting (10), 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:
Ralph Dominica – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (challenge piece) and Lesson 21 by Julio Sagreras
Debbie Mulrooney – Snowflight by Andrew York
ScottK89 – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (challenge piece)
Carl Abramson – Double to the Allemande from Partita No.1 in Bm by Johann Sebastian Bach
Simon Varley – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (challenge piece) and Brise de España by José Ferrer
Robert Guerrero – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (challenge piece) and Exercise No.2 by Dionisio Aguado
John Nguyễn – Gran Vals by Francisco Tarrega
Matthew Lavanish – Remembrance by Charles Duncan (challenge piece)
Viet Nguyen – Virgilio by Antonio Lauro

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