Alexandra Gardner | Building Noises

Hi Everyone! For those of you who may be tuning in for the first time, this series of performer interviews is acting as a countdown to the February 3 Mobtown Modern concert in Baltimore. Come and meet everyone in person, it will be fun!!

If you are inspired by these interviews to sponsor a musician, please click here or on the “Make A Donation” sidebar to make a tax-deductible contribution that will go directly towards performer fees and travel expenses for the above mentioned concert. Thank you!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled post….

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The merging of an ageless classical instrument and the twenty-first century has found life in the person of guitarist Benjamin Beirs. Trained as a classical guitarist at Peabody Conservatory by Julian Gray, he has among other things performed a concerto with the Buffalo Philharmonic and appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts – yet he is oh-so-much more. A singer, songwriter, teacher and composer, you can find him almost anywhere from the concert stage to an elementary school, playing to a most diverse and appreciative audience.

Mr. Beirs believes in music as a “great kindness” – one that has helped him immensely in his own life, and just as importantly, one which helps others. In addition to teaching and performing, he frequently performs outreach in various settings, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and schools.

Whether he is performing the Castelnuovo-Tedesco Concerto in D major with “intense musicality,” the rags of Scott Joplin, a song by Nick Drake, or his own compositions, Benjamin Beirs is the quintessence of the modern musician, open to any great musical idea.

How did you get started playing your instrument, and how did it turn into a career?
I started taking guitar lessons at age 6 on classical guitar, because my parents told me my after-school music program “didn’t offer drum lessons.” Not true, and I still want to buy myself a drum set. I think my own compositions reflect my yearning to be a percussionist as well!!

Talk about one of your most satisfying musical performance experiences.
I have two performance experiences that stand out, and they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum. One was recently, in June 2008 – as a finalist in the Joann Falletta Guitar Concerto Competition, I performed a concert with the Buffalo Philharmonic in front of around 2,000 people. It was just electrifying playing with so many great musicians. My other experience was performing the “Invocacion y Danza” by Rodrigo for a patient at the Gilchrist Hospice in Baltimore. There was a kind of communication that happened that was and is beyond words. Very touching.

What gets you interested in/inspired by/excited about playing a new piece of music?
It depends on what it is, and what it’s for! Basically, if I think it’s going to make the audience happy and I like it as well, I can get pretty excited about it. Sometimes I have trouble jump-starting myself into work mode, but once I’m into it there’s no stopping me!

What is your listening “guilty pleasure?”
I don’t really know! I don’t have any guilt about what I listen to – I guess maybe I feel guilty that I don’t listen to enough “classical” music!

What projects do you have coming up that we should know about?
I have a couple of solo recitals in February in Baltimore and Philadelphia, and then in April my guitar duo will be touring the East Coast. I’m also working on an album of my songs – as if I’m not busy enough, I’ve decided to do the singer-songwriter thing when it fits in my schedule

Please answer: If I were not a musician, I would be a ________, because _________.
If I weren’t a musician, I would be a completely lost soul because I honestly can’t answer this question. I like the saying that you don’t do music because you love it, you do it because you can’t imagine doing anything else.