Summer 2010!
I had a great summer! It started out at the Joann Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where I was one of nine semi-finalists chosen to come to Buffalo for the competition. I was very excited, as in 2008 I was a finalist, and it was a thrill to play with the orchestra and Joann Falletta. Unfortunately, this time around I didn’t make the finals, but I did get the opportunity to perform a solo concert at the Chautaqua Institute, as well as outreach for a local school, which was great 
This is a photo of me working with the kids at the school: 
Shortly after that, I was a guest performer at BuddhaFest, a Buddhist Film Festival in Washington, D.C. that included talks with prominent meditation teachers. I played a short concert before the closing talk, which was given by Sharon Salzberg. I was honored to open for such a well-known and respected author and teacher. She spoke of our potential as human beings – that we all really have limitless potential, so why not strive to fully reach it??? 
I also had the opportunity to return to the National Guitar Workshop in New Milford, CT for a half recital and to present a workshop on tone. It was great to be back there – I spent six summers there as a student, so to come back on the other side was a lot of fun. This is a photo from the concert: 
Finally, I had a very beautiful experience giving a concert at the Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY. After 10 days of silent, intensive meditation in a retreat with meditation master Lama Surya Das, the folks at the retreat were very appreciative of the concert – almost as appreciative as I was of their incredible presence during my performance!
I hope you all had a great summer and are enjoying what’s left of it, and I hope to see you around!
