2010 Falletta Competition: Guitar Days

Hugo A new and exciting program was introduced to the Falletta Competition in 2008. Guitar Days sent semifinalists who did not advance to the finals out into the community to perform for people of all ages. Guitar Days engaged the community in the Competition and offered our guitarists another opportunity to demonstrate their talents while here in Buffalo. These events were over the course of two days and touched the lives of many.

The launch of Guitar Days took place before Competition week when the official artist of the Falletta Competition, Hugo Rodriguez, presented an art class at the Buffalo Academy of Visual and Performing Arts in early June, 2008. The goal of the classes was to have the students learn about Hugo’s personal connection with music while teaching how music inspires art. Thirteen 9th graders painted cubist still-life oil artworks, eleven 5th graders finished a project already in progress involving rain sticks and didjeridu instruments and seventeen 7th grade art majors took both of the previously mentioned projects to the next level. The completed artworks were on display at Kleinhans Music Hall at the Competition finals in a breathtaking art gallery in the Mary Seaton Room. The school’s teachers were so impressed that they offered tickets to the students to attend the finals. Artist Hugo Rodriguez said, “This was one of the highlights of my career. To see these students so engaged in the marriage of art and music was extremely fulfilling.”

Then we were off and running during Competition week! One of our semifinalists performed a set of two events at BAVPA both of which were free to City of Buffalo high school students. On the first day the semifinalist performed a 20 minute concert which was followed by a Q & A session. The second day added a master class to the schedule for eight Western New York guitar students, four at the beginner and intermediate levels respectively. The master class students were selected by a panel of Falletta Competition officials who consisted of members of the education and outreach departments of both WNED and the BPO. Students submitted a personal essay explaining why they wanted to participate and the essays were accompanied by a detailed letter of recommendation from the applicant’s music teacher.

Immediately following each of the eight students’ performances, our Falletta Competition semifinalist offered feedback that included praise and advice for the student’s future musical studies. The BAVPA teachers and the students were delighted with this new venture and our semifinalist was thrilled to inspire potential future competitors!

Art Class Concerts at other area schools included Orchard Park High School and Williamsville South High School.

Another semifinalist performed at two area Barnes and Noble stores where tickets to the Competition were sold at a discounted rate. Reaching out to the community at large through these concerts supported one of the goals of 2008’s Competition – to broaden the event to include fans of all genres of music.

With many of our semifinalists fluent in the Spanish language it only made sense to reach out to this community. Guitarra Dia at Holy Cross Church was a success!

Chautauqua Institution was the site of a concert that was open and free to the public. The warm and sunny day had a great turnout and was followed by a reception that was simply delightful. Immediately following the concert, our semifinalist – and the Executive Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic, Dan Hart – spoke one-on-one with a number of concert attendees, many of whom traveled to Buffalo later in the week for the Competition finals.

Perhaps one of the most moving experiences of not only Guitar Days but the Falletta Competition in its entirety was the concert presented at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Patients of all ages were brought to the Institute’s atrium for the concert and many were moved to tears. Our semifinalist was moved to tears as well saying that, “It was the best experience – not only as a musician but as a person – of my life.” This concert reinforced the power of music and how it has the ability to move us all.

And Guitar Days didn’t end when the Competition did! All members of the general public – both folks who attended Competition events and those who were not able to – were invited to submit questions to all 10 competitors via the Falletta Competition website. Our competitors were happy to respond to questions as varied as “How did you like Buffalo?” and “What guitar do you play and what strings do you use?”

Guitar Days was a great success and will return in 2010. It truly resonated with the community and had a long lasting – and perhaps life changing - impact.