{"id":13832,"date":"2019-10-18T13:38:06","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T20:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/?p=13832"},"modified":"2019-10-18T13:48:06","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T20:48:06","slug":"alec-holcomb-a-young-guitarist-on-finding-and-developing-his-own-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/alec-holcomb-a-young-guitarist-on-finding-and-developing-his-own-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Alec Holcomb: A Young Guitarist on Finding and Developing His Own Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">BY MARK SMALL | <a href=\"https:\/\/store.elizabethl27.sg-host.com\/collections\/featured-products\/products\/no-395-fall-2019\"><strong>FROM THE FALL 2019 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The summer of 2019 was a busy one for American guitarist Alec Holcomb. He competed in the Parkening International Guitar Competition in Malibu, California, and then in the Guitar Foundation of America competition in Miami, Florida, taking second and third honors respectively. He also spent time preparing the rollout of his debut album, <i>Alb\u00e9niz: Espa\u00f1a, Op. 165, Suite Espa\u00f1ola No. 1, Op. 47<\/i>. At the time of our conversation, the guitarist was looking for housing in the Bay Area prior to continuing his graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music this fall with Judica\u00ebl Perroy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">At just 24, Holcomb has built an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and envisions a performing career after earning his master\u2019s degree. Through the years he has competed in numerous contests, and at 17 won a first prize in the Parkening Young Guitarist Competition in 2012. Later, he placed first in the East Carolina Guitar Competition (2014) and the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Competition (2015). In 2016, he won the BorGuitar Festival Competition in Italy and was a finalist in both the JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition and the Columbus State University Guitar Competition. He also took third place in the GFA contests of 2017 and 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Onstage, Holcomb radiates the confidence of a virtuoso firmly in control of his instrument and the music. While it\u2019s a great accomplishment to finish among the top three in major competitions, Holcomb is feeling the pull to turn his formidable abilities toward the music that\u2019s closest to his heart. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThree is my lucky number at GFA,\u201d Holcomb says with a smile in his voice. \u201cI\u2019m deciding now if I should continue to do competitions. They\u2019re always more work than I plan on.\u201d The focus needed to prepare complex set pieces and to program music that will meet the specific requirements for various competitions can be all-consuming. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cSometimes this keeps me from other music that I really want to play,\u201d he says. \u201cCompetitions are hugely valuable to the guitar community. Playing them has absolutely improved my chops and ability to learn pieces quickly and polish difficult ones. I\u2019ve also met so many great players and friends that I would not have met otherwise. You have to approach competitions in a mentally healthy way, though. If you don\u2019t win, it doesn\u2019t mean you aren\u2019t good enough to share your music. I feel that there are many young players that deserve to be heard but don\u2019t get a chance because they didn\u2019t win first prize.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Espa\u00f1a, Op. 165: V. Capricho Catalan (Arr. for Guitar)\" width=\"1170\" height=\"878\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/W5kF7nolx40?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Music City Roots<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Holcomb was born into a musical family in Nashville, Tennessee. \u201cMy grandfather had played bluegrass and Appalachian music with his family back in West Virginia,\u201d he says. \u201cThey sang and played together as a social thing. My dad picked up on that and played a bit of country and then moved on to rock and funk. He played in semiprofessional rock bands in the 1980s for fun. When he was about 30, he discovered classical guitar and became fascinated listening to Barrueco, Parkening, Segovia, and other big names from his era.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Holcomb\u2019s parents bought him a half-size classical guitar when he was six and his father taught him the basics. \u201cMy dad wanted me to do things right. He bought a lot of books on pedagogy and spent time making sure he wasn\u2019t teaching me bad habits. We worked a lot on technical exercises. I couldn\u2019t get enough of those. They made me feel like I was developing in the correct way. I am very grateful for my father\u2019s time and effort.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">By age 12, Holcomb was studying with John Johns at Nashville\u2019s Vanderbilt University and later met Andrew Zohn, a faculty member at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. \u201cThat was pivotal,\u201d Holcomb recalls. \u201cI studied with [Zohn] throughout my high school years. Once a month I\u2019d go to Columbus and spend four hours with him over a weekend. We decided he would teach me like I was a college student and we worked really hard. He\u2019s a very gifted teacher, incredibly funny, who helped me move away from technical studies and into musicianship and the history of the pieces.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">After high school, Holcomb enrolled at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with Jason Vieaux and David Starobin. \u201cI feel that every teacher I\u2019ve had in my progression has been the right person at that time,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was really the case with Jason and David. From Jason I learned a lot about performing\u2014how to shape ideas distinctly and in a way that people can understand. David worked with me extensively on rhythm, and I cannot thank him enough for that. Both have shown me so many musical options and freed my mind from my usual way of thinking about music. Judica\u00ebl Perroy has been just who I needed for the last two years, as well. He\u2019s a genuinely cool dude whose brain seems to be a couple of steps ahead of the rest of us. He brings the studio together in a fun and productive way so we can learn from each other.\u201d Holcomb also credits David Tanenbaum, who also teaches at SFCM, for going above and beyond as a mentor. \u201cBetween the two of them I\u2019ve had so many opportunities to grow as a musician.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">On the Record<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cWhen I was 17, I felt I wanted to have an album on the table at a future time,\u201d Holcomb says. \u201cI really enjoy the music of Alb\u00e9niz. It\u2019s versatile and you can\u2019t go wrong with it. Each piece has its own character and is very listenable.\u201d The album\u2019s 15 tracks feature two complete suites, as well as <i>L\u2019Automne-Valse, Op. 170,<\/i> by the Spanish composer\/pianist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Initially, Holcomb planned to record well-known arrangements of Alb\u00e9niz\u2019s pieces, but at his father\u2019s suggestion, he created his own versions. \u201cI knew I needed to start making my own transcriptions. I highly value originality, so I decided to take this on,\u201d he says. He didn\u2019t refer to recordings or editions by other guitarists, he just started working with the piano scores. \u201cAfter spending the first day on two measures of music I knew this was going to be really hard,\u201d he confides. \u201cA year and a half later, I had finished the transcriptions. By performing them and fixing little details over the course of five years, they\u2019ve finally become something I\u2019m proud of and enjoy playing.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">Holcomb\u2019s version of <i>Asturias<\/i> stays close to the piano original by continuing the 16th-note rhythm of the first section of the piece as opposed to breaking it into sextuplets as the widely played Segovia edition does. He discovered serendipities while exploring keys for movements needing transposition. \u201cI would always see whether the original would work. But if something sounded better on the guitar in another key, I transposed it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">For selections such as <i>Cuba<\/i>, it was natural to transpose the original from E<\/span><span class=\"s2\">b<\/span> <span class=\"s1\">to E for a better fit on the guitar. In <i>Castilla<\/i>, Holcomb retained Albeniz\u2019s original key of F<\/span><span class=\"s2\">#<\/span><span class=\"s1\">. \u201cChoosing the keys was a decision I made at 18,\u201d he shares. \u201cI don\u2019t know that I would do things the same way now, but the keys I chose work pretty well. Keeping <i>Aragon<\/i> in F was a great choice, as there were times when I needed a low E and it was there. If I had decided to transpose the arrangement to E, I don\u2019t know what I would have done in those places. The main ideas for me were maintaining the flow on the guitar and keeping the melody as the primary subject.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">To a point, Holcomb agrees with Segovia\u2019s sentiment that a successful transcription should sound at least as good or better on the guitar. \u201cBut conversely, I don\u2019t think everything needs to sound like a guitar piece. That\u2019s made me question whether we are sticking with a sound that is traditional or using the instrument and its variety of sounds to create our own music. As I was learning this material, I kept asking myself if I was playing it as a guitarist would. That kept me away from doing things that have been done before.\u201d Holcomb plans to publish all of the transcriptions in 2020.<br \/>\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aXVY2d0RAzs\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Talkin\u2019 About My Generation<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Holcomb notes that his peers appreciate the major players of earlier generations without feeling compelled to follow exactly in their footsteps. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot less consideration for tradition,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting to see what music people are drawn to. Many are reexamining the Segovia repertoire and playing pieces that might not have gotten attention at the time. Some are interested in pop, electronic, jazz, or folk music, and are looking for accessible repertoire. Others are writing their own pieces or transcribing and arranging things they enjoy listening to.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cI love to be creative about what I do and I\u2019m not sure if a very traditional performing career would give me the creative room I\u2019d like. I want to work with composers and try to make something new. People are really trying to get out of the classical guitar bubble\u2014not that there is anything wrong with the bubble. But as performers, we want to play for as wide an audience as possible. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201cAs music lovers, we want to dip our toes elsewhere and experience it all. With so many young guitarists taking musical chances and pushing to be heard, some will undoubtedly find an audience. I\u2019m excited to see what that will look like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h5 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">What He Plays<\/span><\/h5>\n<p class=\"p2\"><span class=\"s1\">Alec Holcomb plays a 2013 Gernot Wagner double-top guitar with spruce on the outside and cedar on the inside. The back and sides are African blackwood. The neck scale is 650mm. He uses high-tension Savarez Corum basses and Alliance trebles.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Vivaldi Winter for two guitars - Alec Holcomb\" width=\"1170\" height=\"658\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UJJgvXPbNhE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY MARK SMALL | FROM THE FALL 2019 ISSUE OF CLASSICAL GUITAR The summer of 2019 was a busy one for American guitarist Alec Holcomb. He competed in the Parkening International Guitar Competition in Malibu, California, and then in the Guitar Foundation of America competition in Miami, Florida, taking second and third honors respectively. He also spent time preparing the rollout of his debut album, Alb\u00e9niz: Espa\u00f1a, Op. 165, Suite Espa\u00f1ola No. 1, Op. 47. At the time of our [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13835,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/alec-holcomb-guitar.jpg?fit=900%2C519&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}