Chua May Ling is no longer the Secretary of the Classical Guitar Society (WP/Sel) since January 2008 and may not represent the Society in any manner whatsoever. This announcement was forced onto me due to the events that have taken place in the past months and as the President of the Society, I have to safeguard the name…
In the movie Cast Away, Chuck Noland (played by Tom Hanks) was planed-wrecked in an island all alone, as the plane he was on crashed in the sea! In the movie what struck me till today, was the way that Chuck coped with his loneliness for four years in this remote island. The loneliness he felt…
Keeping fingernails and the problems students face in Malaysian public and private schools First and foremost, classical guitarists need to keep fingernails on the right hand (unless they play the guitar left-handed). These nails are used for plucking the strings as opposed to the left hand which cannot have nails as it is used to…
As the President of the Classical Guitar Society, I feel that I have a responsibility to enlighten the public especially the classical guitar enthusiasts, the invited guest performer and the sponsors as to what is misleading in the above organised concert entitled ‘Bel Canto de Guitarra’. What is misleading? Apparently, this concert is presented by…
“Practising: A Musician’s Return to Music” by Glenn Kurtz “The remarkable odyssey of a classical guitar prodigy who abandons his beloved instrument in defeat at the age of twenty-five, but comes back to it years later with a new kind of passion.” – From the book description This is one of the rare books in…
‘Guitar Alive 2007’ held on 8 July 2007 was a very memorable event for many young classical guitarists. It was an event where many guitar enthusiasts came together regardless of playing abilities, age, social status or culture to present a musical performance to the public. Personally, I feel very honored to have been one of…
The composer Arnold Schoenberg had triskaidekaphobia – he was afraid of the number 13. It turns out he was right to be too – he died aged 76 (7 + 6 = 13) on Friday 13 July 1951 at 13 minutes to midnight! Taken from Robinson Children’s Books ‘Hairy Humans’ – my son Christopher was reading this…
Rafael Serrallet, a classical guitarist from Spain has requested for the publication of his doctoral thesis on Manuel Palau, a Spanish composer and his Concierto Levantino for guitar. This thesis is nominated the best thesis in his polytechnic university for 2005. Below is a summary and has not been edited. Author: Simon CheongDate: 27 February…
Since there are no books as far as I know with regard to this topic, I would like to initiate a movement towards this end. It will be great if someone who likes to write and is willing to invest his time to search for information will write one. In this respect, I hope that…
It is with great sadness that I learned of Jack’s passing when I received an e-mail from one of my students. John Duarte, a great person whom I had the honour to have studied with, showed me the ropes when I was in London in 1983. I chose to have classes privately with Jack when…