Wednesday, February 28, 5:00 – 6:00 PM
Location: Children’s Area
Join us as we welcome classical guitarist Robert Harding back to the DSCL, as he presents a travelogue of sound: Guitar Sounds of Spain and South America.
Heitor Villa-Lobos incorporated many elements of his homeland Brazil into his music along with European influences. His Prelude 2 is subtitled ‘Capadocian Melody’. His Prelude 3 for Guitar is an ‘Homage to JS Bach’.
Arguably the father of modern classical guitar, Catalonian Francisco Tarrega’s ode to the Arabic contributions to Spain’s culture are expressed in his Recuerdos de Alhambra and Capriccio Arabe.
The music of Federico Moreno Torroba (Madrid, Spain) explores the “Castles of Spain” with pieces commemorating the variety of castles built across Spain in the Middle Ages. Robert will be playing four Spanish Castles.
Returning to South American music Robert will perform “Julia Florida” and “La Cathedral” by the brilliant Paraguayan guitar-composer Agustin Barrios.
Venezuelan Antonio Lauro was another inspired guitarist-composer whose Valses for guitar contributed to the Venezuelan Waltz genre. This program of guitar music will conclude with Lauro’s “Four Venezuelan Valses”.
Robert Harding began playing classical a year after high school while attending the Southwest Guitar Conservatory in San Antonio. He attended North Texas State in Denton as a guitar performance major, and also participated in masterclasses of guitarists performing for the Dallas Classical Guitar Society. As part of an academic/ music trip Robert spent 11 days in Madrid studying with Jose Luis Rodrigo; followed by 11 more days study with Jose Thomas in Alicante, Spain. After graduating from UNT, Robert was rewarded a scholarship to study with Robert Guithrie at SMU, where he earned his Masters in guitar performance. In the years after college, Robert taught at Collin County College, and at the Eastfield campus of the Dallas County College. Robert has continued to practice, learn, perform, and share his love for the sound. He continues to teach privately.