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MUSIC
Real guitar heroes
By Jay Pawlowski
All eyes and ears will be on Buffalo as the planet’s top up-and-coming classical guitarists compete in a world-class event.
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Photos by Eileen Elibol (first two from left) and Studio Z (third photo).
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To convey the magnitude and importance of the upcoming JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, its organizers refer to it as “Buffalo on the world stage”—and that’s no overstatement. This competition, widely recognized as one of the world’s premier classical guitar competitions, not only draws up-and-coming virtuosos from across the globe; it also puts the city of Buffalo and its rich music and arts community in the international spotlight.
“In the music world, you mention Buffalo and ears perk up about a lot of things,” including the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and this competition, says Michael Andriaccio, who has served as codirector with his wife Joanne Castellani since the biennial competition’s 2004 debut. Presented by WNED and the BPO, the Falletta Competition will take place May 31 to June 4, with Kleinhans Music Hall hosting the semifinal and final rounds. Competitors will also participate in “Guitar Days” community outreach events throughout the week. Tickets, a detailed schedule of events, and more are available at www.fallettacompetition.org.
Part of what makes this event unique among classical guitar competitions is the concerto aspect: competitors perform with a full orchestra in front of a few thousand people, rather than a typical solo performance in front of fifty or so attendees. And, like many of our city’s treasures, it is truly a homegrown event. It was Don Boswell, president and CEO of Western New York Public Broadcasting, who took what was originally a highly successful piece of the broader Buffalo Niagara Guitar Festival and pushed for a bigger and better classical guitar event that would stand on its own. All the pieces were right here: a world-class orchestra in the BPO, conducted by JoAnn Falletta, a talented classical guitarist herself; a dedicated classical music broadcaster in WNED, which provides local and national broadcast of the performances on public radio plus worldwide streaming audio via the web (“A potential audience of ten million people around the world—no other competition can say that,” Andriaccio says); and artistic direction in Castellani and Andriaccio, who are internationally acclaimed performers and instructors (and proud Buffalo natives). The signage, which is building a distinct and powerful brand image for the competition worldwide, comes from local artist Hugo Rodriguez and his Mundo Gytara series. “It was only organic that the forces came together and we had this concerto competition,” Andriaccio says.
The competition typically attracts thirty to forty applicants representing fifteen to twenty countries. Those whose performance CDs take them through the preliminary round select a concerto to play in the semifinals with piano accompaniment. The semis also include a free-choice segment to help the guitarists showcase their individual personalities through the instrument. The finalists then have the chance of a lifetime to perform with the BPO and Falletta. Castellani and Andriaccio are among the panel of internationally renowned judges, not all of whom are guitarists, they note, so that competitors are heard by more than just guitar ears. The first-place winner receives $7,500, booking on a concert tour that includes a return engagement with the BPO, and a new concert guitar handmade in Spain.
In 2008, the Falletta Competition introduced Guitar Days, a program in which competitors help brighten up the community with performances at schools, churches, and other sites. “These Guitar Days performances are profound and powerful,” Castellani says, recounting the story of one guitarist who played at Roswell Park Cancer Institute. “He said it was the best musical experience of his entire life. One of the patients came up to him and said his playing was so beautiful, he said, ‘You made me smile, and I didn’t think I had another smile left in me.’”
And in the end, that is what it’s all about—the transcendent experience of the performance, the power of the music to inspire and to uplift, the emotional and spiritual convergence of the audience members inside every note and progression. If the Falletta Competition marks a rare professional opportunity for the competitors, it’s an even greater opportunity for the audience.
For classical music lovers, it’s a chance to hear the stars of tomorrow perform with the BPO and Falletta. All the previous winners, who hailed from Poland, Mexico, and Uruguay, have gone on to concert careers, and as Andriaccio says, “There’s no other conductor in the world who has the sensitivity for guitar that [Falletta] does.” Castellani points out, “Where else do you hear, in one evening, three different concerti being played? ... It’s highly possible that if you were to come to the semifinal rounds, you’d sit there for two nights and hear all the major guitar concerti played.”
But the competition also offers plenty for those who aren’t typical symphony orchestra types. “You get real audience participation and excitement,” Castellani says, pointing to the “Olympic flair” of the event and selection of the Audience Favorite Award winner. (There is also a Musicians’ Choice Award; it’s not uncommon for the winners of these and the grand prize all to be different.)
“This is a really great hook for people who aren’t classical music aficionados,” Andriaccio adds. “Once you’re there ... you get hooked. You hear these competitors, you latch on to somebody, and you try to follow their progress through the end. And then it’s finals night, and the competitors have their own camps of people in the audience that are rooting for them.”
Castellani points to the example of one young audience member: “He was all dressed in black with his hair spiked, and he was just going crazy over what he’d just heard: ‘That was amazing; I just can’t believe it.’ Would this person have come if it was a Beethoven symphony or something? It’s the guitar that’s bringing them.”
JoAnn Falletta
International Guitar Concerto Competition
May 31 – June 4
Kleinhans Music Hall and other locations
www.fallettacompetition.org
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Jay Pawlowski should really stick to playing “Iron Man” and “Smoke on the Water” if he doesn’t want to embarrass himself.
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