Guitar Night: 4 from UNCSA to solo with symphony

Robert Moody, the music director of the Winston-Salem Symphony, wants to do more than meet expectations.

So when he considered including music for solo guitar in next weekend's concert at the Stevens Center, he tried to think beyond Joaquin Rodrigo's immensely popular Concierto de Aranjuez.

"It's a wonderful piece," Moody said. "But everybody does it."

What everybody doesn't play is another concerto by Rodrigo, namely Concierto Andaluz, which is written for four solo guitarists and small orchestra.

"I gave it a listen," Moody said. "I thought, ‘Man, this is a neat piece.'"

Andaluz will highlight "Bolero," a symphony program of several pieces, including Ravel's masterpiece of the same name, which were influenced by the folk dances and culture of Spain. The program's other pieces will include Joaquin Turina's Danzas fantasticas and a suite drawn from The Three-Cornered Hat, Manuel de Falla's ballet.

The four solo guitarists in Andaluz will include Joseph Pecoraro, an instructor at UNC School of the Arts, and three UNCSA students: Colin Fullerton, Ryan Layton and Andrew Motten. They will perform during two "Classics"-series performances, next Sunday and April 21, and in a "Kicked-Back Classics" concert on Friday.

The music

Andaluz was written in 1967; Los Romeros, a famous quartet consisting of a father and his three sons, teamed up with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra to perform the world premiere. Pecoraro attributed the relative obscurity of Andaluz to two factors -- a scarcity of permanent guitar quartets and the simple economics of concert presenters preferring to pay for one soloist, as opposed to four.

In any event, Andaluz has been described as an "homage to the landscape and music of Andalusia." It is similar in character and design to Aranjuez, Percoraro said. Two outer movements favor playful, dance-like folkloric material and the middle movement features a mournful, lyrical melody for guitar.

The instrumental colors that Rodrigo used in Aranjuez, such as small groups of wind instruments accompanying the guitar, emerge in Andaluz as well. And Andaluz reflects Rodrigo's fascination with the past, mixing Spanish folk-music sounds with references to the styles of Baroque, Classical and Renaissance eras.

There is also the uncommon test of projecting what Pecoraro called "the big idea from far away." This is quite unlike what classical guitarists usually do, which is communicating "really small subtleties" to audiences in small halls.

The players

Motten said that though Percoraro "has a harder part than the rest of us do," the other parts "are pretty equivalent."

"I don't think anybody got an easy part," Motten said, adding that each player gets a chance to "play out and shine and do interesting things."

"Different people probably find different things difficult," Pecoraro said. "It's nice that some of the work gets spread around among the four of us."

The solo quartet reflects Pecoraro's wish to showcase a player from each of UNCSA's levels -- high school, undergraduate and graduate.

"We have a long history of a really outstanding guitar program," Pecoraro said. "It's still regarded as one of the most successful programs around. I think people will hear the (high) level of these students. I've had long-term relationships with all three of them. I know that they're extremely professional, reliable and capable players."

Fullerton, who began studying guitar with Patrick Lui at UNCSA's Community Music School, has won several guitar competitions. He is a high-school junior who has been studying with Pecoraro for three years.

Layton, a college sophomore, studies with Gerald Klickstein, the other full-time instructor of guitar at UNCSA.

Motten, who studied with Pecoraro in high school and college at UNCSA, is now pursuing a master's degree under Klickstein's supervision.

Motten seemed particularly excited to be playing with Percoraro, whom he described as "incredibly inspiring." He said that he welcomed Pecoraro's guidance during what will amount to a much tighter rehearsal schedule than that at UNCSA.

It isn't often that current UNCSA students solo with the Winston-Salem Symphony. Motten, when asked if his schoolmates would come out to hear him play, joked that "I have tried to make clear that their attendance is required."

Percoraro and Moody said they are also hoping that fans of the guitar that is heard in popular music will also become curious enough about what the Winston-Salem Symphony is doing to attend the "Bolero" presentation as well.

"Sometimes, it (the guitar) brings a different crowd," Pecoraro said.

■ Ken Keuffel can be reached at 727-7337 or at kkeuffel@wsjournal.com.

If you go

The Winston-Salem Symphony will present the following events through April 21.

• LUNCH: Conductor Robert Moody and the "Bolero" soloists will speak at the Music Lovers Luncheon at noon Friday at the Piedmont Club, 200 W. Second St. (19th floor). The cost is $14. Reservations are required; call 724-7077.

• KICK BACK: The next "Kicked-Back Classics" concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Stevens Center, 405 W. Fourth St. This will be an abridged version of a "Classics" program called "Bolero." Tickets are $15-$35.

• AFTERPARTY: "Brews with Bob" will be held right after the "Kicked-Back Classics" concert in Noma Urban Bar and Grill, 321 W. Fourth St. Patrons will receive a 10 percent discount on food purchases.

• CLASSIC: A "Classics" concert called "Bolero" will be at 3 p.m. next Sunday and at 7:30 p.m. April 21 in the Stevens Center. Tickets are $15-$55. Q&A sessions with Moody and the soloists will follow each "Classics" concert at the Stevens Center.

For concert tickets, see www.wssymphony.org or call 464-0145.