===========================================================
02 Jan 2002 From: Victor Salkowitz Subject: Agenda for Jan 8th Guitar Society

Greetings Guitar Enthusiasts,

Hope your Holidays were healthy and happy. The following are agenda items for our next guitar society meeting, Jan 8th, at 7pm (at Grant Ruiz' house,--let me know if you need directions).

Agenda:
I. Original Compositions Feedback from a few of you indicated that this was a worthwhile segment to keep going. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

II. Intrepretive Works: Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

III. Nail Care: The bane of many a guitarist, nails can have significant effect on quality and confidence. Time will be devoted to discussing what works best for folks.

IV. The Guitar Society: Sponsered Performances Professional guitarists who perform all over the country (and the world) and who are known personally by Joe Thompson and David Rogers are coming through the Ashland area in early Spring. Would the Guitar Society like to help create a venue for them? What might this look like? How might this help us as well as the featured artist?

V. Guitar Society Website: Some of us may already be recording our music on CDs, or may be ready to do so. A website could help promote the sale of these CDs, as well as let the world know that our society exists. In addition, there may be those who would have some fun initiating discussion groups, writing articles, networking, etc. Would the group be interested in this?

VI. Video Taping Open Mike Performers: The video camera can be used as a tool for immediate visual as well as audio feedback. The use of this tool during a segment of our meeting for open mike performance will be opened up for discussion. Perhaps a sign up will start for those brave ones wanting to have themselves taped at a future meeting.
The number of agenda suggestions sent in exceeded what could be comfortably ensconsed into this month's schedule. Remaining items will be saved for next time.

See you the 8th,
Victor.

Back to Top

===========================================================
11 Jan 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of January 8 Guitar Society meeting

Subject: Minutes of January 8 Guitar Society meeting

Hello, all. I thought I'd post these minutes to keep the group updated. Despite a few last-minute cancellations, we had a great meeting with a small group of people at my house on Tuesday night. Victor and Joe are dealing with acute health issue, and we wish them well.

The attendees were Margaret Gelatt, Dennis Johnson, David Rogers, Grant Ruiz, and Gerry Shute.
Here's the summary of what we did. You are welcome to comment on any or all of this, especially the first topic. If you want to start a discussion over e-mail, please include the whole group in your reply.
Sponsored Performances: We decided that the society would provide $100 toward sponsoring an upcoming master class on April 7 to be given by Dusan Bogdanovic of the De Falla trio.
The Society's charter: We may want to expand the group's membership to include other styles, and we need to encourage more people, especially beginners, to participate.
Original compositions: David played a couple, Grant played a couple. We discussed inspirations and influences.
Interpretive works: Gerry played Lagrima by Tarrega, Margaret played the first part of Leyenda and Greensleeves.
Guitar society website: We need to identify people, resources for doing this before we get into any particulars.
Video taping performances: Could be a useful tool for practice, advertising, getting gigs, etc.
Nail care: Postponed for a future meeting.
Next meeting: Tuesday, February 5, 6:30-8:30, Grant Ruiz's house. Please send agenda items to Victor.
Detailed minutes follow.

Sponsored Performances: Dave Rogers told us the De Falla trio (http://www.jwentworth.com/falla/) will be performing in April (I believe on or around Sunday April 7) to benefit the Rogue Valley Symphony. He would like to set up a master class on April 7 with one of the well-known members of the trio, Dusan Bogdanovich (http://www.sfcm.edu/bios/bogdanovic.html),who teaches at the San Francisco conservatory. This is a reciprocal deal, since David has taught down there before. The teacher's fee would likely be $200, and Dave asked whether the society would be willing to help. Apparently the university doesn't have the money to do so at this time.
Some members expressed concern about fronting the money, but overall this seems to be a risk worth taking. The consensus was for the society to offer $100 toward the fee, and David would discuss this with his contact to see if it could be matched. The university could likely be persuaded to provide a room for the class. We would attempt to recover our contribution by charging admission to students as well as audience members. (We didn't discuss what we would actually charge.) If it's successful, we may even have a surplus and be able to start a treasury fund. If there is sufficient interest within the society and we provide the full $200 (we weren't sure we could since there were only 5 of us attending), I imagine we could justify keeping all the proceeds.
Even if we don't recover the money, it will give us more exposure around the area, through advertising and the class itself. Margaret mentioned that you can post an ad for free in a certain section of the Revels, and we can investigate this and similar methods to reach a larger audience around the valley.
For those who don't know, a master class is given by a professional, with a typically small number of students who prepare a piece and perform for the teacher for comments and general discussion. There can also be an audience. Although this can be stressful for the students, a lot of insight and inspiration can be gained from such classes.
The Society's charter: Not surprisingly, the sponsorship discussion brought up the topic of our charter and target membership. It was suggested that labeling this a "classical" guitar society may be too limiting. It was further suggested that we could make this a "solo" guitar society instead, which would potentially include electric and steel string styles (instrumental only). This is plausible because many guitarists these days know multiple styles. Also, there are a number of topics and needs common among guitarists, e.g., the need for performance experience, promotion, feedback from fellow musicians, discussions on technique, guitar and equipment evaluation, sound quality, health, etc. If a solo guitar society is seen as too general, we could expand it to an "acoustic" or "unplugged" guitar society for now.
Dave Rogers mentioned that he'd like his students to attend these meetings, and I'd recommend that anyone else who has students should encourage them to come.
Margaret expressed concern about how involved beginners can be in the society, given all the levels of ability that may be present at meetings. The point was made that this is a setting where anyone can practice performing, even partial pieces, and maybe solicit feedback if they wish it. People of all learning levels can use the meeting as a place to ask for advice. No one should be intimidated about playing at the meetings (other than dealing with the usual jitters), and my hat's off to Gerry and Margaret for playing their selections.
Guitar society website: People seemed to think this was worth doing. Bruce Smith commented in e-mail that if we do this, it should be interesting, informative, and kept up-to-date. He pointed to http://www.seattleguitar.orgas an example of a well done site. (I like their idea of a "guitarchestra", by the way.)
Before any of this happens, we need to identify anyone in the group or known by the group who could volunteer time, equipment, software, etc. to the endeavor. Joe Thompson came dangerously close to being volunteered, since he's put up a website! This is a good reason to attend, so that you don't get volunteered in absentia. ;-)
I don't have much experience with websites, but I work for a company (Adobe Systems) that publishes excellent authoring software for the web, and I can get this very inexpensively.
If anyone else would like to step forward, please do so. Don't think that you're committing at this point. We just need to see who or what is out there first. If you're shy about telling the group, feel free to contact Victor and me directly.
Video taping performances: Grant can provide a video camera for any brave souls who wish to be video taped. We can play it back at the meeting, or people can supply their own VHS tapes and take them home. This would be a good practice for performance. If enough of us get used to it, we could even create a tape of our performances and submit it to Rogue Valley TV for their programming. This would also give us some additional exposure.
For the next meeting, assuming it's at my house, I'll set up a camera in case anyone is feeling reckless.
Nail care: Postponed for a future meeting. This could be a lengthy topic with many related issues, and we just didn't have the time.
Next meeting: Tuesday, February 5, 6:30-8:30, Grant Ruiz's house. The staircase is now under construction, and it had better be in place by 2/5. Please note the earlier time. If most people can't make it, we'll have to choose a different location for the next meeting. I can provide munchies and wine, and folks are invited to bring snacks and drinks if they wish. I hope to see all of you there!

Back to Top
===========================================================
17 Jan 2002 From: Joseph Thompson Subject: Response to Minutes of January 8 Guitar Society meeting

>Hello, all. I thought I'd post these minutes to keep the group updated.
>Despite a few last-minute cancellations, we had a great meeting with a
>small group of people at my house on Tuesday night. Victor and Joe are
>dealing with acute health issue, and we wish them well.

Thanks for the well wishing. Sorry I couldn't be there. Actually thought about trying to make it but just wasn't up for it. Doing very well now and looking forward to the next meeting. I would like to share my input on the items from the last meeting and hope it is okay for me to do so in this virtual forum. It is a bit long winded so I'm giving you advanced warning.

>Sponsored Performances: We decided that the society would provide $100 toward sponsoring an >upcoming master class on April 7 to be given by Dusan Bogdanovic of
>the De Falla trio.

Absolutely! What a great opportunity to not only make a connection with one of the big names on the CG scene today but to put our name on the map locally as well. I think $100 is a small price for our group to committ to.

Question: When the sponsor for the DeFalla Trio concert (RVSO?) puts its promo out for the concert, can we ask them to include info that we will be sponsoring a master class? It would be a good, high profile exposure for the group.

>The Society's charter: We may want to expand the group's membership to include other styles,
>and we need to encourage more people, especially beginners, to participate.

Personally, I think we should be hesitant to open the door in this manner. If we are considering this option, I would ask why? If it is an attempt to beef up our membership rolls, I would suggest we be patient. I have been talking with my students about the society and there has been alot of interest and support for the idea. I know Dave has said the same thing. Meeting once per month it takes a while for people to get into the swing of things. I know it took me a while. I think once the ball gets rolling, we will have a good membership base. People just need to get into the habit of showing up every month.
I think there are a lot of issues for us to explore that are quite specific to classical guitar. Attempting to accomodate players from other disciplines could be a distraction. We could also potentially get swampped by people who are dealing with issues that are unrelated to what we are doing and issues that we might not be interested in persuing. At the risk of sounding snobbish or territorial, I must say that I love the classical guitar and don't really want to spend time listening to someone worry about travis picking on their Martin D-18 or working out the lead break to some Led Zeplin tune on his Stratocaster, or whatever.
Here is another thought. "Classical guitar" is not really all that limiting. Many players use their classical technique to explore flamenco, jazz, and various folk idioms as well as original compositions. I would never suggest that we exclude players who are using their classical chops to explore other styles. I do that myself. But what has drawn us together is our common approach to guitar playing from the perspective of "classical technique" as it is applied to the instrument called the "classical guitar". When I sit with a steel string or solid body electric, it is an alien universe in terms of both technique and sound. I would hope we can have a full discussion and come to some kind of consensus before we make such a move.
In terms of attracting members from a broader area, I open up for the groups consideration the possibility of our calling ourselves the "Jefferson State Classical Guitar Society". "Ashland Classical Guitar Society" feels to restrictive and limiting to me. Victor, our founder, is from Mt. Shasta, and Gerry is from Eagle Point. Both are in the so called "State of Jefferson". The State of Jefferson extends north to south from Roseburg to Redding and east to west from Klamath Falls to the coast. We could send press releases to various community newspapers in the region about our endeavors and perhaps draw members from the broader region. Here is another thought. Our group is small enough now that we can have these discussions about what we want our society to look like. But as it grows, and I know it will, it will become increasingly difficult to make decisions and establish a direction. I have no experience with concepts and protocols of "club officers" and "boards of directors" or whatever, but I would like to open it up for discussion that it might be prudent for us to begin discussions along these lines. If anyone else has experience with these types of organizing principles, perhaps they could step forward with ideas about how we might organize some kind of "decision making body" to prevent potential chaos in the future.

> >Original compositions: David played a couple, Grant played a couple. We discussed inspirations
>and influences. >

This is one of my favorite aspects of this group. There are so many talented composers among us. Having a venue to share new compositions and arrangements is inspiring. I could imagine at some point our group having a private house concert or perhaps even a rent a hall and put on a fund raiser where in we would feature our original compositions and arrangements.

>Guitar society website:We need to identify people, resources for doing this before we get into
>any particulars.

Yea, yea, yea, allright already. I have put up one web site. Its' focus is on my wife's trip to Spain to visit her daughter. The two of them traveled around the country taking photos. If you want to check out my web building credentials, then visit the site: http://id.mind.net/~mgreene
Be sure to visit the Madrid page and see the Contreras workshop.
So I would be willing to step up to the plate to build the site. The building part is not that big a deal, actually. Much more involved, however, is deciding what it should look like, how it should be organized, what info we want on it, etc. Perhaps someone could research other sites to get some ideas for what we want ours to look like.

One final item which I would like to get feed back on. I have a friend who is a superb concert guitarist, James Klein. He will be traveling through the area on his way to Portland for a concert in early March. He has expressed interest in playing in Ashland and I would like to help him out. Question: Would the guitar society like to sponsor a concert and workshop for him? The date would be on Friday or Saturday, March 1st or 2nd. There is enough time to get this one together but we would have to decide before our next meeting and get on it fairly soon.
James is an exceptional guitarist and I know that Dave Rogers will agree with me. I can give him my highest recommendation. He plays a highly unusual 11 string guitar and has evolved a very unique style and repertoire. He studied with the great Jose Thomas in Spain back in the 70's and has concertized throughout Europe as well as along the west coast of the USA and in Mexico. He would be willing to play for the door and do a master class for whatever he can make off of it.
I would be willing to front the money for the hall rental. I'm assuming of course that the membership would support this venture by showing up at the concert. Any expenses would come out of the gate reciepts.
Our expenses would be hall rental and promotion.
Hall rental: Potential sites for a concert would be:
1) community center (down by Lithia Park) 2) Carpenter Hall (best option in my opinion) 3) local church (Dave?) 4) other ideas?

Promotion: We would need to:
1) James can send us classy posters 2) Post flyers (it would be helpful to have a list of good spots to post flyers) 3) Write up press releases 4) Distribute press releases to various news outlets (again, it would be helpful to have a list of news outlets.) 5) Mailing list: Do we want to establish a mailing list of people who would likely support guitar society events? Mailings can be expensive but if they are well targeted they can be very effective. Postcard size is probably best.

Refreshments:
Would we want to serve refreshments at intermission? This would be a good way to generate income for the guitar society.
The above activities would not require a lot of effort especially if it is spread among a few volunteers to do some of footwork. Be thinking about if and how you might want to be involved. If you do volunteer, it is of critical importance that you follow through.
I think this concert could be a great way to get our feet wet, and to introduce ourguitar society to the world without any substantial financial risk. We can also get a good sense of how much support there is out there in the community.

That is all for now. Please let me know what to do concerning the James Kline Concert.
Cheers,
Joe Thompson

Back to Top



18 Jan 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Re: Response to Minutes of January 8 Guitar Society meeting

Joe,
Thanks for your very thoughtful and detailed response. (And I'm happy to hear that you're doing well.) I'd like to address some of your points.

>>Sponsored Performances: We decided that the society would provide $100 toward sponsoring an >>upcoming master class on April 7 to be given by Dusan Bogdanovic of
>>the De Falla trio.
> >Absolutely! What a great opportunity to not only make a connection with one
>of the big names on the CG scene today but to put our name on the map
>locally as well. I think $100 is a small price for our group to committ to.

I agree. I'd like to see us front the full $200, but with only five people at the last meeting, it didn't feel right to commit the group to the full amount. If more people show up for the next meeting, I hope we can revisit this.

>Question: When the sponsor for the DeFalla Trio concert (RVSO?) puts its
>promo out for the concert, can we ask them to include info that we will be
>sponsoring a master class? It would be a good, high profile exposure for
>the group.

Great idea! The concert is a benefit for the RVSO, so I assume they'd have something to do with the promo. We'd need to establish a contact with them, and perhaps this can be facilitated through Dave's contact with the trio.
I hope the concert sponsor wouldn't mind our piggybacking like this, but at the same time, we could pursue other advertising for the master class as well.

>>The Society's charter: We may want to expand the group's membership to include other styles,
>>and we need to encourage more people, especially beginners, to participate.
> >Personally, I think we should be hesitant to open the door in this manner.
>If we are considering this option, I would ask why? If it is an attempt to
>beef up our membership rolls, I would suggest we be patient. I have been
>talking with my students about the society and there has been alot of
>interest and support for the idea. I know Dave has said the same thing.
>Meeting once per month it takes a while for people to get into the swing of
>things. I know it took me a while. I think once the ball gets rolling, we
>will have a good membership base. People just need to get into the habit of
>showing up every month. > >I think there are a lot of issues for us to explore that are quite specific
>to classical guitar. Attempting to accomodate players from other
>disciplines could be a distraction. We could also potentially get swampped
>by people who are dealing with issues that are unrelated to what we are
>doing and issues that we might not be interested in persuing. At the risk
>of sounding snobbish or territorial, I must say that I love the classical
>guitar and don't really want to spend time listening to someone worry about
>travis picking on their Martin D-18 or working out the lead break to some
>Led Zeplin tune on his Stratocaster, or whatever.
> >Here is another thought. "Classical guitar" is not really all that
>limiting. Many players use their classical technique to explore flamenco,
>jazz, and various folk idioms as well as original compositions. I would
>never suggest that we exclude players who are using their classical chops
>to explore other styles. I do that myself. But what has drawn us together
>is our common approach to guitar playing from the perspective of "classical
>technique" as it is applied to the instrument called the "classical
>guitar". When I sit with a steel string or solid body electric, it is an
>alien universe in terms of both technique and sound. I would hope we can
>have a full discussion and come to some kind of consensus before we make
>such a move.

Membership was a secondary concern at the meeting, although I think you're right that we need to be patient in that area. Thanks for talking to your students, by the way.
The main concern at the meeting was that the term "classical guitar" in the group's name might be interpreted strictly as the music rather than the instrument. This could discourage some people from participating, e.g., those who predominantly play different musical styles on the classical guitar, or even those who incorporate classical technique on different types of guitars. I remember suggesting the name "nylon string guitar society" at the last meeting, but it seemed cumbersome. Also, it doesn't communicate a common bond of appreciation of classical guitar music and some knowledge of its technique. If this really is the spirit of the group, then there may not be a succinct way to convey this in the name without seeming exclusive of other styles. Personally, I have no problem calling it a "classical guitar society".
I admit we got rather far afield in suggesting that we could expand the group to other types of guitars like steel string and electric.

>In terms of attracting members from a broader area, I open up for the
>groups consideration the possibility of our calling ourselves the
>"Jefferson State Classical Guitar Society". "Ashland Classical Guitar
>Society" feels to restrictive and limiting to me. Victor, our founder, is
>from Mt. Shasta, and Gerry is from Eagle Point. Both are in the so called
>"State of Jefferson". The State of Jefferson extends north to south from
>Redding to Roseburg and east to west from the coast to Klamath Falls. We
>could send press releases to various community newspapers in the region
>about our endeavors and perhaps draw members from the broader region.

Again, a great idea, although we need to decide whether we really want the group to extend this far. If people in Roseburg or Redding are interested, how do we include them? I'm not rejecting the idea, just saying that it requires more thought. Here are the various location names I've heard suggested for the society, in order of increasing scope:
Ashland Rogue Valley Southern Oregon Jefferson State (or State of Jefferson?)
They all have their pros and cons. I suggest that we nail this down soon if we're going to start sponsoring performances and including our name in ads.

>Here is another thought. Our group is small enough now that we can have
>these discussions about what we want our society to look like. But as it
>grows, and I know it will, it will become increasingly difficult to make
>decisions and establish a direction. I have no experience with concepts and
>protocols of "club officers" and "boards of directors" or whatever, but I
>would like to open it up for discussion that it might be prudent for us to
>begin discussions along these lines. If anyone else has experience with
>these types of organizing principles, perhaps they could step forward with
>ideas about how we might organize some kind of "decision making body" to
>prevent potential chaos in the future.

If this isn't discussed over e-mail, I suggest we make it an agenda item for February 5th. Here's my 2 cents. My wife is deeply involved in the Ashland Rowing Club, which has experienced tremendous membership growth in the last 1.5 years since its inception. They seem to be keeping the chaos at bay. Here's what they do: they have an odd number of board members to prevent voting deadlock, each with 1 year terms. They limit the board to 9 members (the total membership is over 100 people), although they currently only have 7, which is considered sufficient. At first the board was made up of volunteers, but then the board was elected via a majority vote in the first all-members meeting. Their board pretty much makes all the decisions as far as direction and finances.

>>Original compositions: David played a couple, Grant played a couple. We discussed inspirations
>>and influences. >> > >This is one of my favorite aspects of this group. There are so many
>talented composers among us. Having a venue to share new compositions and
>arrangements is inspiring. I could imagine at some point our group having a
>private house concert or perhaps even a rent a hall and put on a fund
>raiser where in we would feature our original compositions and
>arrangements.

I'm glad you mentioned arrangements as well. I'd love to play my arrangements and hear others play theirs during this part of the meeting. I have written more arrangements than original compositions, so I'd have more to contribute in this area.

>One final item which I would like to get feed back on. I have a friend who
>is a superb concert guitarist, James Klein. He will be traveling through
>the area on his way to Portland for a concertin early March. He has
>expressed interest in playing in Ashland and I would like to help him out.
>Question: Would the guitar society like to sponsor a concert and workshop
>for him? The date would be on or Friday or Saturday, March 1st or 2nd.
>There is enough time to get this one together but we would have to decide
>before our next meeting and get on it fairly soon.

Didn't he play here in October 2000? I recall hearing very good reviews. Sounds like a worthwile effort, and with everything there is to be done, we'd need to gather volunteers very quickly. This effort could begin to identify a lot of resources for the group, e.g., places to post flyers, news outlets, a general interest mailing list. As for refreshments, let me just quote George Bernard Shaw from the deli section of PC Market of Choice in Ashland: "There is no love more sincere than the love of food."
Are you willing to lead the organizational effort on this, Joe? I, for one, will be glad to help with some of the promotional tasks you mentioned.
My concern is whether there would really be enough time to organize and promote the concert/workshop. Any chance we can catch him on his way back from Portland to buy us some more time?
Grant

Back to Top
===========================================================
3 Feb 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for February 5th Guitar Society meeting

The next meeting of the classical guitar society will take place at my house this Tuesday, February 5th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The address is 1552 Lilac Circle in Ashland. Here are the directions:
On Siskiyou Blvd, south of where 66 runs into it, you will come to Walker. Make a right if you are coming from the north, left if coming from the south, so that you are going up the hill. Take the 3rd right from there, which is Lilac Circle. The house is 3rd on the left, with the number (1552) written on the curb.
We don't have railings on the front stairs yet, so you'll need to come up through the garage again.
I'll provide some light snacks and some drinks, including wine. Feel free to bring something to share. Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can get a rough idea of how many people will show.
Here's the agenda. We can break it into two segments like so:
First hour 1. Organizational Details We're about to get some publicity, so we'll finalize our name, narrow down the musical styles/genres that the society promotes, and discuss the need for an ad hoc group to make decisions between meetings.
2. Sponsored Performances A few of us have been working on the upcoming concert by David Rogers and James Kline on March 3rd. The society is sponsoring it, so we'll give an update. We will be asking for some volunteer assistance as well. We will also take this time to discuss the proposed master class by Dusan Bagdanovich on April 7th.
3. Society Website Joe Thompson can help build the site, but we need a designer, or at least someone to research other, quality websites from which to "borrow".
Second hour Take a break, stretch your legs, skip to the loo, have another glass of wine ...
4. Original Compositions/Arrangements People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.
5. Intrepretive Works Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.
6. Works in Progress Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.
I'll have a video camera set up for anyone who is brave enough to be recorded while they play. If you wish, we can play it back for feedback at the end of the meeting, or you can take a copy home, in which case please bring your own VHS tape.
It should be a fun, busy meeting, so I hope to see you Tuesday night!
Grant

Back to Top
===========================================================
8 Feb 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of February 5th Guitar Society meeting

Hello, all. Here are the minutes from Tuesday's meeting at my house, which was well attended, fun, and productive. Thanks to all who came:
Jay Armstrong, Margaret Gelatt, Dennis Johnson, Roslyn and Don Parker, Jeff Rinkoff, Tom Rose, Robert and Sabrina Roth, Dave Rogers, Grant Ruiz, Victor Salkowitz, Joe Thompson, Gerry Shute, Liz Vesecky, Jaxon Williams, Jaxon's mother Ronda and his sister.
Here's the summary. Feel free to comment or mention any omissions or inaccuracies, and to volunteer for any tasks mentioned below:
- Post flyers in Ashland's Railroad District for the March 3rd concert - Sell food, drinks, CDs during intermission at the March 3rd concert - Help design the society's website - Act as a liaison to the media or to performance venues or to other musical societies - Build and maintain mailing lists (e-mail and hardcopy)
Also, please pay special attention to the question at the end of the detailed discussion under "Sponsored Performances":
"The question to all of you becomes, how many people would be willing to pay this $10 auditor's fee UP FRONT (or $25 if you were to actually perform a piece) for Dusan's master class?"
Society Website: Joe had graciously offered to supply the technical expertise to put the site together. We still need a designer, although Joe will offer up a first draft for comment.
Organizationa Details: Our name is now officially the "Jefferson Classical Guitar Society". We consider ourselves to be based on an appreciation of the classical guitar and classical technique, although we will also promote related musical styles.
Sponsored Performances: For the March 3rd Rogers/Kline concert, we'll copy and distribute posters and look into serving refreshments at intermission to generate revenue. There was no discussion of James Kline's master class. For the Bogdanovic master class in April, we'll still guarantee $100 of the fee but may increase our contribution with sufficient interest and/or funds from the Rogers/Kline concert. We discussed many oppurtunities to make us more visible and active in the community and useful to performers.
Original Compositions/Arrangements: Joe and Grant played Grant's arrangement of the Cavatina; Joe and Jaxon played Joe's arrangement of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring; Dennis Johnson played an original waltz with a Mexican theme; Grant played his arrangment of an Andante by Vivaldi.
Interpretive Works: Jaxon played Lagrima by Tarrega, Jeff played Girl with the Flaxen Hair and one of Mendelssohn's Song without Words.
Works in Progress: Dave played his arrangement of an Appalachian hymn.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 5, time and place to be determined. Please send proposed agenda items to me.

Detailed minutes follow.
Society Website: People are interested in this, but so far nobody has really stepped forward except Joe. Joe has experience with building a website but needs to check with his ISP about the viability of using them for a potentially larger site. We called for volunteers to help with designing the site, or at least researching other sites to get ideas, but there were no takers. Joe kindly agreed to generate a first draft of the site so that people may comment. We will see if that sparks something.
Organizationa Details: We discussed our name further and decided on "Jefferson Classical Guitar Society", and this is what we'll start using in our publicity materials.
People liked the inclusion of "Jefferson" in the name. It has a distinctive air, it covers a large area, and there are other organizations that use it as part of their name. Someone said there is a guitar society in Eugene, but we won't be stepping on their toes geographically in any case. Other suggested names included "Siskyou" and "Mythical State" (as in "of Jefferson" as stated by JPR), but "Jefferson" was the favorite.
We discussed using the word "Classical" at length. Some people thought the word "Society" seemed high-brow enough. (If we called it a "Guitar Club" on the other hand, look out!). Others suggested "Solo Guitar" or "Acoustic Guitar", which was used in the society's name early on. The prevalent concern was that people may find "Classical" too restrictive; however, chances are that if someone has any interest in classical guitar, regardless of whether they play it, they may contact the group. There are many other classical guitar societies that simply refer to themselves as such. Finally, it was pointed out that most of us were drawn to the group because of the ad hoc use of "Classical" in the name, although many of us are interested in related styles, e.g., jazz, ragtime, flamenco, etc. "Related" means employing the classical guitar and/or the technique associated with it. We can always clarify this in our publicity, e.g., on the web or in announcements. Dennis Johnson once proposed a mission statement, which would further define our scope.
On a personal note, I was happy to have my neighbors Don and Roslyn Parker at the meeting, who appreciate classical guitar music. As our name grows, more of our membership and meeting attendees may include not only players but also appreciators.
Sponsored Performances: We talked in general about our role. Dave made the point that classical guitar doesn't get the draw that symphonic instruments do. He thought the classical guitar is stuck between traditional instruments and folk guitar, which both have larger audiences. This is why the chamber music group won't sponsor guitarists -- they might lose money. So, we definitely fulfill a need, and it behooves us to have some organization in place for promoting local and visiting guitarists. Over time, we need to develop a budget, various connections to the media and performance venues, and access to other advertising such as through e-mail and the web. I've already started compiling a list of such resources, and someone else recommended contacting other venues that have hosted guitar concerts, such as the Siskyou Barn, to see if we can share mailing lists. Over time we could even act as an adjunct to the chamber music group or the symphony in order to include guitarists in their series. These will be great volunteer opportunities for folks in the society.
The March 3rd performance by Dave Rogers and James Kline is on, and I showed a draft of the poster, which is all that we are supplying toward the sponsorship of the concert. Rather than making color copies, we'll make black and white copies on colored paper to save money. Jeff Rinkoff kindly offered the use of his copy machine, which will also save us a lot. We will distribute the flyers downtown (Joe), in the Railroad District (???), along Highway 66 (Grant), and at SOU (Dave) 2 to 3 weeks before the concert. We should also distribute them in Medford, e.g., at music stores. Dave also suggested the library and volunteered to canvas the Medford locations. If there are flyers left over, perhaps our Jacksonville and Dunsmuir contingents can post some! As for other publicity, Dave has sent out press releases to the Tidings, the Tribune, and JPR, and Joe is checking with JPR about having Dave and/or James on the "Jefferson Exchange" before the concert. Also, the event has already been posted to the Community Calendar on JPR's website. See http://www.jeffnet.org/calendar/.
Since we don't have a formal mail campaign set up, I'd encourage all of you to tell your friends about the concert and even point them to the calendar above. They may form the basis for a future mailing list, with their consent, of course. The only caveat is that advanced tickets have not been printed yet. I should have that done by next week.
There was some debate about whether or not we could serve refreshments at intermission as a way to generate funds. (At this point, all we should have to pay for is paper for the posters and tickets and perhaps disposable cups for coffee at intermission.) Victor said he would check with the Jackson County health department. He is still waiting to hear back but did talk to his local health dept. Their guidelines are likely similar to Jackson County's:
1) Pre-packaged food okay, food we prepare ourselves would require county inspection of cooking facilities; liability insurance would also be an issue for food we cook ourselves. 2) Drinks sold in cans or bottles okay; no dispensing in cups with ice due to chances of cross contamination. 3) Coffee served from an urn or coffee maker okay, poured into disposable cups. 4) No sale of alcoholic beverages without a license.
Gerry and Margaret said they would be willing to provide the food, and it sounds like a small CostCo run would suffice. We will have advanced ticket sales at Home at Last Music, so we should wait until just before the concert to get a good idea of how much to get. Jeff said he has a 50-cup coffee dispenser, and Dave said the church also has a large one. Margaret suggested that we could ask for a donation for the food. Other functions fix the prices per item, and that seems to work as well.
Someone suggested that we add a flyer and perhaps even a sign-up sheet for the Dusan Bagdanovic master class at the Rogers/Kline concert. Maybe we can get a flyer from the Rogue Valley Symphony for the De Falla Trio concert. This all seems a good idea, and it will be a busy intermission selling CDs, food, and drinks, and managing sign-ups/information. Any volunteers to work during the intermission?
Unfortunately, there was no discussion of James Kline's master class and how he will be paid for that. Joe indicated that James is willing to play the concert "for the door", but does the same apply to the master class? If not, do we want to guarnatee a certain portion of a fee as we will with Dusan Bogdanovic?
For the Bogdanovic master class in April, we'll still guarantee $100 of the fee. Rhett Bender at SOU agreed to pay the other $100, and SOU students (of which there may be 3 to 5) will not have to pay the $25 student fee. Dave said Dusan wasn't thrilled about the $200 fee, but Dave said we shouldn't bump up it for now. (Dave also made the interesting comment that master classes are often stressful for the teacher. I know that's true of the students, so maybe I misunderstood.) If we get any profit from the food sales at the Rogers/Kline concert, we could apply it toward Dusan's master class. We also asked the question, how many people would be willing to pay the $10 fee to audit the class, i.e., to be audience members. Seven people raised their hands, which is $70 out of the $100 we promised.
The question to all of you becomes, how many people would be willing to pay this $10 auditor's fee UP FRONT (or $25 if you were to actually perform a piece) for Dusan's master class?
Performances: Here's the actual order in which we played - Joe and Grant, Joe and Jaxon, Jaxon, Jeff, Dave, Dennis, Grant. Both the variety and level of preparation were pretty good. I like the idea of forming duets within the group and would like to see/hear/do more of this. As a child, I recall reading a quote (Chopin? Sor? Paganini?), something like, "Nothing is as charming as the guitar ... save two guitars!"
No one took me up on the offer to be videotaped. I suggested we consider this in the future not just for feedback, but for practice to eventually generate a "group tape" of our performances. This would help establish our identity and can use for publicity or entertainment on local stations like RVTV.
In case it isn't clear, if you attend the meetings, that doesn't mean you have to play. Folks are encouraged to prepare something if the wish to play. Even if a work isn't polished or completed, that's what the "Works in Progress" segment is for. I found the listeners at the last meeting to be supportive and appreciative.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 5, time and place to be determined by whomever is hosting. Dave will check with a friend who may be able to host. If that falls through, Margaret will host. Jeff also volunteered his place for a later meeting. I'll be glad to host again at some point, but I think it will be good to rotate around in order to offer folks another way to contribute to the group.
As always, please send proposed agenda items to me.
Thanks, Grant

Back to Top
===========================================================
3 Mar 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for March 5th Guitar Society meeting

Hello, guitar lovers!
Our next monthly meeting is this Tuesday, March 5, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. It will take place at Margaret Gelatt's house at 444 Courtney Street in Ashland. Here are the directions:
Get on Gresham, which goes up the hill by the Ashland library. It's off of Siskiyou Blvd. at the south end of downtown. Go up the hill to the end of Gresham, which will be Holly. Turn right on Holly and travel a short distance to Guthrie. Turn left on Guthrie. At the next intersection (a short distance) turn right on Merrill, which then turns and becomes Courtney.
Feel free to bring some light snacks or drinks to share. Please let me know if you plan to attend so I can get a rough idea of how many people will show.
Here's the agenda:
1. Organizational Details Many issues have come up in the last month. The most important seem to be: a) To have a decision-making group to get things done in between meetings. (This will take care of many other issues and will streamline future meetings.) If we have a reasonable number of people at the meeting, let's choose the group then. b) Consider being a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Bruce Smith has kindly agreed to make a quick presentation on the benefits.
2. Sponsored Performances How did the weekend master class and concert go? What lessons were learned? What's the latest with Dusan Bogdanovic's proposed master class? Anything else on the horizon?
3. Society Website We'll discuss any updates and action items.
Stretch/snack/wine break (you can stretch, you can snack, but please don't whine or break anything ...)
4. Original Compositions/Arrangements People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.
5. Intrepretive Works Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.
6. Works in Progress Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.
7. Decide on the next time/place to meet.
As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!
See you Tuesday, Grant

Back to Top
===========================================================
19 Mar 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of March 5th JCGS general meeting

Hello, all. Here are the minutes from the March 5th meeting at Margaret's house. Sorry they took a while, but I've been super busy. I'll be sending out separate minutes for the subsequent steering committee meeting. It will include updates on some of the items below and more, including requests for your opinions/choices on some matters.
Attendees: Margaret Gelatt, Bryan Haynes, Dennis Johnson, Bill Leonhart*, Maurya M. (sorry, don't know your last name!), Adam Rosenshield*, Robert Ross, Grant Ruiz, Bruce Smith, Joe Thompson, Gerry Shute, Liz Vesecky, John Webster*, Jaxon Williams, Jaxon's mother Ronda and his sister (Rebecca?).
* = First-timer.
Here's the summary:
Sponsored Performances People agreed that the previous weekend's events went well, and we dicussed musical and logistical lessons learned. David was not present to update us on the Dusan Bogdanovic master class.
Society Website No progress at the time, but we are going to check other websites for ideas, as well as potential contacts for future activities.
Organizational Details Seven people volunteered to serve on the JCGS steering committee: Bryan Haynes, Dennis Johnson, Adam Rosenshield, Grant Ruiz, Joe Thompson, Gerry Shute, John Webster. Jeff Rinkoff joined later and Bryan dropped out. Bruce gave a short talk on the benefits of non-profit incorporation, which everyone seemed to favor.
Original Compositions/Arrangements Grant and Joe played Grant's arrangement of an Ave Maria originally set for choir by Franz Biebl.
Intrepretive Works Jaxon and Joe played La Rossignol. John played some arpeggio exercises and part of Classical Gas by Mason Williams. Adam played an allemande by Dowland. Robert played Adelita by Tarrega.
Works in Progress Joe played a prelude, fugue, and sarabande from Bach's second lewd suite.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 2 at Paschal Winery, time to be determined. (See the upcoming steering committe minutes for details.) Please send proposed agenda items to me.

Detailed minutes follow.
Sponsored Performances Saturday's master class and Sunday's concert were a success, and some people even heard the radio interview on Friday. The turnout for the concert was very good (61 tickets sold), considering how many other events were taking place that day, and it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, which may have kept some people outdoors. The artists split the door, and each sold CDs as well. We also got six new names of people interested in the society. As for expenses, we covered them all and had $11.40 extra (28% of total sales) from selling snacks. I believe the concert showed that we can be successful at sponsoring performances, even with limited resources so far. As a result, we could consider requesting a cut for some concerts in the future based on an anticipated increased turnout.
The master class was also well attended with 4 students and 9 auditors, I believe. We reviewed some of the advice that Jim gave:
- Find a comfortable point for both tone and volume to allow more room to move. (Jim learned this from David Russell.) This produces a more contrasting effect if you need to increase volume or change tone. - When you play louder, make the tones more rounded rather than brighter to avoid harshness. - If you find a trouble spot or other area of special consideration in a piece, try creating an exercise around it. - For ritardandos, try subdividing the beat and slowing that down to get a more even, graduated feel. - Before using rubato, play a piece or passage straight to get a feel for how to best apply the rubato. - Don't clip lead-in/anacrusis notes unless called for. - Avoid glissandos unless called for explicitly or stylistically. - Study a composer, observe their style, and pay close attention to the interpretation of dynamic markings for a piece in order to prepare. Try listening to other versions as well.
Society Website There are a number of websites we can use as a model. Also, Joe pointed out that the cellist Patricia Potter in conjunction with Project A is starting a website called www.roguevalleymusic.com, which will be a means of advertising/promotion. There will be annual dues to be on this site.
Organizational Details We formed a steering committee to keep things going between meetings and to make decisions that do not have to be brought to the general group. This should streamline future meetings so that all the steering committee has to do is provide a brief background on issues and take votes/consensus as needed.
Gerry brought up the idea of getting business cards for the society, which you can get on the web for free or a nominal cost.
Bruce talked about the benefits of non-profit status, the greatest of which is that people could donate money to us as a tax deduction. (Beats the heck out of selling cookies and coffee at concerts!) The only downside is if we were to fold, any assets we held at the time would have to go to another non-profit organization of our choosing. This seems a minor issue, so people were overwhelmingly in favor of proceeding. Bruce said he would gather the forms and start the process.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 2 at Paschal Winery, time to be determined. Please send proposed agenda items to me.

Back to Top
===========================================================
28 Mar 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: JCGS Steering Committee Report

Hello,
The steering committee of the Jefferson Classical Guitar Society met on Friday, March 8 at the Black Sheep in Ashland. (We won't do that again ... too dark and noisy!) We covered a lot of topics, and this message is to inform the whole group about what's going on. I waited to post this so that we won't have to cover this material at the general meeting next Tuesday.
Speaking of which, please note that the next meeting is taking place Tuesday, April 2, 6:00 p.m. at the Paschal Winery. I'll send out an agenda with directions, but please note the new time and place. (See details below.)
If anyone has a problem with meeting 6-8pm, PLEASE SPEAK NOW.
The attendees of the meeting were: Bryan Haynes, Dennis Johnson, Jeff Rinkoff, Adam Rosenshield, Grant Ruiz, Gerry Shute, Joe Thompson, and John Webster.
Here are the topics we covered:
Our New Meeting Place Dusan Bogdanovic Master Class Non-profit Incorporation Mission Statement Performance Etiquette Membership Dues and Don'ts JCGS Website Contacting Other Guitar Societies
Our New Meeting Place Dennis Johnson contacted Mark DiRienzo, the business manager at Paschal Winery in Talent. Mark was receptive to our using their tasting room for our meetings for FREE, but only on Tuesdays. (This was a little disappointing, since at least Jeff and Robert can't make Tuesdays.) Dennis and I met Mark a few days later at Paschal's. Mark was very accommodating. He is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They can provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.
They will have at least one person working overtime, so in deference to Paschal, we agreed to start the meeting right after they close to the public, that is, at 6:00 p.m. The winery may be open later in the summer, and we could shift meeting times accordingly. Or we could even have our meetings during their open hours and potentially draw more of a crowd for Paschal. Also, Mark said this will be their first full season, and if Wednesday/Thursday nights aren't very busy, we can revisit the matter. For now, he has us down on the first Tuesdays of the next three months (April to June). He won't be advertising our meetings, but we are at liberty to do so.
Other alternatives: we could go to Paschal's another night, but we would currently have to rent the room, since they plan on keeping Wednesday through Monday open for events. Also, we could have the event catered at $5-$10 per person. Since both of these alternatives cost money, Dennis and I did not pursue them.
Mark is interested in various forms of recprocity. For example, we can do some tasting at the meeting, and he is hoping to sell some bottles of wine to us. To him, that would be better than charging us a fee. Also, he's interested in our using Paschal as a preferred venue for performances by local or visiting artists. He claims it can hold 40 to 50 people for more formal occasions with seating and room for tastings/catered snacks, maybe up to 75 less formally. We'd have to negotiate who would cover which costs, e.g., chair rentals.
If we have meetings during public hours, maybe we can develop some thematic performances, e.g., Romantic era night, Tarrega night, Bach night, Impressionist night, etc. Joe had also come up with the idea of a "guitar tasting" at the winery, i.e., get a bunch of different guitars and have a single player play them for an audience, evaluating the instruments and discussing the differences. Joe has a luthier friend in Pistol River, Les Stansell (http://www.stansellguitars.com),who may be able to supply guitars. Mark liked the idea.
So, the plan is to try out Paschal and see how it pans out. It could be a great opportunity to establish a home base.

Dusan Bogdanovic Master Class Dusan confirmed that he will teach the class on April 7, from 1 to 4pm in the choir room (#231 upstairs) of the SOU music department. We are still set to guarantee half ($100) of his fee, and the music department will guarantee the other half. (SOU members will be able to take the class for free as a result.) We did not work out specifically how to collect the $100, but a number of us volunteered to be backers if there isn't sufficient attendance. We may try taking up an early collection of auditors' fees at the next general meeting.
We've sent out a great deal of advertising for the class, and I encourage all of you to spread the word. One of the great side effects of this is that I established a contact with the Rogue Valley Symphony, who is sponsoring the Falla Trio concert the night before the master class. They sent out our ad for the class as an addendum to their concert press release, and they've agreed to include a note about it in the concert program. (They may even let someone make a plug for the class before the concert, but that's TBD.) Their contact list includes over 100 news outlets, public service announcements, and other music-related organizations. They were also kind enough to give me a copy of their contact list for our own use.
The question also stands as to what to do with any profit beyond the $200 fee. The choices include keeping it all, giving it all to the artist, and various splits in between (anywhere from a 60%/40% to an 80%/20% artist/society split has been suggested). As I mentioned in the last minutes, we showed some advertising value at the last concert, so if we do take in more than $200, I believe we are justified in keeping a percentage. We can discuss this further at the next general meeting or defer it to the next steering committee meeting.
Other ideas for advertising came up at the committee meeting, e.g., the community access channel and "letterboards", the signs you see by roads that can have letters placed in them to form messages/ads. We also brought up the idea of building a U.S. mail address list along with e-mail and phone lists. I've already started building such a list, but it's mostly for JCGS participants. At each event we sponsor, we should have a sign up sheet. Also, we could ask the symphony and other musical groups for mailing lists they use. As mentioned in the general ad at the bottom, we also have an e-mail list and phone number of our own for interested parties to contact.

Non-profit Incorporation Bruce Smith, our resident attorney, got the letter of incorporation and drafted bylaws for us. I put a call out to the steering committee for signers. Dennis Johnson and I signed as incorporators, Dennis will be the registered agent that the Secretary of State contacts for renewal, and I am the interim contact. I've sent the signed document to Salem, so we'll wait for them to send Dennis the Certificate of Incorporation. At some point we will presumably get an EIN (employee ID number) that we can use as a 501(c)(3) organization to open a bank account and supply to would-be donors.
The next step will be to elect directors, which can be done at the general meeting. Then the directors will elect their officers and adopt the bylaws.
Then we can start hitting up rich guitar enthusiasts for money and writing grant proposals! I also found out about SOU's Pacific Non-Profit Network:
"We offer non-profit and governmental agencies funding information and management resources. Located at the Education & Resource Center in the Rogue Valley Mall, you will find the Foundation Center's collection for grant research and materials for non-profit start-up, fund raising, board development, and other management information. If you need special assistance, call Pam Hall, 779-6044. Check our website at sou.edu/ecp/business/pnn.html."

Mission Statement This has been an ongoing issue, and the steering committee believed we've discussed enough of the society's charter in general meetings to refine the idea. I read a draft of a general publicity blurb for JCGS at the committee meeting and received good feedback. Unfortunately, this draft was what was put into the Revels two weeks ago, and they forgot the contact information to boot. (Richard Moeschl at the Revels said he would include the contact info with the Dusan master class ad.)
The revised version of the blurb (appended below) was approved by members of the committee. We can use it for general publicity. I suggested then and still suggest now that the mission statement be akin (or equal) to the second paragraph, at least as far as the general level of description:
The Jefferson Classical Guitar Society is a public, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the classical guitar in all its forms throughout the State of Jefferson.
I haven't heard any objections to this.

Performance Etiquette The steering committee would like to encourage more performance and feedback/dialog during the performance portion of the general meetings. We brainstormed a few ways to do this:
- Have a time keeper limit the time spent discussing business during the meetings, e.g., 30 minutes and no more. Any other business would be tabled. - Have people sign up to play ahead of time, either by responding to the previously mailed agenda or by signing up at the beginning of the meeting or at intermission. - Have theme nights as mentioned above. - Give performers the option to ask for feedback. They should make the request beforehand so that people who are interested will be prepared to comment. - Either limit the people who give feedback to a group of people who have background in doing so, e.g., teachers, or be very explicit about the kind of feedback that is to be given. We want to create a supportive, constructive environment for performing. (Playing for people can be stressful enough as it is!) For example, I think it was Joe who mentioned a Christopher Parkening master class in which he opened up comments to the general audience, with the proviso that he only wanted to hear positive comments. Dennis Johnson used to be a creative writing instructor and may have insights along these lines as well. - In case there aren't enough performers signed up to fill up the rest of the meeting time, we can always use the remaining time educationally, e.g., to share experiences in various aspects of playing.
We probably want to discuss adopting such guidelines at the next general meeting and even give some of them a try.

Membership Dues and Don'ts We discussed the possibility of starting membership dues. Bryan brought up that dues usually serve two purposes: to narrow membership to more committed people and to raise money for specific events. At this point we don't see the need to filter people out, and we are putting more stock in raising money through our non-profit status and sponsored events. Also, we don't feel the society currently offers enough benefit to members to justify fees. As a result, this topic has been deferred to a later time.
JCGS Website Joe Thompson has been putting together the beginnings of a website, which is currently under review by the steering committee. He has also been examining other websites as models and has found some high quality examples (Tucson Guitar Society, Edmonton Classical Guitar Society, and Tidewater Classical Guitar Society). Here is Joe's report:
>Here is where we are at with setting up a website account: > >I can put the site up at Infostructure for free under the catagory of >"personal web pages" but we could undertake no commercial ventures such as >promoting concerts and masterclasses (unless they are free) or soliciting >donations. So this will work for the short term, while the site is being >built. Obviously, for the long term, it is not workable. > >They have a category for non-profit websites which we would fall into, but >its not free. The fees are as follows: > >One time set up fee $40. >Domain name registration $25 (good for one year) >Monthly fee $20. > >We would get 250 megs of disc space for the site (way way more than we >could ever use). Our own domain name, such as "JCGS.org" or "JCGS.net". >Interestingly, "JCGS.com" is already taken by someone who bought it in the >hopes that they could sell it). We would also get 20 e-mail addresses with >the JCGS.org extension.
At the committee meeting, Joe also gave an update on the site being created by Patricia Potter and Project A (www.roguevalleymusic.com), which was mentioned in the last general meeting minutes. The fee would be $60 a year or $45 if we apply before July. You can sign up several artists at once with a fee of $10 per additional artist, so maybe we can go in with someone.

Contacting Other Guitar Societies John Webster kindly volunteered to contact other guitar societies in the West to see whether we can coordinate with them or share ideas to any extent. He's put the word out to 11 societies and got a few responses. One was from the South Bay Guitar Society, who will add our email address to their links page. John told them we will give them info on a web site as soon as we have one available. Another was from the Patrick Keller, director of the Denver Classical Guitar Society, who gave us some guidelines for contract negotiations with guest performers. He also recommended that we try to host the GFA winner each year, since that artist is getting good publicity and GFA sends them to societies for a fairly small fee.
The other response was from David Feingold, professor of Music at Western Washington University in Bellingham, which has a small but active guitar society. John will contact someone at the dean's office of the university for a boilerplate document that we may use as a model for future contracts with performers. During the committee meeting, Jeff volunteered to help John formulate a contract as well.
Mr. Feingold also recommended bringing prize-winners from the GFA competition to play, saying that it makes for a very affordable and often very good concert. He further expressed an interest in coming to Ashland to play either solo or with a violinist, Grant Donnellan, on the faculty. They are currently working up the Piazzolla "Histoire du Tango" for a concert in early June, and they could come here before or after.
One possibility I brought up at the committee meeting is to talk to David Tannenbaum at the San Fransisco conservatory about contacts and catching performers in transit between California and Washington. Mr. Tannenbaum was very responsive and helpful getting us in touch with Dusan Bogdanovic, so maybe he'd be willing to help our burgeoning society out.
It sounds like we have a couple of oppurtunities for our next sponsored performance!
----------------- General JCGS Ad ----------------
Do you love the classical guitar or want to know more about it? Then the Jefferson Classical Guitar Society is for you!
The Jefferson Classical Guitar Society is a public, non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the classical guitar in all its forms throughout the State of Jefferson.
The society is here to introduce people to the classical guitar as well as to indulge those who already enjoy it. This includes arranging performances and educational programs by visiting and local artists.
The society is based on an appreciation of the classical guitar, its technique and repertoire. We are also interested in related instruments, such as the lute and the vihuela, as well as other kinds of music that people like to hear or play on the classical guitar, such as flamenco, jazz, latin, and ragtime.
Even though the society only started in August 2001, it has already sponsored its first concert, which took place on Sunday, March 3rd. The artists were James Kline (visiting) and David Rogers of the SOU music department and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. In addition, James Kline gave a master class on March 2nd, and both events were very successful.
Future plans include sponsoring a master class by Dusan Bogdanovic of the De Falla Trio on April 7, teaching workshops by local artists, and coordinating with other classical guitar societies to arrange concerts by touring guitarists.
This is a very exciting time to be involved in the classical guitar, since we are in the middle of a Renaissance of the instrument. There are many wonderful artists who play the classical guitar in a variety of styles, and we intend to give the community as many chances as possible to hear this beautiful, intimate instrument!
We meet monthly to discuss guitar-related issues and events, as well as to play. People are welcome to attend -- to play, or just to listen. For more information, please call 541-732-4884 or send e-mail to JeffersonCGS@hotmail.com.

Back to Top
===========================================================
30 Mar 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for April 2nd Guitar Society meeting

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!
Our next monthly meeting is this Tuesday, April 2, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent. Here are the directions:
Take Valley View Road (exit 19) east, going into the hills. Watch for one of the winery's signs at the intersection of Suncrest Road and West Valley View Road. Valley View Road becomes Suncrest Road, so you'll be continuing straight on up the hill. A bit further up, you'll reach another intersection and see a second sign, which directs you to turn left. When you make that turn, you'll still be on Suncrest Road. Continue on this stretch for a while. It curves to the left, then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.
As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.
Here's the agenda:
1. Organizational Details We need to elect a board of directors to proceed with the non-profit incorporation. The board can choose officers later.
2. Sponsored Performances We will discuss any last-minute updates for the April 7 master class. We will take up a collection of auditor ($10) and student ($25) fees, so if you plan to attend or perform at the class, please bring money (preferably cash), and we'll put you on the list. We'll also discuss possible future events if there's time.
NOTE: Let's keep the above business items to 30 minutes.
3. Performance etiquette We will spend a little time discussing how to increase participation in the performance section of the meetings. Please see the previous steering committee meeting minutes for details.
If you would like to announce a piece ahead of time that you will play, please let me know (or announce it to the group if you're feeling bold). We may have a sign-up sheet at the beginning of the meeting as well.
4. Original Compositions/Arrangements People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish. Dennis Johnson and I will play an collaborative arrangement of an old favorite.
5. Intrepretive Works Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers. Gerry Shute has told me that he and Joe Thompson will play a few duets.
6. Works in Progress Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.
7. Decide on the next time/place to meet.
As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!
See you Tuesday, Grant

Back to Top
===========================================================
4 Apr 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of April 2nd JCGS general meeting

Hello, all. Here are the minutes from Tuesday's meeting at Paschal Winery, our first time there. The location was a big hit, and a great setting for classical guitar. (Many thanks to Dennis for setting this up!) People responded very favorably, so we'll stick with having our next meeting there. Mark DiRienzo, our host, also seemed happy, since he sold some bottles and glasses of wine, we didn't trash the joint, and some patrons stuck around to listen. We are scheduled there for the first Tuesdays of May and June, May 7th and June 4th, respectively. Nobody objected to the 6:00 p.m. starting time, so we'll also stick with that.
First of all, some reminders: the Falla Trio plays at the SOU Music Recital Hall Saturday night at 8pm. You can call the Rogue Valley Symphony at 770-6012. Tickets are $20 and $25. There is a reception afterwards. The master class is Sunday starting at 1pm in the upstairs choir room of the same building (SOU's music department). I hope to see you all at both events.
NOTE: there's a volunteer position available for the concert. See "Sponsored Performances" below.
Attendees: Jay Armstrong, Daniel Ferris (his first time ... welcome!), Margaret Gelatt, Dennis Johnson, Jeff Rinkoff, Grant Ruiz, Joe Thompson, Gerry Shute, Liz Vesecky, John Webster, Jaxon Williams, Jaxon's mother Ronda and his sister. There were also several onlookers.
Most people arrive late (some of whom didn't get my corrected directions on time), and then we milled around for more than half an hour talking and tasting wine. As it turned out, Mark was very gracious in giving us an extra half hour at the end, but we can't count on that in the future, especially if he hires someone else to work overtime.
Margaret asked why more people didn't attend, but I can't answer that definitively. I know that Dave Rogers and Robert Ross couldn't make it. A couple of people asked to be taken off the list after I posted the last minutes as well. Perhaps we need a membership coordinator to sign people up and/or to follow up on meeting attendance. Margaret, are you interested in doing this?
For brevity, I won't use the usual summary/details format this time. On to the details. Feel free to mention corrections/additions.

Organizational Details We deferred the selection of a board until there are "job descriptions" for board members in place, as determined by the steering committee. We will use recently performed and planned activities as a basis. Margaret was concerned that the roles would be too overformalized or time-consuming. These are volunteer positions, so we get what we pay for, but we do want board members to be earnest about some level of committement.
Grant announced that he's been hired by the Green Show for the season and will have to decrease his level of activity in the society. If we distribute tasks reasonably within the board, this should more than take up the slack.
We clarified that officers will be elected by the board and aren't necessarily on the board. Officers will be needed for non-profit incorporation.
Joe mentioned that he's found a host for the website that does not charge for non-profit organizations; however, we will still have to pay $15 a year to reserve a domain name line JCGS.org or JCGS.net. (The treasurer will certainly need to track and pay ongoing fees like this and the voice mail fee I'm currently paying.) Joe has also suggested that we create a logo for the society that we could incorporate into the website, as with the Edmonton CGS site (http://www.edmontonclassicalguitarsociety.org/). Margaret and John both said they would take a shot at it.
John gave me the information he's gathered on other guitar societies, as well as responses he's received from his inquiries to the various societies. He will be leaving to go to school in Eugene very soon but has agreed to be our liaison with their guitar society.

Sponsored Performances We discussed last-minute updates for the April 7 master class and took up a collection of auditor and student fees. (We met the $100 we agreed to contribute. Thanks!)
Even though we have the choir room from 1 to 4pm for the master class, the class wouldn't necessarily go that long. David previously told me he thought 2 hours would be good so as not to tax Dusan, and of course it's utlimately up to the teacher.
The Rogue Valley Symphony asked me if someone from the society would be willing to pick up the trio at the airport. Gerry agreed and has contacted Francis at the symphony. John agreed to be backup.
We've put out a lot of advertising for the class, largely by piggybacking off of the symphony. They will include a note for the class in the concert program, and I've asked Dusan Bogdanovic if he'd like to announce it at the concert as well.
We would like to build up our own mailing list. The symphony cannot share their patron list with us; however, they have agreed that we can have a sign-up list at the concert, before it starts, during intermission, and afterwards. Francis suggested that a JCGS representative be there to give out information and asked if the same person could sell any of the trio's CDs. The symphony will already have a representative selling raffle tickets as a fund raiser, and Francis said they could use the help selling CDs. I think this is a great idea, because we can put the sign-up sheet next to the CDs and get even more attention! The person who does this will still get to see the whole concert. Any volunteers?
Margaret asked if we have a brochure to give out for the society, but no such thing exists. It would be very useful for future events.
The remaining issue is what to do with any profit from the class, and the steering committee is currently working on this.

We managed to keep the above business items to 30 minutes. Some people still commented to me later about how long it took. Folks, we are still going through growing pains and have no structure to speak of. Please be patient! Or, if you want to help make meetings shorter, sign up to volunteer for tasks brought up in meetings and minutes, or join the board.

Performance etiquette People agreed that performers can request feedback, but the audience should only make positive and constructive comments. If the performer does not want feedback, that must be respected. I think we had much livelier conversations after many of the pieces this time. Part of this also had to do with the fact that some of the performers gave introductions to their pieces, which helped to add some perspective to the listening experience. I would encourage this practice in the future.
We also agreed that future agendas should ask people to sign up ahead of time to perform their selections. Anyone who responds would be put at the top of the performance list. The list would be available at the beginning of the following meeting. Anybody else who wants to play can then sign up at the meeting, and we'll just play the pieces in order. If we go through the list, then people can volunteer to play. If someone responds early to the agenda but wishes to add another piece during the meeting, we ask that they be considerate and put their additional piece(s) at the end of the list.

Original Compositions/Arrangements Dennis and Grant played their variations on Romance by Anonymous, that very prolific and eclectic Roman composer.

Intrepretive Works Gerry and Joe played duets of Have A Tequila (OK ... Hava Nagila), All Through the Night, and The Streets of Loredo. Jaxon and Joe played a lute duet by Anonymous. Daniel played El Grito by Barrios and a mazurka by Villa-Lobos. Jeff played Omaggio by De Falla, which he's preparing for Sunday's master class. Joe played the sarabande from Bach's 2nd loot suite, which he's preparing for his July concert in Pistol River. Jeff finished with a piece by Barrios.

Works in Progress Jaxon played a bouree by Bach in E minor.
The actual playing order was Gerry and Joe, Jaxon and Joe, Jaxon, Dennis and Grant, Daniel, Jeff, Joe, Jeff.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 7 at 6pm sharp.
My neighbor Roslyn Parker informed me that April is national poetry month, April being the "cruelest month" according to T.S. Elliott. So, be kind to your neighborhood poet. Roslyn gave me this poem which is part of a mailing being conducted during the month:
Request
Please love me and I will play for you this poem upon the guitar I myself made out of cardboard and black threads when I was ten years old. Love me or else.
- Franz Wright
(My note: I think the "or else" is "or else I'll take up the trumpet".)

Back to Top
===========================================================
5 May 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for May 7 guitar society meeting

Greetings all,
Our next monthly meeting is this Tuesday, May 7, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent. Here are the directions (and they are correct this time):
Take Valley View Road (exit 21) east, going into the hills. Watch for one of the winery's signs at the intersection of Suncrest Road and West Valley View Road. Valley View Road becomes Suncrest Road, so you'll be continuing straight on up the hill. A bit further up, you'll reach another intersection and see a second sign, which directs you to turn left. When you make that turn, you'll still be on Suncrest Road. Continue on this stretch for a while. It curves to the left, then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.
As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.
Here's the agenda. I just found out today that I will be in rehearsal that evening, as will Dave Rogers, so someone else will have to run the meeting. (By the way, we'll also be unavailable for the June 4 meeting.)
1. Organizational Details Someone else from the steering committee (Joe, Gerry, Dennis?) may want to give a quick update from the last steering meeting. We discussed logos, membership dues, donations, and what to do with the $40 profit from Dusan's master class. If people bring their logo ideas, folks can take a look. I know that Joe, Margaret, John (now in Eugene) and I have all come up with ideas. Also, the society currently does not have a leader, or even a secretary to record minutes. Perhaps someone would like to step forward at the meeting.
NOTE: As before, you may want to keep the above business items to 30 minutes or less and have someone be timekeeper.
2. Original Compositions/Arrangements People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.
3. Intrepretive Works Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.
4. Works in Progress Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.
As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!
At the last general meeting, we suggested that folks could sign up ahead of time for performance slots at the meeting. If someone wishes to organize this, go for it; otherwise, folks can just work it out as in the past.
Have fun!
Grant

Back to Top

================================================================

14 May 2002 From: Joe Thompson Subject: Minutes for May 7 guitar society meeting

From: the desk of Joe Thompson
To: the members of the Jefferson Classical Guitar Society:

As most of you know, Grant Ruiz had to step down as leader of our society due to committments for the summer months to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Green Show. Grant has proven himself to be a highly capable leader. He displayed a unique ability to maintain our forward momentum while being sensitive to input from the membership. With a photographic memory for details, he has kept records of everything which has transpired, through his finely crafted meeting minutes. When Grant stepped aside, steering committee member, Dennis Johnson bravely leapt into the breach in the hopes of continuing our great momentum. Dennis soon recognized that he had bitten off more than he could chew and requested that he be let off the hook that he had so graciously sat himself upon. His request was accepted and we currently find ourselves without a leader.

Since I was the only steering committee member at the business part of our May 7th JCGS monthly meeting, I picked up the reins and am now faced with the daunting task of writing my first meeting minutes. Please bear with me, as this is all very new territory and I find myself swimming in Grant's prodigious shoes.

Minutes to May 7th monthly meeting of the JCGS:
Attendees included: Margaret Gellat, Maurya Murphey, Liz and Hirsch Visecki, Bo Leyden, Randy Mason, Jaxon and Ronda Williams and Joe Thompson. Dennis Johnson arrived late and so we were well into the business side of the meeting. Bo Leyden had to leave early because of another meeting he had to attend, but he promises to be a more active member as time goes by. Jeff Rinkoff arrived just as the meeting was wrapping up.

Items discussed:
Joe ran down a brief history of the leadership of the society as a prelude to informing the gathered members how we reached our current status of being leaderless. Joe made it clear that he wasn't interested in assuming any leadership role for the group beyond being a member of the steering committee and running the monthly society meetings in the absensce of anyone else stepping forward. We are all assuming, of course, that Grant will resume his role when all the smoke clears. Liz suggested that we put business related items on hold for the summer until Grant is able to return to the fold.

Joe informed the group about items which had been discussed at the last meeting of the steering committee. These included 1.) defining the membership in the JCGS as persons who have paid their annual dues. It was explained that certain expenses had arisen and that there were more on the horizon. Liz felt that it was a good idea to have dues because it would demonstrate a stronger committment by the membership and contribute to the long term survival of the JCGS. 2.) Current status of our non-profit-status. Bruce Smith has done further investigations and learned that, as long as our fund raising activities are kept under $5,000, then non-profit status remains a pretty simple endeavor.

Joe pointed out that there was not a concensus among members of the steering committee as to what our goals and objectives were. It was noted that of the four members of the steering committee that attended the last committee meeting, two were inclined to have only monthly society meetings and two wanted to see the society be more actively involved in bringing performing artists in for concerts and masterclasses. Margaret felt that we were trying to do too much too soon, and Liz thought that the events we had aleady sponsored were very helpful and enjoyable with out much effort and would like to see more events of this sort take place.

Joe pointed out that if any one was interested in having influence as to what direction the society moved in, that there was room for additional members on the steering committee. After the meeting, Maurya expressed interest in becoming a member of the steering committee. This will not only increase our numbers, but will also help close the gap in our male to female ratio.

JCGS Logo:
We then turned our attention to the selection of a logo for the JCGS. A collection of logo submissions from Margaret G., Grant R., John W. and Joe T. were considered and then voted on by secret ballot. The vote went as follows:

Margaret's design = 3 votes
Grant's design = 4 votes
John's design = 0 votes
Joe's design = 2 votes

It should be pointed out that neither Grant nor John were at the meeting and were unable to vote for their own designs. Grant's design for the logo recieved the most votes and has been adopted as the official JCGS logo.

Website Update:
The JCGS website has been coming along slowly but surely. This last week, I have been able to spend a good amount of time on its development. Be sure to check out the "Meetings Archives Page" and the "Members Articles Page".

Those who were not in attendance at the meeting can see the new JCGS logo design by visiting the JCGS website at:

http://id.mind.net/~thompson/

As always, I would appreciate any feedback. Are there things you don't like about your website? Are there things you do like? Are there things you would like to see added? Did I make any mistakes, errors, typos or the like? Let me know via e-mail: thompson@mind.net

Performances:
There was no sign up list for performers and so we went according to the order of volunteers.
Performances included:

Margaret Gellat-two studies by Frederic Noad
Maurya Murphey-Prelude No. 1 by Heitor Villa Lobos
Jaxon Williams-Preludio by Antonio Lauro and Bourree from Lute Suite No. 1 by J S Bach
Joe Thompson-Double of the Sarabande from Partita No. 1 for unaccompanied violin by J S Bach
Dennis Johnson-Memories of Seville by Dennis Johnson
Jeff Rinkoff and Joe Thompson-Romance No. 1 by Francis Kleynjans

Back to Top

================================================================

1 June 2002 From: Joe Thompson Subject: Agenda for June 3 guitar society meeting

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is this Tuesday, June 4, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

Directions to Paschal Winery:

From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

-If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
-If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
-Procede on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Website Report: The website has evolved considerably over the last few months. Members may want to pay a visit so that they can share ideas and/or feedback. This is your website. It presents an opportunity for members who have an interest in writing to contribute guitar related articles/reviews
for publication on the internet. The temporary URL (website address) for the JCGS website is: id.mind.net/~thompson

- Future concerts: Dave Rogers has suggested the possibility of the society sponsoring a Fall recital by a baroque lutenist. We are awaiting audition materials from him before deciding whether to committ to this event.

-Society Leadership: As I have said before, I (Joe Thompson) am happy to tend the reins until Grant returns to action. I asked him specifically of his intentions regarding a return and he said, " If nobody else has stepped forward to lead the society by mid-to late-October, I intend to pick up where I left off. It would be desirable to start putting a board together at that time to share in responsibilities."

-Steering Committee Report: There hasn't been a meeting of the steering committee for a few months now. Items which were under discussion at the last meeting and remain inconclusive were the general direction of activities and finances, including whether and/or how to institute a collection of dues and the election of a board of directors..

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. Not in any particular order:

-Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

-Intrepretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

-Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

See you Tuesday,
Joe

Back to Top

================================================================

5 June 2002 From: Joe Thompson Subject: Minutes for June 4 guitar society meeting

Greetings. Here are the minutes from Tuesday's meeting at Paschal Winery.

Attendees: Margaret Gelatt, Maurya Murphey, Dan Ferris, Joe Thompson, Bruce Smith, Jeff Rinkoff, Grant Ruiz.

By 6:45 there were only 4 people in attendance (Margaret, Maurya, Dan and Joe). We mostly socialized, touching on a few items related to society business. We discussed the possibility that the 6-8pm meeting time might be making attendance difficult for some folks. We weighed that against Paschal Winery's need to keep us at those hours. Our discussions didn't produce any conclusions.

We also talked briefly about the society's website evolution (temporary URL: id.mind.net/~thompson) and issued a call for guitar related articles/reviews for inclusion.

Dan Ferris was with us for the second time having moved to Medford last August from Seattle. He shared with us some of his guitar related experiences in his earlier years in Baltimore, MD, home of Peabody University. Baltimore has a very active classical guitar community, and being near Washington D. C., offers many opportunities to attend performances and masterclasses by some of the great guitarists of our day.

Jeff Rinkoff and Bruce Smith arrived shortly before we began the performance period of the meeting and Grant rolled in fresh from his rehearsal of the Green Show sometime after that. Bruce had suggested earlier, via e-mail, that perhaps improvisation should be included as a catagory of performance in this section. Over the coming weeks, let's give some thought to how this might be integrated.

Performances:

-Dan Ferris-Tango by Isaac Albeniz (arr. by Manuel Barrueco)
-Jeff Rinkoff-Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by J. S. Bach (arr. Joseph Thompson) and Spanish Dance No.5 by Enrique Granados.
-Joe Thompson-Prelude, Fugue and Double from Lute Suite No. 2 by J. S. Bach
-Grant Ruiz-Traditional Flamenco works including: Tango, Sevillanos, and Soleares Grant compared and contrasted his older flamenco guitar-which had been converted from a classical by the addition of tap plates- and his new flamenco guitar which he recently purchased from Cripple Creek Music. Though similar in volume, the newer instrument has a shallower body, a noticably brighter voice and faster action, as is customary in the flamenco tradition.

The next general meeting of the JCGS will be Tuesday, July 2 at Paschal Winery.

Back to Top

================================================================

27 June 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for July 2 guitar society meeting

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is this coming Tuesday, July 2nd, from 6:30 to
8:30 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

Please note the new time. As some of you may have heard, Paschal laid off their business manager, Mark DiRienzo. I was contacted by their interim manager, Megan Sheer, and she is enthusiastic about the JCGS continuing to meet at Paschal, and she is willing to try a slightly later time since many people have a hard time making it by 6 p.m.

On a related note, Megan is very interested in resurrecting weekend music performances at Paschal. She invited anyone in the society who wishes to perform on a regular basis to contact her: 890-5398/megansheer@yahoo.com.

Directions to Paschal Winery:

>>From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

- If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
- If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
- Proceed on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Meeting place: Does the later time work? How about Wednesdays? Megan was open to changing our meeting day to Wednesday. People who are unable to attend this coming meeting can register their opinion via e-mail.

- Website report: We may have some professional help volunteered toward improving the site. The temporary URL (website address) for the JCGS website is http://id.mind.net/~thompson.

- Steering committee update: Dennis Johnson has resigned from the committee due to extended travel plans. He was also the designated contact to the State on behalf of JCGS, so there are some positions open.

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. Not in any particular order:

- Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

- Intrepretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

- Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

See you Tuesday,
Grant

Back to Top

================================================================

5 July 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes for July 2 guitar society meeting

We had a great meeting at Paschal Winery on Tuesday. The attendees were:

Dan Ferris, Margaret Gelatt, Bryan Haynes, Herschel K., Randy Mason, Robert Ross, Grant Ruiz, Gerry and Priscilla Shute, Bruce Smith, and Liz Vesecky.

On the business side, people liked the 6:30 start time, but there was no strong preference voiced for changing to Wednesdays, so we'll keep meetings to Tuesdays. Also, Megan Sheer, the interim manager at Paschal, passed around a sign-up sheet and asked people to indicate whether they would like to perform on weekends at the winery.

I announced that Shields Bialasik, a local graphic designer whom I know from the Lithia Artisan's Market, is willing to look over our temporary website (http://id.mind.net/~thompson/) and offer design advice. People suggested not making the site too busy and certainly avoiding the use of ads. I'm sure Shields wouldn't recommend ads, since his own site is ad-free. You can visit it at http://www.shieldsart.com. He offers some very stylish, free e-cards.

By and large, people were quite pleased with the site, and kudos go to Joe Thompson for doing such a great job of structuring it and adding content. I reminded folks that our site won't have a permanent home that is published on other websites and search engines until we can establish a server and domain name for it, which all costs money.

The rest of the time was spent very pleasantly discussing a large and varied number of topics, trading stories about composers and performers, exchanging information, passing around guitars, and playing. (One of the discussions was about the fate of the Portland Guitar Society, which Joe shared with me in the appended message, FYI.) The performances included:

Dan Ferris - Cadiz by Albeniz, Valse Criollo by Antonio Lauro, Choros No. 1 by Villa-Lobos, Blue Moon arranged by Laurindo Almeida.
Robert Ross - Mazurka by Ponce, Pavane by Tarrega
Grant Ruiz - Flamenco pieces (bulerias, tangos, and a modern alegrias), his arrangements of Bewitched and Manha de Carnival (Black Orpheus)

Dan, Robert, and Grant then jammed together on three tunes. The first was Miles Davis' All Blues (a canonical jamming tune), then a rumba in E phrygian, and finally a light jazzy jam in A major with a couple of modulations. We discussed the idea that it's healthy for musicians, including classical musicians, to learn to jam. Listening is a huge part of being a musician, plus some of the greatest composers were well known for their improvisational abilities.

We also discussed Joe Thompson's upcoming concert this Saturday at Pistol River on the coast (http://pistolriver.com/). It is their 20th anniversary concert. Joe performed at their first concert, so his return is a great way to mark the occasion. I believe that for at least part of the concert, Joe will be playing a guitar built by Les Stansell (http://stansellguitars.com/), who started off the Pistol River concert series. My understanding is that Joe used this same guitar for the first concert, and it is one of the first, if not the first, classical guitars that Les built. I also encouraged people to contact Les and arrange for a tour of his shop if they find themselves out on the coast.

The next meeting will be at Paschal on Tuesday, August 6 at 6:30 p.m.

Best regards,
Grant

>Date: Sat, 29 Jun 2002 12:27:13 -0700 (PDT)
>To: Grant Ruiz <gruiz@adobe.com>
>From: thompson@mind.net (Joseph Thompson)
>Subject: Stuff...
>
>Hi Grant,
>
>I have recently been in touch with an ex-student of mine from about 17 or >so years ago. He is now living in a large metropolitan area and becoming active in the >guitar scene there. I suggested that he visit our web site and he liked it, >saying that he wished that there was something like the JCGS where he lived. I was >surprised and so I said, "I thought there was a guitar society there." He said >that they had decided to establish a policy of inclusion. Now all types of solo guitar players are welcome. As a result, their >weekly meetings have generated long lines of strummers and twangers on steel string guitars and that most of >the classical players had dropped out because they didn't want to sit through all of that just for an opportunity to play. >
>
>That confirmed for me that we have made the right choice in being more >exclusive. My ex-student will be in town for >the weekend of the fourth, and his visit will include the first Tuesday in >July. He might show up for the meeting so keep an eye out for him. If he >does, perhaps you could ask him about his experience so we will have it on record that we might have dodged >a bullet. >
>
>Hope all is going well,
>
>Joe

Back to Top

================================================================

4 August 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for August 6th guitar society meeting


Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is this coming Tuesday, August 6, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

Directions to Paschal Winery:

From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

- If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
- If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
- Proceed on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Website report: Joe Thompson has put a lot of work into improving the website, with suggestions from Shields Bialasik, a local professional graphic designer. Check out http://id.mind.net/~thompson.

- Planned events: We're still interested in arranging a guitar tasting with Paschal Winery, assuming the management stabilizes. At this point, were considering mid-October or so.

- Membership performances: Joe Thompson will be performing with Christine Williams from the Shakespeare Festival in late September and early October. Grant Ruiz is giving the second of two flamenco recitals with dancers and singers this Wednesday the 7th at noon in Carpenter Hall. The first one today was a lot of fun. Folks may want to announce any other upcoming performances at the meeting.

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. Not in any particular order:

- Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

- Intrepretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

- Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece
is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

Best,
Grant

P.S. I'm playing at the Green Show that evening, but I hope to join you for the last part of the meeting.

Back to Top
================================================================

7 Aug 2002 From: Joe Thompson Subject: Minutes of August 6th JCGS general meeting

We had another great meeting with excellent attendance. We had thirteen people in attendance including two new members; Francie Buckley and our youngest member to date, 6 week old Revel, the newest addition to Maurya's family. I'm thinking that if we ever have a gathering where everyone who has ever attended a JCGS meeting shows up, we could well have over fifty guitar players.

Attendees were:
Jay Armstrong, Francie Buckley, Margaret Gelatt, Bryan Haynes, Bil Leonhart, Randy Mason, Maurya Murphey and Revel, Robert Ross, Bruce Smith, Joe Thompson, Jaxon Williams, and Ronda Williams.

Discussions:
I arrived a few minutes late and activities were already under way with Robert Ross playing selections from Bach suites for Bryan and Bruce. As we all settled in, Robert suggested that we each introduce ourselves and relate something about our connection to the guitar. We had actually done that very thing some months back but membership has shuffled considerably since that time and Robert's idea was embraced by the group. We proceded to go around the circle, introducing ourselves and sharing some of our guitar history. This seems like a worthwhile way to get better aquainted with one another and perhaps we might want to remember to do this occasionally.

A New Idea:
Joe said that, if there were sufficient interest, he would take on the responsibility of assembling sheet music for ensemble playing which would have the potential for getting all of us playing together. Margaret said that in her Frecerick Noad book there were trios and quartets for guitar. She volunteered to make copies of these pieces for JCGS members. (Who will pay for the copies? Perhaps this is another reason to revisit the "Membership and Dues" question.) Joe noted that if there were multiple players on each part, and the music were accessible enough, we could potentially get everyone playing together. Perhaps a second, smaller group consisting of the more advanced players could prepare selections involving more complex music. To avoid having our meetings turn into a guitar orchestra rehersal, we would definitely need to schedule atleast one rehersal time per month.

By this time, it was after 7:00 pm and so we ended our discussions and started the performance portion of our meeting.

Performances:

Joe Thompson and Jaxon Williams: Three Rennaisance Lute duets; "La Rossignol" and "Dreweries Accordes" by Anonymous and "The Flatt Pavin" by John Johnson.

Robert Ross: "Sevillianas" by Joaquin Turina

Maurya Murphey: "Etudes #1 and 2" by Leo Brouwer

Joe Thompson: Original arrangements of; "All the Things You Are" by Jerome Kern and "Quiet Nights and Quiet Stars" by Antonio Carlos Jobim

Jaxon Williams: "Prelude" by Antonio Lauro, "Bourree" by Johann Sebastian Bach, and "Alman" by Robert Johnson.

Bil Leonhart: Improvisation on a request, "The Way You Look Tonight"

Joe Thompson: (Playing a request) original arrangement of "Wave" by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and "Choros Typico" by Villa Lobos.

Note: For those JCGS members who missed Grant Ruiz's performance, you missed an excellent show. Joining him on stage were 6 dancers and two singers. Grant's presentation was wonderfully informative, including much of the rich history and culture of the music. The interplay between guitarist and dancers was impressive. Grant is clearly the preeminent flamengo guitarist in the area.

Back to Top

================================================================

1 Sept 2002 From: Joe Thompson Subject: Agenda for September 3rd Guitar Society

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is this coming Tuesday, September 3rd, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

Directions to Paschal Winery:

>>From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

- If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West
Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
- If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
- Proceed on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Planned events: We're still interested in arranging a guitar tasting with Paschal Winery, assuming the management stabilizes. At this point, were considering late October.

- Membership performances: Jaxon Williams plays First Friday at Art and Soul Gallery in Ashland. Joe Thompson will be performing with soprano, Christine Williams (actress with the Shakespeare Festival), at the Old Siskiyou Barn on the Monday evenings of September 23rd and October 7th. Advanced reseverations are required and seating is limited. For information, call 488-7628 or e-mail: thebarn@direcway.com In late September, Grant will be joining with Los Tiempos Pasados (LTP), an early music group from Ashland's sister city, Guanajuato, Mexico, in a series of concerts and workshops. Please see below for Grant's schedule of performances and workshops with LTP.

Mon 9/23 8pm SOU recital hall with LTP
Tue 9/24 - Fri 9/29 Green Shows with LTP
Sat 9/28 11am-2pm Workshops at SOU with LTP
Sun 9/29 1pm St. Mark's, Medford, with LTP

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. Not in any particular order:

- Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

- Intrepretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

- Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

Best,
Joe

Back to Top

================================================================

5 Sep 2002 From: Joe Thompson Subject: Minutes of September 3rd JCGS general meeting

Attendees: Dan Ferris, Margaret Gelatt, Dennis Johnson, Bil Leonhart, Priscilla Quinby, Randy Mason, Gerry Schute, Joe Thompson, Liz and Hersch Visecky, Jaxon and Ronda Williams

Twelve people were in attendance at the September 3rd meeting of the JCGS. Bil Leonhart arrived in the company of his wife, professional singer, dancer and actress, Priscilla Quinby. They delighted the assembled members during the performance portion of our meeting with the offering of two songs with Bill accompanying Priscilla. The meeting also saw the return of a couple of long absent regular members. Dennis Johnson has been on the road with his wife, visiting Spain. It looks as though their planned trip to, and extended stay in, Taiwan has fallen through. Gerry Schute also returns after an extended absence which involved a road trip to the midwest. With the waning of summer, hopefully we can look forward to the return other members who have expressed an interest in supporting our activities.

Members began gathering at 6:30 and after a half our of socializing we got our official business underway.

Discussions:

Two items were put on the table for discussion. First was the potential for persuing some kind of guitar ensemble rehersals. In our previous meeting, Margaret Gelatt had taken this particular bull firmly by the horns by offering to make a number of copies of trios from the back of one of Frederick Noad's guitar instruction book. True to her word, she arrived at this meeting with said copies in hand. The music is very accessible, consisting of single note lines in the key of a minor, mostly in first position. Margaret offered to host a monthly ensemble rehersal at her home and will be sending out an invitation via e-mail to all members of the JCGS very soon. Though all members are welcome to attend, this ensemble will be geared to the abilities of our less experienced members. This monthly rehersal will offer a chance to experience the joy of playing music with others. For those who find the thought of performing solo at a JCGS meeting too intimidating, this ensemble might be a less daunting way for them to break the ice.

There is also great potential for an ensemble of the more advanced players. I will be rattling cages in the not too distant future, so be prepared.

We also discussed the headway which Grant and I have made towards the JCGS sponsorship of a "Guitar Tasting" which would feature the instruments of Les Stansell and the playing of yours truely with a guest appearance by flamenco guitarist, Grant Ruiz. Bruce has suggested there is a strong likelyhood that his church would be able to provide chairs, and we are currently in negotiations with Paschal Winery to use their tasting room as the venue for the event. The projected date for this event is near the end of October. Stay tuned for further developments.

Performances:

Joe Thompson and Jaxon Williams: "Invention in a minor" by J. S. Bach
Jaxon Williams: "Prelude No. 1" by Heitor Villa Lobos
Joe Thompson: "Simple Song" by Grant's father
Dan Ferris: "El Negrito" by Antonio Lauro, "Tango" by Isaac Albeniz, and "Mazurka" by Heitor Villa Lobos.
Bil Leonhart and Priscilla Quinby: "Goldilocks" from the musical by the same name, "Little Drops of Rain" by Harold Arlen.

Back to Top

================================================================

01 Oct 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for October Guitar Society Meeting

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is this coming Tuesday, October 1st, from 6:30
to 8:30 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

Directions to Paschal Winery:

From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

- If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
- If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
- Proceed on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Planned events: We're still interested in arranging a guitar tasting with Paschal Winery; however, we just found out that their last business manager Kristen is no longer there. That makes 3 managers they've gone through in the past 6 months. Weisinger's has expressed interest, but only after the harvest finishes in late November.

- Membership performances: Jaxon Williams plays First Friday at Art and Soul Gallery in Ashland. Joe Thompson will be performing with soprano Christine Williams (actress with the Shakespeare Festival) at the Old Siskiyou Barn on Monday evening, October 7th. The show is currently sold out. Grant Ruiz and Dave Rogers will perform in the last of the OSF Green Shows on 10/3, 10/6, 10/8, and 10/11. These will be music-only shows, since the dancers have migrated back to Indianapolis.

- Review of past events, including Joe's previous concert with Christine Williams on 9/23, Grant's experience with Los Tiempos Pasados, and the 9/25 workshop put on by Rafael Cuen.

- Plans for the website: We've chosen CyberNet, who will provide the server space for free and a domain name for only $15 per year.

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. Not in any particular order:

- Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

- Intrepretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

- Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

Best,
Grant

Back to Top

==================================================

03 Oct 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of October 1st Guitar Society meeting

We had a fun, low-key meeting on Tuesday night.

Attendees: Francie Buckley, Margaret Gelatt, Randy Mason, Grant Ruiz, Bruce and Barbara Smith, Joe Thompson

There were a number of people who told me beforehand that they wanted to attend but could not.

Discussions:

Theguitar tasting plans are on hold until Joe and Grant are done with near-term gigs, which will be over by mid-October. We're still
interested in using Paschal, but they are yet again without a business manager.
I'm thinking we should go straight to the source, a woman named Ann who oversees both Paschal and the Vorhees (sp?) mansion, where they also have musical events and serve wine. When I talked to Megan, one of Paschal's past managers, she said that Ann was very interested in the guitar tasting.

Other possible events in the future include a lecture/demo by various people (e.g., a chiropractor, a Tai Chi instructor, members of the society) about proper posture and avoiding injury while playing. Robert Ross has also expressed interest in giving a presentation on intonation and tuning the guitar. We also briefly discussed the formation of an ensemble of more experienced players. Joe and Grant both have material, and Rafael Cuen previously offered to send his quartet rendition of Falla's "Three Cornered Hat." This is something Joe would be interested in startup up in November.

We also reviewed some past events, e.g., the recent concerts and Green Shows with Los Tiempos Pasados, the workshop with Rafael Cuen, and Joe's concert with Christine Williams, all of which were big successes.

Since the trio performed that night, we talked about ensemble playing, particularly how to keep the group together at the desired tempo. For example, using a metronome at first when the group is learning the music can be frustrating. Also, counting out loud is very distracting during a performance. People typically learn their parts well enough to keep things going while they are playing, and there can be a designated "conductor" to give cues for resuming after rests.

Performances:

Bruce started us off by playing a lovely piece, "Prelude in C" by Charles Duncan. He also spoke about his guitar made by Valasquez, one of the great American luthiers.

The newly formed trio, consisting of Margaret, Francie, and Randy, performed two pieces. Gerry couldn't make it to the meeting, so Randy graciously stepped in to play one of the parts. The pieces were:

"Song Tune" by Thomas Campian "Bourree" by G. F. Handel

The pieces came across very well with three guitars.

Margaret played a solo, "Country Dance" by Fernando Carulli.

Grant played a peteneras (a supposedly cursed flamenco tune about a legendary prostitute) by Juan Serrano and a soleares of his own composition. He also demonstrated a new guitar support that Rafael Cuen gave him.

Joe finished up by playing pavanes by Gaspar Sanz and Antonio Lauro (both of which he uses as warm-up pieces) and then gave a beautiful rendering of "Homenaje Le Tombeau de Claude Debussy" by Manuel de Falla.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, November 5 at Paschal from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Back to Top

=====================================================

04 Nov 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject Agenda for November 5th Guitar Society Meeting

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is this coming Tuesday, November 5, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

By they way, we forgot to observe that at the last meeting, we had our first anniversary of the JCGS. The first meeting was 9/28/01!

Directions to Paschal Winery:

>From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

- If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
- If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
- Proceed on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Review of past events, including Joe's previous concert with Christine Williams on 10/7 and the recent workshop with Alex de Grassi. I also have a video tape of Rafael Cuen's 9/25 workshop if anyone wants to borrow it.

- Planned events: Any next steps for the guitar tasting? Anything else on the horizon?

- Membership performances: Who's playing when and where?

- Website update: I verified with CyberNet that our site will not contain advertisements. I'm still checking into their activity logging/reporting capabilities. We may need a copy of our non-profit certificate from the state, which I do not have, for the application.

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. These are not in any particular order:

- Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

- Intrepretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

- Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

Best,
Grant

Back to Top
===============================================================

09 Nov 2002 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of the November 5th JCGS general meeting

We had a great, well-attended meeting with a lot of wonderful, diverse music.

Attendees: Steve Berman*, Francie Buckley and friend, Matt Dorris* and his fiancee Renee, Margaret Gelatt, Dennis Johnson, David Rogers, Jeff Rinkoff, Dave Rogers, Grant Ruiz, Conrad Simus* and his family (father Mike, mother Beverley, and brother James, who plays piano), Gerry Schute, Joe Thompson, and Liz and Hersch Visecky. We also had other guests who came to hear us, including Jay Armstrong's mother Cheryl and 3 of her friends. I hope I didn't miss anyone! (* = first timer, hopefully not a last timer!)

Please see the end of the "Discussions" section below, labeled "Meeting days/times", about whether or not we should change our meeting schedule. Please reply to me if you have any input.

Discussions:

Joe's second concert with Christine Williams on 10/7 at the Old Barn went well. Only a couple of JCGS members got to see it because the venue is small and seats sold out quickly. Joe gave a brief description of the Barn, which isn't a barn at all but is built close to the site of an old one, the timbers from which were used to construct the current
building.

The 11/1 workshop with Alex de Grassi went well. Thanks to Dave Rogers for coming up with the idea and setting it up with SOU. De Grassi had some interesting things to say. He handed out examples, exercises, and a transcription of his composition "The Water Garden". There was a good turnout of 17 people, and along with SOU's contribution, we were able to generate enough money to be within the range (albeit the lower end) of his master class fees. I'll be writing up a summary of the workshop, and I sent a message to Mr. de Grassi asking if we can scan and post his handouts on our website. He just replied saying that we can post some of the material (what he isn't publishing in the future), which is great! I've appended his response below, which includes info on his concert in Eugene this Friday.

If anyone went to the de Grassi concert and wants to write a review of it for the website, please contact Joe at thompson@mind.net, since he's our webmaster.

Joe announced that he will be performing this Saturday, November 9th at Paschal Winery from 1 to 4pm, I believe.

Margaret announced that she is scheduling another rehearsal for the beginning ensemble at her house on Thursday, November 14. Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend. I think Joe will be there to help direct. She plans to send out a separate message on the subject. Please contact Margaret at mgelatt@ashlandhome.net for more information.

Dave mentioned that he has plenty of material available through the university from the easy to the "ill-conceived", as he put it. You can reach him at davidrogers@earthlink.net.

We still plan on having CyberNet host our website for free. It is currently maintained by Joe at http://id.mind.net/~thompson. CyberNet will not post ads on our site, but they do have logging capabilities so that we can track the number and demographics of visitors to our site.

Gerry asked whether or not we should discuss the subject of membership dues to pay for our domain name, etc. I suggested that we bring this subject up once we reconvene the steering committee.

Joe mentioned that his student Jaxon Williams recently purchased a guitar by Les Stansell, the luthier and long time of associate of Joe's who lives in Pistol River. The guitar has rosewood back an sides and a Port Orford cedar soundboard. We look forward to hearing it at a future meeting.

After the meeting, we talked to Renee Dobbs, Paschal's new business manager (and the fourth one in a year). Joe and I pitched the idea of a guitar tasting (again), and unlike the previous manager, Renee was very excited by the idea. I've put together an informal business plan for her to look at, and we'll go from there. Hopefully she will be at Paschal for a while.

Meeting days/times:

The issue of meeting days/times came up again. Before the meeting, Renee said that they do not want to stay open after 6pm on Tuesdays because of a lack of business during Fall/Winter hours. They've only been getting 4 to 5 visitors a day. She suggested either Saturdays or Sundays from 4 to 6pm. Sunday would likely be quieter for us. When I asked the folks at the meeting, nine people said they could come to Sunday meetings from 4 to 6pm.

After the meeting, Renee was so impressed by the turnout (plus they sold some bottles and glasses of wine), that she said she had no problem with our continuing on Tuesdays at our current time. Joe warned her that we can't guarantee a turnout like this last time, and sometimes the attendance is pretty low. Renee suggested that we advertise, but our concern is that the meetings may get overrun and too noisy. Still, if we can each invite a friend or two, that would beef up attendance, provide us with a larger audience that will likely be respectful, and give Paschal more business. I encourage us all to do so, regardless of what day we meet.

Since last conversation transpired after most of the members had left the meeting, we'll stick with Tuesdays for now, with the hope that we can continue to bring in a good sized group of members and friends. Let's stick with this unless a majority of members who have attended meetings in the past express a preference for a weekend meeting from 4 to 6pm.

Performances:

Conrad performed with Dave, who is Conrad's teacher. They played a duet transcribed by Joe of Telemann's Fantasy No. 7.

Conrad played an allemande by Robert Johnson. He played a steel string guitar and played very well. Conrad is 13 years old and has been playing for 6 years, studying with Dave for the past 2 years. They come all the way up from Yreka for his lessons.

Matt Dorris and Dave played a Chopin mazurka, op. 6, no. 4 for those keeping score. Matt is a student of Dave's at SOU.

Matt then played Chopin's Nocturne No. 1, op. 55, as a warmup for his winter recital.

Grant played a flamenco guajira he's in the process of arranging for dance accompaniment.

Steve played a mazurka in G by Tárrega. He was playing on a copy of a Hauser similar to one played by Segovia.

Dave played his setting of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", which he plans to include in an upcoming CD of southern hymns and spirituals with some of his own compositions. It is to be released in March.

The newly formed trio of Joe, Steve, and Grant played a piece by Vivaldi, originally for violin, lute and bass. It included an andante, larghetto, and allegro.

The trio then played "Estrellita", a beguine by Manuel Ponce. Folks liked it so much that we played it again.

Jeff Rinkoff finished off with a double by Bach, with whom he is now officially obsessed. The transcription was by (you guessed it!) Joe.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 3 at Paschal from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

----------------------
>Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2002 08:58:16 -0800
>To: Grant Ruiz <gruiz@adobe.com>
>From: Alex de Grassi <Alex@degrassi.com>
>Subject: Re: Question from a recent workshop participant
>
>Hello Grant,
>
>Thanks for your e-mail and kind words. I try to be cognizant of whom I am addressing in workshops, and I hope I was able to appeal somewhat to both >popular and classical guitarists in Ashland. I'm flattered that you would like to post my materials. I do however have a few publishing concerns. The Water Garden has been recently published in a book by Acoustic Guitar Publications, so I think it would be best not to post the entire transcription. Also, I will be publishing the excerpt from Lay This Body Down with the "orchestration" breakdown, so I would prefer not to have that page posted at this time. I would say that it would be OK to post the other excercises and examples I passed out and let's say the first page of The Water Garden transcription. I hope that will be useful to you. Please let me know what you decide to do and if and when it goes up on the website.

Thanks for your enthusiasm. all the best!

Alex de Grassi

PS I'm playing at the WOW hall in Eugene OR this friday, Nov 8 if you know anyone up that way, let them know. The Information is below.
GUITARIST ALEX DE GRASSI BRINGS FINGERSTYLE MAGIC TO EUGENE

Grammy-nominated guitarist Alex de Grassi will be performing at
WOW Hall, 291 West 8th Avenue, Eugene, OR on Friday, November 8, 2002 at 8 pm.
Tickets for the show are $12/advance and $14/door and are available >from
the CCPA box office at
WOW Hall, (541) 687-2746 and other Eugene outlets
(http://www.wowhall.org/tix.html).

Back to Top

================================================================

25Nov02 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Minutes of 11/18 steering committee meeting

Members of the JCGS steering committee met last Monday, 11/18. In attendance were Maurya Murphey, Grant Ruiz, Gerry Shute, and Joe Thompson. The fifth member, Jeff Rinkoff, was unable to attend.

Here's what we discussed:

1) Non-profit status

The next step in non-profit status is to apply for an Employer ID Number (EIN) from the federal government. Gerry agreed to take on the task of filling out the appropriate form. Once we have the number, we can open up a free checking account, at least with Klamath First.

Grant will be the new registered agent, i.e., the JCGS contact for the state of Oregon. Dennis Johnson was the previous contact and already provided the papers to Grant to make the change.

2) Website update

Joe Thompson, the JCGS webmaster, will fill out the application for CyberNet so that we can put our website on their servers for free. Joe will find out what proof of non-profit status CyberNet requires. The domain name will cost $15 per year.

3) Membership dues

We believe this is a good idea for a number of reasons. It primarily gives people the opportunity to show their support of the society and its activities. It also provides seed money for some ongoing expenditures, the domain name for our website and publicity for sponsored events.

We agreed that the dues would be low, $10 per year. Since we have non- profit status, the dues will be tax-deductible. People may contribute more (and subsequently deduct more) as desired. There will be no particular goods or services provided for the dues (like JPR, who provides a monthly newsletter, mugs, CDs, etc.), so the each member will be able to fully write off their contributions.

Once we get an EIN (see above), we can open a bank account and deposit the dues. The committee will make a fuller presentation about dues in a future JCGS meeting when this is all set up, and members can vote on the proposal at that time.

We discussed future activities as well, which would justify larger dues and more fundraising efforts in the future. For now, we felt it more appropriate to keep the society low-key, sponsoring small events (classes, smaller concerts) whenever possible/desired. Just for fun, here are some possible future activities and benefits brainstormed by the committee, should the society gain momentum:

Fundraising concerts by society members of all abilities
Putting members' and contributors' names on concert programs
Providing access to local teachers and performers
Outreach programs/presentations to local schools
Providing a place for visiting artists to stay
T-Shirts with our logo
Bumper stickers (Joe's idea for a motto: "I played it better at home!"
A newsletter with advanced information on guitar activities in the area
Membership cards (could get these for free on the web)
Discounts
Private concerts
Yellow pages ad

4) Guitar tasting at Paschal

For more information on the guitar tasting idea, consult previous JCGS meeting minutes on the website: http://id.mind.net/~thompson.

We reviewed a proposal Grant drafted and sent to Renee Dobbes at Paschal. Here are some of the other decisions made. They will be added to a revised proposal and sent to Renee:

- The date is TBD, likely in February or March after Joe returns from vacation. Trying to do this before the holidays would be too stressful.

- Admission will be $25 per person. This will include a glass of wine, appetizers, the guitar tasting, and a mini-concert.

- We will ask Paschal to provide the food.

- The total even time will be 2 hours, including a 15 minute intermission.

- We originally hoped for 70 people but are skeptical that the room will hold this many. Perhaps 50 to 55 is more realistic.

- We will negotiate a revenue percentage for each party involved (Paschal, Joe, Les, JCGS), and each party will be responsible for managing their own expenses.

- Any wine tasting will take place AFTER the guitar tasting/concert. This will allow the guitar tasting to start on time and will allow people to taste wine at their leisure afterwards.

- We will need a raised platform 1 foot high and at least 4 feet by 8 feet.

- We can also present a duet playing two of Les' guitars, in order to show the blending/contrast of different instruments.

- We should try to get good coverage in the Tempo and Revels, hopefully with some color pix of Les Stansell's guitars, Les, and Joe. We will offer to have Paschal figure prominently in the articles.

Back to Top

================================================================

2 Dec 02 From: Grant Ruiz Subject: Agenda for December 2 Guitar Society meeting

Greetings, guitar enthusiasts!

Our next monthly meeting is Tuesday, December 3, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. It will take place at the Paschal Winery in Talent.

The meeting promises to be full of good music. Many people have expressed an interest in attending. Don't forget to invite a friend!

The last I heard, we may have a visit from Les Stansell, Joe Thompson's long time associate from Pistol River and a wonderful builder of quaility guitars. Hopefully he will bring some of his fine instruments to demonstrate. These are the same instruments that we hope to showcase in a future guitar tasting.

Directions to Paschal Winery:

>From I-5, take the Talent Exit (exit 21).

- If coming from the north (Medford), turn left at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road and go over the freeway.
- If coming from the south (Ashland), turn right at the stop sign onto West Valley View Road.
- Proceed on West Valley View Road to the "T" intersection. At the "T" turn left onto Suncrest Road. Note the sign for Paschal Winery pointing to the left. Continue on Suncrest for about a mile and a half or so. Then you'll see a sign for the winery on the left. The winery is at 1122 Suncrest Road. It sits in the midst of a vineyard, at the end of a long driveway.

As a reminder, Paschal is willing for us to bring non-alcoholic drinks and food, as long as we clean up after ourselves. They will provide wine and coffee. There's no problem with visitors under 18 attending.

Here's the agenda:

- Review of past events.

- Membership performances: Who's playing when and where?

- Discussion of steering committee meeting minutes:
1) Non-profit status
2) Website update
3) Membership dues
4) Guitar tasting

As usual, we will limit these discussions to 30 minutes. We hope to make it even shorter, given that the steering committee minutes were published, and we'd like to get onto the music.

Performance:

Every month, the JCGS meetings offer an opportunity to play for an attentive, appreciative and understanding audience. The following are potential categories in which members might considering making a musical offering. These are not in any particular order, and they may be performed by soloists, duets, trios, quartets, etc.:

- Original Compositions/Arrangements
People seem to like this segment a lot. Folks are encouraged to have one or more pieces prepared if they wish.

- Interpretive Works
Folks interested in performance experience are encouraged to prepare one or more works by other composers.

- Works in Progress
Show us what you've got so far! You might even want to show how the piece is coming along in future meetings.

As always, you don't have to play if you show up, but the more the merrier!

Best,
Grant

Back to Top

================================================================

6 Dec 02 From: Grant Ruiz: Subject: Minutes of December 2 Guitar Society Meeting

Greetings, guitar afficionados!

We had an incredible meeting on Tuesday with a large audience (well over 30 people) and a large number of varied performances. We went to Argentina, Brazil, China, England, Germany, and Spain. We also had a world premiere of a composition by Liz Vesecky and a transcription by Joe Thompson.

Thanks to everyone who attended and invited their friends and family. I think the audience was very supportive and understanding of the fact that we represent various levels of ability and experience in performance.

Attendees: Bob Barclay, Steve Berman, Francie Buckley and her husband Jim Dietz, Margaret Gelatt, Alice and Jack Hardesty, Nathan Hoyt and his parents Michael and Kimberly, Dennis and Ingrid Johnson, Bil Leonhart, Barbara Massey, Maurya Murphey, Terry Petty, Tom Reddick, Robert Ross and his wife Chiu Mei, Grant Ruiz, Gerry Schute, Bruce and Barbara Smith, Les and Mary Stansell and a couple of their friends, Joe and Marcy Thompson and Joe's mother, Murel Wilson, Jaxon Williams and his mother Ronda, and Liz Visecky and her husband Hersch King. Sorry if I missed anyone!

(Dave Rogers wrote to me and said he was hoping to be there, but he was delayed coming back from Kansas City, where he played a house concert for members of the Kansas City guitar society. Their website is: http://www.kansascityguitarsociety.org/pages/907871/index.htm.)

Thanks go especially to Joe Thompson, who directed a previous rehearsal for Margaret's ensemble, invited Nathan and his folks, played a duet with Nathan, played a duet with Francie, played Liz's new composition, played duets with Jaxon, transcribed the duets played with Jaxon, directed and played in one of the trios, transcribed the Piazzolla for the trio, and invited Les along. We're fortunate to have a pro like Joe in our midst.

Discussions:

We decided to skip this part because we anticipated a large number of performers, and we were right! Everything that is currently going on is in the minutes of the last general meeting and the last meeting of the steering committee, which you can find on our website:

http://id.mind.net/~thompson

After the performances, we discussed the wine tasting with Renee Dobbes of Paschal and Les Stansell. Everyone is still excited by the idea. As mentioned previously, we hope to hold it in the late Winter/early Spring after Joe returns from vacation. We look forward to a great volunteer effort to help put it together.

Les mentioned that the Pistol River Concert Association will feature the fiddle player Laurie Lewis on December 13. For details see http://pistolriver.com. You can also go there from Les' site, http://stansellguitars.com, which you can find on the JCGS website under "Links". If you go to Les' site, you can get a "virtual tour" of his shop. I suggest you view it while smelling a piece of freshly cut cedar.

As a new feature, I'd like to list upcoming gigs by local guitarists. I meant to ask people about this at the meeting but forgot. Here are the ones I know about:

Joe Thompson:
- Friday, Dec. 6th, Ashland's Friday Art Walk, 5-8 pm at Living Gallery, 20 South 1st Street (across from the Ashland Springs Hotel Parking lot).
- Thursday, Dec. 12th JPR Annual Wine Tasting in the SOU Student Union Building, Redford Room, 6:15 to 8:30 pm.
- Saturday, Dec. 14th, Paschal Winery Tasting Room, 1-4 pm.

Steve Berman:
- Dec. 14th at a craft fair in the Great Hall in Ashland, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm. Along with guitars, he'll have his medieval hurdy-gurdy. (Quick hurdy-gurdy joke told to Grant by Ethan James: "How long does it take to tune a hurdy-gurdy? Nobody knows!")

Dave Rogers:
- A concert in Detroit on Dec. 29th!
- He'll probably do a concert in February at the First Congregational
Church in Ashland, so watch for that one.

Tom Reddick:
- Lela's Bakery in Ashland on Wednesday (solo) and Thursday (jazz with Larry Lewis on clarinet), 6-9pm.

If anyone else is interested in announcing their upcoming gigs to the group, please let me know.

Performances:

The trio consisting of Margaret, Francie, and Terry started us off with "Song Tune" by T. Campian.

Nathan and Joe played "Good King Wenceslas" to get us in the holiday mood.

Nathan then played a solo, "The Ash Grove", and did very well. At six years old, Nathan is our youngest attendee yet. He has been studying for a year, having started with Betsy Farman, who is now in Eugene, and studying with Joe for the last 3 months.

Francie and Joe played some more holiday tunes: "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "Silent Night".

Joe played the premiere of Liz's composition, "The Premyslid Saga", based on the 8th century prophecy of Princess Libussa who foresaw the founding of Prague and the Premyslid Dynasty of "Mittel Europa." It was a well balanced piece and very well received, and several people encouraged Liz to consider publishing it. Liz dedicated the piece to Joe, who is her teacher.

Maurya played a Fuga by Johann ("I wrote more than just that silly canon, dammit!") Pachelbel.

Jaxon and Joe played the "Arioso" from one of Bach's harspichord sonatas and one of Bach's two part inventions. Jaxon played his new guitar, which was built by Les and sounded great.

Jaxon then played Prelude No. 1 by Villa-Lobos.

Grant played a granadinas (granaina) on Les' flamenco guitar, in celebration of being hired for an upcoming OSF play about Federico Garcia Lorca, who was both born near and executed near Granada.

Inspired by the granadinas, Steve Berman played his setting of the poem "Arbole', Arbole'" by Lorca.

Steve then accompanied Chiu Mei on the p'ip'a for a couple of lilting Chinese songs. (OK, so the p'ip'a isn't a classical guitar, but it is a Chinese lute, plus it had nylon strings!) The first song was "Hung Cai Meimei", a young man singing about missing his sweetheart, and the second was a love song about a couple getting together, and the moonlight shining down on the city of KangDing.

Steve showed off his beautiful new broke ... uh, Baroque guitar and played "Canarios" by Gaspar Sanz. The guitar was built by luthier John Rollins (Bellingham, Washington) and is a copy of a guitar by Jean Voboam, Paris, circa 1680s.

Joe, Steve and Grant played Joe's transcription of "La Milonga del Angel" by Astor Piazzolla, another world premiere!

Finally, Les got up and talked about some of his guitars. Joe, Steve, and Grant played the beguine "Estrellita" by Ponce on three of Les' new guitars. Afterwards, Les pointed to the guitar Steve had chosen as his favorite, and I believe it had the myrtlewood back and sides. This was a little taste of a future guitar tasting.

We adjorned late and lingered even longer, chatting, drinking wine, and playing Les' and each others' guitars. Not a bad way to spend an evening.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 7 at Paschal from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Happy Holidaze and Happy New Year to all!

Grant

Back to Top

Return to Meetings Archives Index