Roland Dyens Master Class review

by Robert Vierschilling

Roland Dyens gave a master class to the Seattle Classic Guitar Society at the University of Washington School of Music on September 29th. The four performers in the class were: Gabriel Taylor (Etudes I, V, VI, VII by Leo Brouwer), Jesse White (Introduction and Caprice by Regondi), Satchel Henneman (Prelude from the 3rd Lute Suite by Bach) and Kyle Summers (Prelude 5 by Heitor Villa-Lobos).

All four performers received detailed instruction on the finer points of interpretation and technique. Dyens especially encouraged the performers to play expressively and to use the wide variety of tone colors available on the guitar. Dyens brought attention to details that often go unnoticed such as playing with a wider range of dynamics and stopping notes that were ringing too long.

There were more than forty auditors in attendance in addition to the four performers. Auditors and performers both benefited from Dyens’ instruction gaining new insights into technique and interpretation and inspiration for practice.