Dear Guitar Friends,

We are so excited about our 2011-12 PCGS season! There are many opportunities and exciting events for our community this year, and we are pleased to know you’ll be joining us. Thank you to those of you who took time this summer to answer our survey questions. We’ve reviewed the data and will be sending a follow-up soon to let you know the results. Understanding the needs of our community will help us toward becoming an organization that better serves you. We’re excited about the direction of PCGS, and your support and interest are fueling our progress.

Ricardo Cobo will be playing a benefit concert for the Aaron Shearer Foundation on Saturday, September 24^th, 8pm, at the Hanes Brand Theater in Winston-Salem. Ricardo is an UNCSA alum, and we’re excited to have him back in our area. Cobo has won many international competitions and is a renowned performing and recording artist. Tickets are available on our web site. All proceeds will go to the Aaron Shearer Foundation. We are excited to be able to offer support to an organization working to preserve and promote Shearer’s pedagogical ideology.

PCGS is also collaborating with Wake Forest again this season. Guitarist Eduardo Fernandez will perform on Friday, October 7^th  in Brendle Hall. Eduardo is from Uruguay and teaches at the University of Montevideo. He is an internationally respected recording artist and performer. You can find more about him at his web site http://www.seiscuerdas.com/fernandez/?Home We are excited to offer this concert FREE to all PCGS members.

Our Community Play-ins will be at the Kathleen Clay Edwards library in Greensboro.  We are exploring suggestions of new locations based on survey results, so stay tuned.  The fall dates for play-ins are Saturday, September 10^th at 2:00pm, and Saturday, November 12^th at 2:00pm. We welcome all ages and levels and look forward to continuing our success of providing a comfortable and positive performance environment and experience.

The Piedmont Guitar Orchestra (PGO) will start up Tuesday Sept. 6, meeting from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in Room 306 at the Scales Fines Arts Building at Wake Forest University.   The PGO, directed by Alan Hirsh, will meet once a week from September to December.  It’s open to all players who have a nylon-string guitar and can read music at least in the open-position.   This is a great community activity which is unique to our area—so come one and all.   Registration is just $60.00 for PCGS members .

On December 9th, 7:30 PM the PCGS will host is annual community concert featuring a performance by the PGO as well as  performances by students from local Triad schools, such as Bishop McGuinness High School, Penn Griffin, Guilford College, WFU,  Weaver Academy, and UNCSA.

Perhaps our most exciting venture this season will happen in March. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet has commissioned Shingo Fuji to write a concerto for four guitars and guitar orchestra.  Two years ago, we had fifty guitarists play Shingo’s concerto written for Bill Kanengiser at Guilford College. This time, we’ll have all four members of LAGQ and Shingo himself  (coming from Japan) conducting! This is a great opportunity for students and amateurs to perform on stage with peers from the triad area, famous guitarists, and the composer who wrote the piece. Rehearsals and concert will take place on Thursday and Friday—March 15^th and 16^th. Teachers and players will receive more information, including music, around November. The piece will be completed by December 1^st.

We’ll let you know about additional upcoming guitar concerts in our area. So visit our web site every now and then to check-in.  Also, we’ll be sending an e-news about once a month to keep you informed of events and details surrounding them. 

Happy Guitarring!

Kami Rowan, president, PCGS