CHANGE OF DATE! Sorry, friends, but there was just no way of getting the new CD, Fantasía, to press in time for May 28. Along with some minor health problems, (not to worry, all is well!), Snowmaggedon hit the Washington, D.C. area early in the year and wiped out two recording dates, plus several days of university teaching, all of which had to be made up. Add to that a few final recitals for graduating students and the preparations for the second annual Roland Dyens Guitar Rendezvous (June 5 through June 9 at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA), and I finally had to admit that a May 28, 2010 release date for Fantasía was pure "Fantasy"! Well... Okay. Delays happen. I had managed to work out an alternative date in early December, which followed Thanksgiving and was still early enough not to interfere with Christmas shopping. And, when you think about it, What's better than a CD release date three weeks before Christmas?
So, I hit the reset button and started rescheduling recording dates, when I got a call from the Smithsonian Institution. They made me an offer I couldn't refuse: a day-long celebration of the classical guitar which would come to a close with a performance by me and my friend the wonderful lutenist, Howard Bass. When was this supposed to take place? You guessed it: the first week of December! I hesitated a total of 1.7 seconds! First of all, I loved the ideas we were bouncing back and forth; second, I've done work with the Smithsonian, on and off, for years. I've been a performer, a lecturer, a radio host and producer for them at various times and loved every minute of it. The people there are great to work with and the audiences are always wonderful. Too much fun to miss.
Once again, I reset the reset button and called my friend, Bob Schurk at the Lyceum to see what dates were available. We settled on Sunday afternoon, January 30, 2011 at 4:00pm. We liked the afternoon time best since there would still be daylight at that time of day.
I hope to see you there! It'll be fun, with some really great music: Manén, Milan, Mudarra, Turina and more!