THE SINGING GUITAR

by UTSA - The University of Texas at San Antonio

NATS

The Singing Guitar: A Choral and Strings Collaborative

Classical guitarist, p e d a g o g u e , a n d educator Dr. Isaac Bustos enjoys an extensive performing career that has taken him to Canada, Central America, Europe, China, and all over the US. In the Fall of 2019 as a member of the Texas Guitar Quartet, along with members from the

Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and the Texas Guitar Quartet, Dr. Bustos had the opportunity to record with Conspirare, a nine-time nominated and twotime Grammy® Award winning professional choral ensemble from Austin, Texas. The ensemble’s latest recording, The Singing Guitar, features the Conspirare singers with these classical guitar quartets – an unusual and atypical orchestration.

The twelve distinguished p r o f e s s i o n a l c l a s s i c a l guitarists and chamber choir collaborated to produce The Singing Guitar, and it is unlike any other musical experiences t h e m u s i c i a n s h a v e encountered. It is not a typical arrangement, taking elements of folk and cowboy songs and combining them into contemporary classical style. “With the utilization of classical guitar in the compositions, a unique texture was created and thus proved to be a challenge when combining the voices into relationship with the guitars’ sound,” stated Jos Milton, Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Mississippi and Conspirare member.

The essence of The Singing Guitar captures the allure of the vast Western American landscape. The album’s standout piece which features Bustos is titled “How Little You Are,” by Nico Muhly. It is based on texts from 19th-century pioneer women in Wyoming and Texas, an intellectual musical tale of native and non-native frontierswomen. Following its world-premiere, Austin-American Statesman critic Luke Quinton observed: “It’s [How Little You Are] a strong, moving work, a richly detailed piece of art that takes worthy stories from the West and makes them into something more than the sum of their parts, piecing just tiny fragments of these women’s lives together in a buzzing, humming vibrating piece of music that manages to move you not just intellectually, but emotionally.”

The composition by Nico Muhly was written for the chamber choir and all three classical guitar quartets. The lushness of the 12 classical guitar voices combined with the voices of Conspirare’s singers creates an evocative sound. The entire album will take you on a journey to the beautiful and daunting Western landscapes with unique choral and guitar melodies uniquely crafted by Muhly, Reena Esmail, and Kile Smith.

The Singing Guitar was released on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Music in September of 2020.