Hey!

As spring takes hold here in Berlin, the guitar community continues to be a never-ending treasure trove. Over the past few days, it has once again been a great pleasure for us to discover music by amazing artists, while we ourselves have spent a lot of time in the studio bringing new compositions to life.
It’s spring, after all, and what could be more fitting than the impressionistic sounds of Debussy or Sharon Isbin’s album featuring orchestral pieces by New York composer Karen LeFrak? This time, Leon takes a close look at things, and we’re exploring the new Schott edition featuring music by female composers across the centuries. We took its recent release as an opportunity to conduct an interview with editor Eva Beneke. And if spring has arrived in your corner of the world too, all that’s left for us to say is: Open the windows every now and then and leave the doors open to new things – just like in our feel-good tune of the week.

Enjoy reading!
Stefan and Willi

YOUTUBE FIND OF THE WEEK
with Peter Graneis

It was no coincidence that we were so delighted to interview Peter in one of our earlier issues on the topic of virtuosity. And we are all the more thrilled today to share a video of him with you in which this concept, in the classical sense, plays absolutely no role. His interpretation of Debussy’s Clair de Lune is pure musicality and sonic virtuosity.
This man not only impresses with his fast runs, but also knows how to completely enchant, captivate, and seduce his listeners.
Simply beautiful!

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
with Karen LeFrak feat. Sharon Isbin

When we think of compositions for guitar and orchestra, works like the Concierto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo, and perhaps Brouwer and Tedesco automatically pop up in our guitar-music-conditioned mind. Today we want to add a new name to this list: New York composer Karen LeFrak. Her Miami Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra (2025) delights our ears with Latin American rhythms and textures, wrapped in a warm, lively sound and tastefully orchestrated. Not exceptionally virtuosic, but all the more pleasant to immerse oneself in its sonic world.
This world premiere recording features Sharon Isbin, one of THE leading American guitarists (2 Grammys, founder of the guitar class at the Juilliard School).
The two women have produced a really special album here. Give it a listen and start thinking about which orchestra you’d choose to perform the concerto with.

MORNING-ROUTINE
A coffee with Leon Albert

Hi Leon, what’s the routine for this week?

Take a closer look at things with a magnifier. Or binoculars.

INTERVIEW

“What am I hoping for? More great music!”

Eva Beneke on her role as editor of Schott’s Women Composers series (guitar)

with Eva Beneke
Women composers in the guitar world is a topic we’ve come back to again and again, because it matters and because it still feels far from “normal” in everyday repertoire choices. So when Schott launched the Women Composers series, it instantly caught our attention as something that can actually shift what ends up on music stands in lessons, exams, festivals, and competitions.
Eva Beneke became involved early on through Heike Matthiesen, and later stepped in as editor to help bring the project to completion. We wanted to know how the series came into being, what surprised her most while working through the sources, how the first volume is being received so far, and what she hopes the mid term ripple effect could be in real guitar life.

Hi Eva, how did the idea for this Schott series come about?
I knew about the work on this publishing project from Heike Matthiesen. She had asked me to contribute a piece as an arranger and I was of course very happy to do that. We had a few conversations about the project in its early stages – she had already found so many pieces, particularly with her work in the Frankfurt „Archiv Frau und Musik“. When Heike passed away, of course, it was shocking and very sad, and she had been sick a long time. A while later, in the spring of 2023, they approached me to be the editor. And I said, yes, of course! This was when my work started – we had to sort through all the sources and all the materials that Heike had already collected, add on to it and do the research. A real puzzle!

What was the most exciting discovery you made while researching these female composers?
A real discovery for me were the many, many beautiful works, fantastic composers and their personal stories. Each piece has a short composer bio and playing notes. As the editor, I feel that it is important to include music from many different epochs, from early renaissance to very contemporary music. For example Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, one of my big heroines. The two books of suites that she wrote while she was harpsichordist at the court of Louis XIV, the Pièces de Clavecin, are such gems. I mean, what a privileged position she had! It was at around the same time as Robert de Visée – they probably met. I arranged some of the harpsichord works, thinking also: wouldn’t it be nice if we played this alongside Rameau or Couperin, for example?

What has the feedback been like so far, and who is currently using the books the most?
As the author, I’m only vaguely aware of this. Schott publishes the Women Composers series worldwide in English and also in German. There’s a piano edition, and the first book for cello was released at the same time as the guitar edition!
I know of a few copies already circulating among music school colleagues in Berlin. In Norway, where I visit regularly and teach at the Norwegian Academy of Music, I just presented the book at a festival, and there was a great deal of interest on social media, as well as in Japan and the United States. Of course, we hope that book 1 will generally be understood and used as a workbook for teaching at the elementary and intermediate levels.

Specifically, what do you hope this series will bring to our everyday lives as guitarists in the medium term?
With 48 pages, book 1 is a teaching supplement and repertoire addition for any guitarist and teacher. A guitar teacher in Berlin will assign each student one piece for next year´s „Jugend musiziert“ competition, which would instantly diversify the canon. What am I hoping for? More great music! Ideally, this will inform teaching, exams, student recitals and competition programs – I am wishing for a ripple effect, really! When we talk about why to publish something like this anthology, it is first of all important to have women’s names on the cover and in the table of contents: role models. Another important aspect of this is – without giving away too much – when we talk about what goes into the more advanced books 2 and 3, it can’t just be all European white women.

Imagine you could have one sentence printed on a poster to be put up in huge numbers at all the (classical) music festivals in the world. What sentence would that be?
Dare to have a diverse repertoire!

FEEL-GOOD TUNE OF THE WEEK
with Silk Sonic

Whether it’s between rehearsals and lessons, after practicing, before a concert, or whenever you need it: put on your headphones, take a break from the noise, and feel good.

Our feel-good tune of the week!

OUTRO

Thank you for reading! Please send any suggestions or comments directly in response to this newsletter. New music discoveries – including from artists we wrote about in today's issue – can be found, as always, in our Spotify playlist for the newsletter, which we've linked below.

Be kind to each other.

Stay tuned!

Stefan & Willi

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New Classical Guitar is a newsletter by Willi Leinen and Stefan Degel from TMBM. You can find our music and more information about our journey at http://t-m-b-m.com/.

On Spotify, we curate a playlist with our favorite pieces. Feel free to follow our New Classical Guitar Playlist at https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZwxJRAsW9Zs2JiS2eLy6a?si=9b2a737f01c043a4 and recommend new additions.