Jack Sanders, with Piatigorsky Foundation & Friends of Historic Breckenridge, brings classical guitar program to local children
By Carla McKeown/Breckenridge Texan
When Jack Sanders was 10 years old, he was a young surfer growing up in California, and he wanted to learn to play the guitar so that he could play the surfer song “Wipe Out,” composed by and made famous by the the members of the band The Surfaris.
Classical guitarist Jack Sanders talks to Breckenridge students about how he makes guitars by hand. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
When he got a little older, he listened to his dad’s classical music albums and decided that’s the kind of music he wanted to play.
He told those stories last week while he played classical guitar music — and “Wipe Out” — for Breckenridge students at Bailey Auditorium and the National Theatre.
Sanders came to Breckenridge as part of a program with the Piatigorsky Foundation, which partnered with the Friends of Historic Breckenridge. The foundation is dedicated to making live classical music an integral part of everyday life for communities throughout the United States. Gregor Piatigorsky, a renowned Russian cellist for whom the organization is named, believed that music is not a luxury for an elite few, but a necessity of life for all.
Sanders has toured extensively for The Piatigorsky Foundation since 2005, and this season’s concerts will take him to Georgia, as well as Texas.
Jack Sanders played a variety of classical music for the students, ranging from some of the earliest tunes composed for the guitar to pieces he composed himself. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
After graduating from the California Institute of the Arts in 1980, Sanders began teaching guitar, as well as performing around the world. He has recorded both solo and collaborative albums and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Guitar Society in 2013.
In addition to playing and teaching others to play the guitar, Sanders also builds guitars. His explanation of how he shapes the wood and creates a guitar by hand seemed to enthrall the first and second grade students at the National Theatre last Tuesday, Dec. 10. He also performed for third and fourth graders at the theatre and for fifth through 12th graders at Bailey Auditorium earlier in the day.
As he played for the students, Sanders taught them some classical music history. He played some of the earliest music composed for a guitar, from the 1500s. He also showed them how music can sound happy or sad or even spooky and mysterious.
Sanders performed some pieces of music that he composed for his students, and he played a piece known as “Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios (Alms for the Love of God)” by composer Agustin Barrios. Sanders explained to the students that it took him 15 years of practicing every day to learn to play the piece.
At the end of the sessions, Sanders made time to answer questions from the students before they had to go back to class.
The National Theatre was filled with first and second students last Tuesday, as Jack Sanders with the Piatigorsky Foundation performed classical guitar music. Third and fourth graders attended a later performance, and Sanders also presented the program at Bailey Auditorium for fifth through 12th graders. The program was sponsored locally by the Friends of Historic Breckenridge. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Cutline, top photo: Jack Sanders plays “Wipe Out” for the first and second graders at Breckenridge’s National Theatre last week. The song was one of the first he learned to play on the guitar when he was a kid. Click here to see more pictures. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
