Please join us for an evening of literature
and music in conjunction with our
current exhibition, Summer
Reading.
Author Glenn Kurtz will
read passages from his bestselling book, Practicing:
A
Musician's Return to Music, and classical guitarist Paul
Smith will perform a
selection of contemporary music for guitar.
In Practicing: A Musician’s
Return to Music, Glenn
Kurtz takes us on a journey of
hope, loss, and surprising return. Telling the story of his
career as a classical
guitarist—from his first lessons at the age of eight to
his acceptance at the elite
New England Conservatory of Music—Kurtz lets the reader
into the passionate,
hidden world of making and performing music, revealing the elation,
the
self-doubt, and the intense determination that define the work
of practicing. A
prodigy at age ten, by twenty-five, Kurtz realizes that his
dream of being the next
Segovia will not come true. Devastated by this realization,
he quits music forever.
Or so he thought. Ten years later, Kurtz returns to the guitar
to discover what
went wrong. No longer an aspiring artist, he is now a “former
musician,”
overcoming his earlier disappointment and learning a new and
richer kind of love
for music. By examining his own return to music, Kurtz shows
how learning to pick
yourself up and continue may be the practice room’s most
important lesson. In
this way, Practicing speaks
not just to musicians, but to everyone who has striven
for an ideal—and learned from disappointment. Containing
vivid portraits of his
teachers, friends, and competitors, along with a fascinating
history of the classical
guitar, its players, and composers, Practicing
is an inspiring, entertaining, and
meditative memoir. A love affair with music.
The New York Times called Practicing:
A Musician's Return to Music, "A thoughtful
and fluid meditation," and Newsday hailed it as "The
book of a lifetime." Practicing
has been featured on NPR's "Weekend Edition"with Scott
Simon, and will be
released by Vintage in paperback this August. Glenn graduated
from the New
England Conservatory-Tufts University Double Degree Program
and holds a PhD
in comparative literature from Stanford University. His articles
and essays have
appeared in numerous magazines and journals, including ZYZZYVA,
Lost, and the
Huffington Post. He lives in New York City and is currently
working on a novel.
Paul Smith is an active
soloist, chamber musician, and composer devoted to the
promotion of the guitar. A graduate of the The Juilliard School,
Mr. Smith studied
under Sharon Isbin where he received his Master's Degree after
receiving his
Bachelor's of Music from the Mannes College studying under Frederic
Hand. Recent
premieres and commissions include Robert Cuckson's Guitar Concerto
performed
with the Mannes Orchestra's contemporary program under David
Hayes, and Terry
Champlin's "Music at the Close" for solo guitar premiered
at The Monkey. Mr. Smith
has recently appeared throughout New York in Alice Tully Hall,
Merkin Concert Hall,
Columbia University, The Morgan Library and Museum, The Metropolitan
Museum,
and the Society for Ethical Culture. His Voice and Guitar Ensemble,
the "Janus
Duo" with Tenor Daniel Molkentin, has been featured at
Vassar College
specializing in commissioning new works. As a budding composer,
Mr. Smith has
written for various ensembles including the Mannes Guitar Ensemble.
Recent
compositions include "Songs of the Wildflower" for
High Voice and Marimba on
texts by William Blake commissioned by the Aurora Borealis Duo,
a "Fantasy on a
poem by Issa", and a Piano Sonata. He has coached with
harpsichordist Lionel
Party and Yehuda Hanani at the Bachanalia Baroque Festival in
Chatham, NY and
several masterclass appearances with Evangelos and Liza, Scott
Tenant, Roland
Dyens, Benjamin Verdery, Oscar Ghiglia, and Aldo Minella.
