Paraguayan classical guitarist converts pop audience

If there is anything that watching classical guitarist Berta Rojas in concert at the Meralco taught us, it was bringing to our subconscious the fact that there are other forms of music than pop, rock and jazz. Of course, we had been interested in guitar music, particularly its various varieties ever since we met Adolfo Timuat who lived in Spain and specialized in Flamenco guitar music.

Since Adolfo was not around to guide us, we thought of asking Winnie Ferrer, our former student in journalism at St. Theresa’s College, to accompany us since we were aware she had taken lessons in Spanish guitar. And we were right. Winnie said that watching the concert of Berta at the Meralco recently, served as a trip down memory lane as well as a night of beautiful music for her.

She recalled, “When I was in my senior year in college together with my close friend, Cherrie Mijares, we would go to Sampaloc for Spanish guitar lessons from Roger Bermudez. Both of us had learned to play the guitar on our own, but decided to take more formal lessons. The pieces were mostly classical unlike those from popular hits of our times then. We learned the various strumming and plucking techniques so one could hear the notes, the crescendo and decrescendo, giving the guitar a voice of its own. This was the difference between playing the guitar as an accompaniment to a song by a soloist or a band.”

Classical guitar had its origins in the near East and Europe. The 19th Century saw its popularity in Italy, then in Germany. But the 20th Century saw Italy as its home. Classical guitar has since taken off as a popular medium of playing classical pieces from composers who work solely for the guitar.

Berta’s repertoire that evening included compositions that only those who studied music would understand. We felt that Berta knew the audience was a mixture of serious music lovers and dilettantes, and therefore tried to lighten the load by telling stories about this and that number, plus sharing the fact that some compositions that opened the second part of the concert were by Englishman Vincent Lindsey Clark who had become a close friend and composed Salsa pieces for her titled Suite Americano.

The Filipinos’ love for music is well-known internationally, so when Berta played the Pinoy classic Magpakailanman, the audience gave her a standing ovation. Another interesting fact Berta shared with the audience is how she became friends with Pilita Corrales whose husband Carlos Lopez is from Paraguay. The audience waited for Pilita to appear on stage to sing Kapantay ay Langit, but perhaps Asia’s Queen of Songs was occupied elsewhere.

Apart from performing in concerts worldwide, Berta has been hailed as the Ambassador of Classical Guitar by Classical Guitar Magazine and Guitarist Extraordinaire by the Washington Post. She is also tourism ambassador of Paraguay, arts educator and advocate, supporter of Paraguay classical guitarist Agustin Barrios, creator of the first on-line classical guitar competition, artistic director of the three editions of the Ibero-American Guitar Festival, co-founder of the Young Persons Beatty Music Scholarship Competition for Classical Guitar and various other accomplishments.

It was a most entertaining evening for us, but also one that taught us how to approach the classics. Should Berta return for another concert, perhaps some Filipino compositions given the classical guitar treatment would be most welcomed.

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