A list of random favorites from 2022!

Favorite Book: Confronting Silence by Toru Takemitsu (I read this almost every year)

Favorite Espresso: Sleeping Monk, Cannon Beach, Oregon & Kaha Coffee, Amesbury, Mass

Favorite Coffee Drink: Cortado

Favorite Cheese Shop: Formaggio Kitchen

Favorite Concert Halls: Tie: Little Bridges at Pomona College and Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, Carlsbad

Favorite Croissants: Ma France, Lexington, MA • Lofty Coffee Company, Encinitas, CA

Favorite Tacos: Aria Korean Street Food, Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

Favorite Day: Tie: Birthday and Performing

Favorite Ornaments: Bach’s Little Prelude in C Minor, BWV 934, B sections SPOTIFY

Favorite Duos with Guitar: 3 Vintage Portraits by Antonio Celso Ribeiro for viola and guitar YOUTUBE

Favorite Guitar Strings: Hannabach, Trebles: Exclusive • Bass: 900 Silver 200

Favorite Headphones: Grado, Brooklyn, NY

Favorite Home Espresso Maker: La Pavoni, pictured 1984 Professional

Least Bad Airlines: Alaska, JetBlue, United: each allows guitars on board.

Favorite Fugue on Guitar: “Fiddle” Fugue in A Minor, BWV 539-1000 SPOTIFY

Favorite Day: Practice

Favorite Cut: Fermin Jamon Iberico Bellota

Favorite way to relax: Cathar Yoga

Favorite hand/fingers stretch: 90s

Favorite Coast: East to live, West to visit

Favorite Music Journal: Moleskine Art Music Notebook (out of print?)

Favorite Lesson: Each action and sound reverberates around the world, so let our actions be great and our sounds beautiful.

Favorite Music Discoveries (very limited): Ann Moss, Amanda Gookin, Miguel del Aguila, Andree-Ann Deschenes

Favorite Number: 3.3 million. Streams since November 2021

Favorite John Cage Discovery: Cheap Imitation arranged by Morton Feldman

Favorite video for viola and guitar by a Brazilian composer: Three Vintage Portraits of Exquisite Ladies Expressing Their Frame of Mind by Antonio Celso Ribeiro

A wonder of gratitude to the people who helped make my 2-weeks in Southern California a great adventure!

There is not enough room for all the pictures and pages could be written about each of the Artists and amazing people I was able to meet and collaborate with. Please see below for links to many of them.

Until the next concert,
Aaron

Here are some worth checking out in the photos:

Robert and Katherine Bender – Karob Studios

Buzz Gravelle – Cal Poly Pomona faculty and Fretless guitars

Peter Yates – Multi-media Artist, Guitarist, UCLA faculty

Adrienne Albert – Composer

Cellista – Musician & Performance Artist

Tom Flaherty – Composer, Pomona Faculty

Gisel Vincent – Artist

Some picture locations:

Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla

Schulman Auditorium, Carlsbad

Tacos on the side of the road, Santa Monica

Lofty Coffee, Encinitas

Many who follow me on socials have learned about my love of coffee, specifically espresso. In 2008 I had the pleasure of traveling to Sardinia and Bologna, Italy for concerts. On this trip, I noticed that espresso tasted quite differently than in the US, and it did not cause the negative effects on my body that I was accustomed to. Since then I have delved into the exploration of espresso!

I recall visiting the home of Maestro Pepe Romero for a New Year’s Eve Party, and seeing his counter tops covered in espresso machines, at least 6! He told me most of them were gifts from his students who knew that he and family loved espresso. Soon after he was in Boston for concerts, and we stopped for an espresso on the way back to the airport. He told me espresso was very important to musicians and especially guitarists. He did not say why, and I did not question him. He’s Pepe Romero and he was preaching to the choir!

My newest addition to our espresso family is the Stradiveri by the Italian company La Pavoni.

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Morning Espresso