The McCallie Guitar QuartetScott Head, Tanner Ball, Michael Zeiser and Bharath Venkatesh under the direction of Charles "Chip" EvansThe eventThe 2011 International Convention of the Guitar Foundation was held over several days in June and early July in Columbus, Ga., and featured performances, symposiums and workshops by some of the world's best players.What they playedII Siciliano; III-Allegro by J.S. Bach; arranged by Jeremy Sparks.Theme and Variations by Johannes Brahams; arranged by Jeremy Sparks."Maple Leaf Rag" by Scott Joplin; arranged by David Stocker.
When most of the McCallie Classical Guitar Quartet graduated five years ago, teacher Charles "Chip" Evans saw an opportunity to help rebuild the ensemble around three rising freshmen who would be the core of the group for four years.
The plan paid off as the McCallie quartet was invited to play earlier this summer at the 2011 International Convention of The Guitar Foundation of America. It was a high honor as only one high school trio or quartet was invited to perform at the June convention in Columbus, Ga.
Tanner Ball, Scott Head and Michael Zeiser were selected to be in the quartet as freshmen. They were joined at the beginning of last year by then-junior Bharath Venkatesh, 17, who is now a senior at McCallie. Ball, Head and Zeiser are all college freshman.
Classical guitar is taught as a credited course at McCallie as part of the music curriculum and has been offered since 1999. McCallie students are required to take an art class and both Tanner, 17, and Scott, 18, said they chose guitar in the seventh grade without having had any prior experience on the instrument, though they had taken piano lessons. Zeiser had played acoustic guitar, but said it is a different animal than a classical guitar.
"I had to learn to play with my fingers instead of with a pick and you are playing multiple notes. It requires a lot more coordination, but is also a lot more fun."
The trio said their early training helped, but they give full credit to Evans for teaching them to play.
"He's a really good teacher and you learn to sight read right away," Scott said.
Venkatesh did not play any musical instruments prior to signing up for the class his eighth-grade year. He said being the late-comer to the group was fairly easy.
"It wasn't particularly difficult," he said. "I had been around the others guys and the quartet, so I knew them fairly well."
The quartet had actually submitted an application, including a recording of their song selections, to perform at the convention the year prior and were not selected but were encouraged to try again. Evans said getting the invitation was the result of hours and hours of hard work and good chemistry among the students.
"They are all dedicated musicians and they enjoy playing," he said. "The process actually began in middle school. This is a unique group. You don't always get all four as dedicated as these guys. You might get three out of four that are dedicated or with as much ability.
"The harder I pushed, the harder they worked."
The quartet practiced two days a week for 90 minutes each during the school year prior to being invited to the convention. Once they were notified in January, they added some evening rehearsals and once school ended for the summer, the training periods increased.
During the convention, they performed three songs in front of nearly 200 people. Each of the four said the experience was one they wished could have been longer, partly because the theater itself was so nice.
"It was quite exhilirating," said Bharath. "The acoustics were fantastic. It was almost as if we were playing for ourselves, it was so enjoyable. Just the auditory experience was extraordinary."
Ball agreed.
"They allowed us on stage an hour beforehand to get used to it," Tanner said. "Once I struck that first note, I thought, 'It sounds so good, I don't want to get off of here,'"
Head said it was a little intimidating, but that they had worked so hard and knew the material so well, those feelings were quickly overcome.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it was very exciting," he said.
Head is currently at Vanderbilt, Tanner is at Centre College in Kentucky and Zeiser is at Texas Christian University. They say they plan to continue playing, but neither is pursuing music as a career.
"I will keep playing," Ball. "It is just really, really enjoyable. I knew it would be, but being in a quartet and playing solo are great forms of expression yourself. I'm looking forward to going away and seeing where it goes from here."
Head said he loves the versatility of the instrument.
"The classical guitar has an amazing sound that no other instrument has. You can do so many things with it."