Issue 45

In this issue: Jerzy Chwastyk in our YouTube find, album of the week by Gaëlle Solal, sheet music in our morning-routine with Leon Albert, interview with Jesse Flowers and the feel-good tune of the week with Jamie Lidell

3. Juni 2026

Hey!

Daily routines and motivation through special moments. What keeps the engine running, the wheel turning? In any case, gratitude for music is a worthwhile credo. Jesse Flowers agrees in our interview section.

We should really start printing our artists’ answers to the poster question so we can actually put them up at all the music festivals. We think they’re pretty inspiring. If any of you are interested in a collaboration, feel free to let us know. In the meantime, we’ll just keep collecting them and are happy that Jesse has provided yet one more beautiful answer.

The second movement of the Ginastera Sonata in this week’s video also has some really special moments. Gaëlle Solal’s album is full of them, and Leon is once again delivering a snapshot in the form of a miniature (despite all the routine) to your inbox today.

We wish you inspiring days, healthy routines, and lots of fun reading this issue.

All the best,
Stefan und Willi

YOUTUBE FIND OF THE WEEK
with Jerzy Chwastyk

If Piazzolla is the city, then Ginastera is more like vast landscapes. This idea, which Jerzy Chwastyk points out in the video description, is certainly helpful when listening to the second movement of the Ginastera Sonata: the pulse of Buenos Aires versus open spaces, wind, and ruggedness. Above all, you can hear contrasts: one moment whispering softly, the next suddenly with brute force. The guitar is not savored romantically, but conceived physically: attack, rhythm, percussive energy. Jerzy guides us through the movement in a refreshing, engaging, and sensitive way, making us eager to explore the guitar as an instrument. Give it a listen – we totally recommend it!.

ALBUM OF THE WEEK
with Gaëlle Solal

​​Rio de Janeiro: more a way of life than just a city. What better way to experience this spirit from afar than through music?

Gaëlle Solal – we’ve been fans of this extraordinary guitarist for quite some time now – takes us on a tour of the city with compositions from the 19th to the 21st century by Chiquinha Gonzaga, Villa-Lobos, and Ernesto Nazareth, some arranged especially for guitar and orchestra, and a world premiere recording of Clarice Assad’s Concerto O Saci-Pererê – a concerto that, with its wide spectrum of sound and color, simply bubbles over with creativity and musical devotion. Saci-pererê, a goblin-like creature from Brazilian mythology, has whisked us away to the twilight realm from the very first bar!

A must-listen!

MORNING-ROUTINE
A coffee with Leon Albert

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

Rock and roll lifestyle.

INTERVIEW

4 Questions, 4 Answers, 4 Facial Expressions with: Jesse Flowers

Jesse Flowers is an Australian guitarist and, since 2020, Professor of Guitar at the Akademie für Tonkunst Darmstadt. He comes from a very classical background, but his perspective happily reaches beyond the usual repertoire shelf: historical sound ideals, old recordings, questions of aesthetics, and that desire to consciously step into other eras and ways of listening.
Jesse continues our section 4 questions, 4 answers, and he matched each answer with a facial expression and gesture.

What has been distracting you the most when practicing?

I only relatively recently switched from the footstool to the Guitarlift, so I’ve been experimenting and adjusting a lot, and although these things take time I’m starting to become really comfortable using it.

What has been motivating you the most?

Something I’ve been interested in for a while is imitating historical recordings (between ca. 1900 and 1950) to understand the aesthetic of the time better and I’ve tried doing this with Luise Walker’s recording of Chopin’s Eb major nocturne (everyone should listen to it!).

Looking back now, what advice would you give yourself as a young guitarist?

I would have specifically told my 2nd year Bachelor student self to touch grass and that there is more to life than trying to play the scales in Villa-Lobos’s Etude 7 at 150 bpm lol.

If you could print one sentence on a poster to be displayed at all classical music festivals worldwide, what would it say?

That’s too much pressure! But if I was forced it would say ‘Be grateful for music.’

FEEL-GOOD TUNE OF THE WEEK
with Jamie Lidell

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.