Our dear friend and great guitarist Esai Saucedo recently completed his junior recital at Cal State Northridge with flying colors! In addition to an exciting program featuring Coste, Piazzolla and Albeniz, we were so pleased to hear two pieces by Almer! Almer wrote a piece called La Nuit avec PK for solo guitar in 1999. It is a very difficult work meant to strengthen the pinky finger in the left hand. Esai worked extremely hard on this piece and played it effortlessly! He also put together Uzeh Djugum i Mastrafu with violin Juliana Katzman. They performed solidly as a duo, adding their own unique musicianship and personalities to the piece, moving us both to tears! There is nothing more satisfying for a composer than to see your works being performed by live musicians!
In addition to classical guitar, Esai explores the music of other cultures through his group, Conquistadores, a three man acoustic group consisting requinto, classical guitar, stand-up bass together with vocals. They perform a traditional serenade style ensemble with repertoire ranging from latin, mexican folk, jazz and pop. Check out their Facebook page and join them for their next gig!
We want to thank our dear friend Esai and all the musicians who performed Almer's compositions! Thank you for keeping our music alive and thriving!
