Guitarists share anxieties at recital

It might not have been for a grade, but the performers of the Guitar Studio Recital felt the same butterflies they would have had even if it had been.

“It’s kind of nerve-racking,” said Joseph Hawkins, a freshman guitar-performance major.

In all, 14 guitarists played 17 handpicked classical pieces in this first of three Guitar Studio Recitals in the James W. Black Music Center Recital Hall. Throughout the hour-long recital, students listened to songs from composers such as Fernando Sor to Scott Joplin, while three different people played songs composed by Heitor Villa-Lobos. Other songs included a traditional Irish gig, a Spanish classical piece and a song by Johann Sebastian Bach, which originally was written for the cello but transcribed for the guitar.

Hawkins said “messing up” rated as his biggest fear about being onstage.

“You miss a note and you always want to go back and fix it, but the main thing you want to do is keep pushing on.”

– Joseph Hawkins, freshman guitar-performance major

“You miss a note and you always want to go back and fix it, but the main thing you want to do is keep pushing on,” he said.

But Jack Budd, a freshman guitar-performance major, said he just “stares down at the ground” when he feels any fear.

Abbey Philips, a freshman piano-education major watching the show, understood the performers’ anxieties.

“When you’re nervous, your hands are shaking and it’s hard to hit the notes,” she said. “But it’s almost like a good nervous.”

In spite of the performers’ trepidation, Philips said she thought they all did a good job throughout the performance.

Bryce McCormick, a jazz-piano performance major in the audience, said he, too, became impressed with what he heard.

“I think they played well,” he said. “Classical guitar is something I can’t even begin to understand.”

Guitarist Steve Owen, who played one of the three Villa-Lobos pieces, called his first classical performance ever “a blast,” but pointed out the difference between playing at home and playing in front of people.

“There’s even a difference between playing backstage and walking out and playing in front of people,” said Owen, a freshman guitar-performance major. “You don’t have any nerves back there, and then you come out and the lights are on you and it’s a whole different ball field.”