Each semester since 1992, the Southeastern Guitar Ensemble in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts, under the direction of instructor of guitar and coordinator of guitar activities Patrick Kerber, has been performing concerts as part of their curriculum. This semester marked the 45th semi-annual Guitar Ensemble concert. 

“The concerts are simply part of the music guitar performance majors’ curriculum,” said Kerber. “That is, Guitar Ensemble is a class in which the student enrolls, and the concerts at the end of the semester are essentially the final exam, though we don’t see it that way. The performance is what we [students] want to do.”

On December 1 at 7:30 p.m., many students, family members, friends and members of the community filled the Pottle Auditorium to nearly maximum capacity to hear the sounds of classic songs, jazzy songs, Spanish songs and more.

The concert began with Georg Philipp Telemann’s classical piece “Concerto in C” performed by the entire ensemble. Following was an arrangement, arranged by Eythor Thorlaksson, of songs from South America: “Cancao,” “El Cachimbo” and “Faz hoje um ano” performed by the members of the first-ever freshman guitar trio: Graham Guillory, Jeffrey Ross and Dominique Roubique. 

Music guitar performance major Roubique was thankful to be a part of the trio and as a freshmen, she feels connected to her fellow freshmen. 

“It was a great experience,” said Roubique. “As freshman, we’re kind of a big family, we just really work well together and, with our background, we communicate well.”

She was also thankful for being a part of the music community as she continues to grow as a musician.

“Coming to college, it’s really different, and it’s great making new musician friends,” said Roubique. “I’ve been playing for 13 years, and I’m learning a lot more than I knew before.”

After the freshman trio, another arrangement named “Brisa marina,” arranged by Thorlaksson, was performed by guitar duo members Quinn Fiore and Dakota Montiville. Following the duo, guest artist trumpeter Austin Dugas-Higdon performed Ray Noble’s jazz standard “Cherokee” while accompanied by Ken Turner on guitar. Next, guest artist soprano singer and junior vocal and music education major Stephanie Arledge sang two Spanish art songs from an arrangement made by guitarist Blake Guidry: Manuel de Falla’s “Asturiana” and “El tra la la” by Enrique Granados with guitarists Guidry and Brandi Callais. 

Arledge was grateful that she was able to perform these pieces for the concert and gave some background as to how those pieces came to be. 

“I started off as a Spanish major actually when I came to Southeastern and was in love with Spanish music, and I switched my major to music my sophomore year,” said Arledge. “For music, you have to give junior recitals, and I knew I had to do a Spanish piece for my recital. I became friends with some of the guitarists, so we got together, worked on those pieces and they said ‘Hey, why don’t we put this together for a concert’ so that’s what we did. Being able to perform with these guitarists was absolutely beyond anything I ever dreamed of myself doing.” 

To close the concert, the ensemble performed Agustín Barrios-Mangore’s “Cueca” and “Leyenda de Espana” arranged by Thorlaksson. 

Many attendees enjoyed the concert, including alumni and father of guitarist Jeffrey Ross Charles Ross.  

“It was very nice, very awesome,” said Charles Ross. “Jeffrey happened to make it into the trio, so that was awesome, too.”

Freshman nursing major Iralisha Williams also enjoyed the performance. 

“It was wonderful and a different experience,” said Williams. “I enjoyed the performance. It was very nice.”