Scottish guitarist, Matthew McAllister visited us at Oberlin Conservatory this week. He played a terrific concert and taught an engaging and very helpful class for the students. He was in Oberlin last with his wife, flutist Aisling Agnew, in the Fall of 2015. In the meantime (summer, 2016), most members of the Oberlin Guitar Studio were fortunate to have been able to attend Matthew's annual summer guitar event, the Classical Guitar Retreat, on the island of Greater Cumbrae, off the west coast of Scotland, thanks to the generosity of a silent benefactor. At that event we all got well-acquainted, meeting guitarists from around the world, and had a fantastic and music-rich experience.

It was great this week to see Matthew again. The students seemed to enjoy his visit as much as I did--we look forward to more opportunities to share music. Here are some images from his concert and master class. You'll note I joined him on stage for some duets. Inviting me to join him, incidentally, is a great example of his personality--generous and convivial. We had fun preparing and playing the arrangements (Peter Maxwell Davies pieces; the entire program is at the end of the post).

Joining him on stage, Stephen Aron plays duet partner.

The master class was excellent. It began with Collin Sterne, in a performance of the Joropo from Merlin's Suite del Recuerdo.

Next, Katie Kim and Brian King played Sivi Grivi from Alan Thomas' Balkan Songbook, a piece they heard first when Matthew and Aisling played it here in '15.