Harper Guitar Legacy Concert 2023
Every summer, there’s something that I always look forward to in July, which is playing at the Harper College Outdoor Summer Concert. It all started way back in 2018. That was the first year we got to play at the white domed pavilion near the pond, which didn’t even exist when I was a student there. It was my former guitar teacher, Steve Vazquez’s idea to play a free outdoor concert to bring music to the community and to promote the guitar/music department at Harper College. The concert was a huge success and we were invited to play again in 2019. Unfortunately, Covid hit in 2020 and the concert went on a hiatus. We were able to return to the stage in 2021, 2022, and then again this year in 2023! These annual guitar showcase concerts turned into a part of a bigger series of events called the Summer Concert Series, which features free concerts every Thursday.
From left to right: Brian Torosian, MJ LaVine, Nanae Fujiwara, Ben Sullivan, Alia Jyawook, Steve Serra, Jose Verduzco, and Steve Vazquez
In the past, there have been many members of the Harper Guitar Legacy Ensemble that come and go, but it mainly consists of seven core alumni members. They are Steve Vazquez, Brian Torosian, Alia Jyawook, Steve Serra, Ben Sullivan, MJ LaVine and myself (Nanae Fujiwara)! This year, we welcomed Jose Verduzco to the group!
(Photo from 2022) Left to right: Brian Torosian, Nanae Fujiwara, Ben Sullivan, Steve Serra, MJ LaVine, Alia Jyawook, Steve Vazquez.
We opened the concert with a band march called “The Stars and Stripes Forever”, which is the most patriotic music ever written by John Phillip Sousa… yes, the name says it all. It was arranged for 4 guitars by Manley Mallard, which worked really well with 8 guitars. After the opening number, we each got to play some solos and duos. This year’s theme was “AMERICA!” So naturally, everyone wanted to play Andrew York. Five of his compositions were played that night!!
Photo by Bill Rush
To my surprise, I realized that I don’t have much American music in my repertoire, so I decided to learn the beautiful “Simple Gifts” arrangement by Canadian composer, Frederic Hand. It is originally a Shaker Song dating back to the 1800’s. The song was unknown for a long time until the great American composer, Aaron Copland used the melody in his famous ballet score, “Appalachian Spring”. Since “Simple Gifts” was in drop D tuning, I decided to play one of my favorite Andrew York pieces called “Sunburst”, which is an energetic and super groovy, catchy tune in DADGAD tuning.
It was fun to hear my colleagues play their selections. The highlight of the night was at the end when we all played Andrew York’s ensemble piece called “Playground”, which was a commission for Guitar New Mexico. It has silly, child-like themes, and it’s very fun, rhythmic, groovy, and has lots of cool melodies. My favorite part is toward the end of the piece where everyone plays the strings randomly with wild glissandi, and it is completely improvised. The audience got a kick out of it too!!
Favorite photo of the night: Moon in the back, sunset behind the stage, the lighting and great music by awesome people! What a perfect night!
From the website:
July 20: Harper Guitar Legacy Concert
Harper Guitar Legacy presents an evening of wonderful music by American Composers. Hear members of the Harper Guitar Legacy and guests perform works by Joplin, York, Morse and more! Hear different combinations of guitars from solo, duo, and full ensemble in this virtuosic presentation of our majestic American musical landscape.
Program:
“The Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa arr. Manley Mallard - Harper Guitar Legacy Ensemble
“White Walls” by MJ LaVine - MJ LaVine solo
“Andecy” by Andrew York - Ben Sullivan solo
“And I Love Her” by the Beatles arr. Pat Metheny - Ben Sullivan solo
“The Strenuous Life” by Scott Joplin - Alia Jyawook + Steve Serra duo
“Simple Gifts” Shaker Song arr. Frederic Hand - Nanae Fujiwara Solo
“Sunburst” by Andrew York - Nanae Fujiwara solo
“Slice of Time - Cool Winds - Night Meets Light” by Steve Morse arr. B. Torosian - Brian Torosian solo
“Sanzen-In” and “Nuo Duo” by Andrew York - Steve Vazquez + Brian Torosian duo
“Playground” by Andrew York - ensemble
Encore: “Samba Pa Ti” by Carlos Santana - ensemble
Photo by Rie Katayama. On stage: Nanae Fujiwara
The improvised part of Andrew York’s “Playground”
Santana’s “Samba Pa Ti”
One hour before the concert, Steve V. came in saying that today (July 20th) is Santana’s birthday, so that we should play this tune. The chords were easy enough and Steve took center stage to play the lead. It was a beautiful way to close the night under the stars.
It’s always such a pleasure playing with these folks. I’m looking forward to playing with them again next July!