Guitar magic took place in the Coe Gallery at the Hickory Museum of Art on March 8, 2013, 7:30 p.m. The maestro was Francisco Javier Cantú-Barrera, who was featured as a “specialist” in classical guitar. He performed pieces written by himself, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Isaac Albéniz and Joaquin Rodrigo.
It was a joy to see someone play such obviously difficult chord and stroke actions without apparent effort, sometimes almost caressing his insturment and bringing out tender notes that hung in the gallery for a moment, sometimes just barely discernible, and then disappearing as deeper melodies swept in from a source of great power. In the finest Latin tradition Maestro Cantú-Barrera played his guitar once or twice as one might play a drum, drumming with both hands, on the body of the guitar and on the frets without interrupting his elegant playing of the guitar with the strings and frets – rhythm, melody, and wow. A marvelous act of creation with with a sense of ease and familiarity.
The presentation was free and open to the public. More than that we were PAID, in a sense to attend, in the form of snacks and wine. My estimate of the audience was between 40 and 60 (I don’t do crowd estimates), and it took place in a gallery that was hung with the impressionistic art work of Will Henry Stevens.
