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Brent
Gunter - Veteran Guitar Teacher Is Returning to His
Hometown Of Albuquerque For An October 10 Benefit
Concert To Raise Money For Local School Guitar Programs
Growing up in a poor neighborhood in Albuquerque, Brent
Gunter (www.myspace.com/brentgunter) remembers receiving
his first Spanish guitar when he was five. Inspired to
learn by his guitar playing uncle and cousins, he grew
fond of both classical and flamenco music as his family
members used styles to create their own fusion that
included western swing, country and traditional Mexican
songs.
On October 10, the Portland, Oregon based rumba flamenco
guitarist returns to his hometown for a special
fundraising concert at the 2,300 seat Kiva Auditorium.
Gunter, whose popular debut album Andalucia received
airplay on the nationally syndicated NPR radio program
“Echoes” and reached #2 on Myspace’s flamenco chart,
will donate all proceeds from the performance to the
Albuquerque Public School Foundation; the organization
will use the funds at its discretion to further fund the
six existing guitar programs and/or to start up a
program at additional schools.
Last summer in Oregon, Gunter, a longtime private guitar
instructor who has taught thousands of students since
the early 90s, gathered students from ages 10-18 to
create an exciting summer program at Portland State
University called the Portland Youth Rock Orchestra. In
line with his mission to make the guitar a viable part
of America’s intermediate and secondary school music
education curriculum, the ensemble featured 15 electric
guitarists and several bassists performing familiar rock
songs.
These two events are just the start of Gunter’s ongoing
desire to put his so-called money where his intense
lifelong passion for guitar is: in the faces of
educators and school boards across America, who up till
now have mostly kept to the “marching band” status quo.
When kids in schools want to learn an instrument,
they’re encouraged to play brass or winds—oboe, French
horn, sax, tuba—because those fit better into an
orchestra or parade setting. Students interested in
learning guitar are encouraged instead to pick up one of
these other instruments; their only option is to secure
outside private instruction.
“Guitars aren’t part of the music curriculum in schools
as they should be,” Gunter says. “Occasionally, you’ll
see programs with guitar classes, but those are taught
by the choir teacher or band director. I call this
continued focus on brass instruments a ‘classical
pedagogy’ of people who don’t want to give up what’s
safe, but who are also struggling to keep funding intact
for their orchestras. But the battle is being lost
because they’re not embracing new instruments or new
music in schools, and the kids in turn are losing their
desire to play. They teach kids that if they want to be
in a successful band program, they need to play in the
marching band on the football field.”
Gunter explains that his own interest in sharing the
“gospel” of guitars in public school curriculums grew
out of his frustration with some of his own private
students; so many became excellent players yet had been
turned away from mainstream programs in junior high
because they wanted to play guitar.
“One of the concerns they have is that the guitar is a
quieter instrument that can’t keep up with the brass
section, but my feeling is that we should be encouraging
the formation of entire guitar sections, with a PA
plugged in for amplification,” he says. “Another barrier
to guitarists entering the band programs is that a huge
percentage of them play by ear and don’t read music.
That’s primarily because when the kids on the more
accepted instruments were young, their teachers were
teaching them how to read and the guitarists didn’t have
that chance. I believe the solution is to start guitar
programs in schools from a young age and create guitar
bands or guitar orchestras. We should be offering these
opportunities equally. I’d like to see the guitar be on
equal footing with these other instruments.”
Gunter summarizes his challenge to the powers that be in
musical academia this way: “Obviously, you need to
balance artistic goals and cultural goals in academic
institutions, but realistically, guitars resonate with
people of all ages across North America. Wouldn’t it
make sense that if you offer something that’s of such
vast interest to so many people, your programs will have
a better chance for success? And doesn’t it benefit
everyone to give our kids the opportunity to become more
literate musically?”
Since the release of Andalucia, Gunter has performed his
original world fusion music everywhere from Portland
venues like the 600-seat Aladdin Theatre and the Coaster
Theatre to Seattle, Phoenix, Sacramento and Albuquerque.
He keeps listeners enthralled playing the two guitars
that form the foundation of his vibe: a Conde Hermanos
Felipe V and a highly customized flamenca blanca guitar
crafted by legendary Oregon based builders Shelton
Ferreta.
He is currently in the studio putting the finishing
touches on his highly anticipated follow-up project
Tradewinds, which will also be released on his
independent label Sandia Crest Entertainment in early
2009.
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Order Brent's CD
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