All quiet in the library ““ except for the melodic sounds of classical guitarists Payam Larijani and Seth Greenberg, who will perform in a free evening concert tonight at the Powell Library Rotunda.
While Powell Library is not commonly thought of as a concert venue, every year UCLA alumnus Larijani and duet partner Greenberg fill the generally silent atmosphere with the echoes of classical guitar. Larijani got the performance location idea as an undergraduate music student at UCLA.
After stumbling upon the Rotunda dome, Larijani found the ideal acoustics for an intimate concert. He had found a place with good reverb, a room that would create the impression that the instrument was much louder than in actuality. Although Larijani has held these concerts during the day since they started in 2000, tonight will be the first time the concert is held in the evening.
“That’s going to make it a special experience for most, because during the day, it’s kind of crowded and noisy in there, and the lighting is not too great, but at nighttime, I think it will really be cool,” Larijani said.
Classical guitar is such a popular instrument that the sounds permeating Powell should be familiar to many students and faculty. Consisting of mostly single string, melodic playing, classical guitar is much like a guitar solo in a rock song except it is sustained for the entire piece.
“A lot of people have (guitars) in their room or in their dorm, so they’ll walk by and they’ll hear it and say, “˜Oh, I play that too,'” Larijani said.
“And sometimes, people sit down and they’ve never heard that kind of music, and hopefully it inspires them to either learn an instrument or just go see stuff at Royce Hall.”
Complimenting Larijani’s background in classical guitar, fellow doctoral student Greenberg will also introduce some jazz pieces. While Greenberg has only played classical guitar for six years, he has played jazz for 20 years, making it a more comfortable style.
“That was also something interesting for me, to have someone who has a different mentality from classical, who can improvise, and can do jazz ““ it adds so much to the overall musicality,” Larijani said.
“There’s a tendency with anything to get complacent, to stick to what you know, but at the same time it is being in insecure positions that allows me to challenge myself musically,” added Greenberg.
Musical pieces the audience can expect to hear range from Mozart to Japanese classical guitar. Some of the Mozart pieces were transcribed by Theodore Norman, a former UCLA professor of guitar, so in a sense, this performance will keep his transcriptions alive. The Japanese piece, “Nagoya Guitars,” is a challenging piece lasting almost 10 minutes.
“It just becomes this wash of sound, like wallpaper that keeps evolving and mutating, and then at the end it comes together,” Larijani said.
Other solos include traditional classical Spanish guitar pieces such as “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” by Francisco Tárrega, and “Homage to Francisco Tárrega.” Additionally, Greenberg will showcase his jazz expertise with a few jazz pieces backed up by Larijani.
“We wanted to include a couple of crowd-pleasers that people would expect and not have to work too hard to enjoy,” Larijani said.
As a jazz musician, Greenberg said he prefers to base his repertoire on his mood and the performance’s ambience. However, as many have experienced, most concerts are based on predetermined programs, making the performance much less flexible.
“But, I’m sure back in Bach’s time, there must have been musicians who would just get together and play much like jazz musicians, and just say, “˜Let’s play this Vivaldi thing,'” Greenberg said.
Compared to jazz shows, during which people talk over each other, the intimate setting of Powell promises a comfortable atmosphere with no cover charge.
“We always get a nice blend of audience, too, from, like, a random homeless guy on the street, to a professor,” Larijani said.
Both Larijani and Greenberg have been pleased to see such a large turnout every year, and more importantly than that, a receptive and attentive audience. The duet plans to perform in Royce Hall sometime in the future if given the opportunity.
“As long as we are improving at every concert and people are coming and enjoying it, then it just gives me inspiration and fuel to keep going,” Larijani said.