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20 Years of Tracing a wheel on Water

20 years ago, I released my first album: Tracing a wheel on water. Born due to the beauty of the title track by Kevin Siegfried and gems by Lior Navok and the late Daniel Pinkham.

Kevin and I met in 2002 or 2003 at the St. Botolph Club in Boston, sitting by each other at a birthday dinner and concert for Daniel Pinkham, where I performed Pinkham’s ‘Two Wind Dance’.

Kevin informed me that he had not written for guitar, which I found sad, so I asked him to try writing a dance. At the time, I was going through a new-dance for guitar phase inspired by David Starobin’s masterful album ‘New Dance’. A few months later, I very happily received a small package from Kevin and out I pulled ‘Tracing a wheel on water’. Inspired by the ebb and flow of the ocean inlet where his family was living on the Maine Coast, the piece is a masterclass in meditative intensity.

LISTEN TO TRACING A WHEEL ON WATER
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My teacher at the time, the amazing Dmitry Goryachev said, “Aaron this is impossible to play.” I told him I had already agreed to perform the premiere on Kevin’s recital in 2 months’ time so we needed to figure out a solution that would not destroy my left hand.

He looked at me with tired eyes, rubbed his head and mumbled something about Americans and had me play it again. Moving his stare from my hands to the score, while I played and breathing slowly and deep in thought, he turned to me and said in the most beautiful Russian-accented English, “Aaron we will tune A string to B, and all will be good.”

Kevin Siegfried

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This small, but out of the norm, solution turned the work from no-go into a sonic masterpiece of both rhythmic complexity and melodic grandeur. I find it to be one of the best ‘minimalist’ works on the guitar. Be warned, even with the “fix” it is not easy, but the reward is worth the work.

The premiere at the Boston Conservatory went smashingly. We celebrated at Brasserie Jo’s on Boylston People and listeners asked about a future recording. At a house concert soon after, Monegasque painter Claude Gauthier approached me and said he would do the cover art of my next album, which had only been an idea to that point. I accepted and told him it would be my first album, and with that I was committed to the project.

Claude Gauthier

Inspired by the premiere and commitment of Claude Gauthier, I assembled a program of dances by Dan Pinkham and Israeli composer Lior Navok. I then added more works from my rep and started learning new ones.

I sent Claude the titles as requested and he sent me six different covers to choose from, a gesture of artistic love I shall never forget.

Once I finished the program for the album, I went to MDI Studio in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Run by the late Bob Yen, it was a perfect place for a first full album recording: inexpensive.

My prior studios experience taught me that I hate scented candles. MDI taught me that 10pm-4am recording sessions followed by a 2hr drive is not good.

The process was intense, taking about 9-month from conception to release. I threw myself into the fire, learning as I went: screwing up, starting over, moving forward, choosing, learning and discarding repertoire, picking a recording studio and pacing oneself. Then the recording, editing, album design and notes, plus dealing with others, only to learn that when the album is complete, the REAL work starts with post production and making sure the album has a life.

Tracing a wheel on water came out in January 2006 and has since had multiple pressings. It was released digitally in 2020 on the UK label Stone Records and streams everywhere.

Lior Navok

Daniel Pinkham, longtime NEC faculty

Dan Pinkham passed away in late 2006. Lior Navok lives in Israel, and Kevin teaches at The Boston Conservatory. I have re-recorded the Takemitsu and Pujol. The Dyens and Barrios still pop up in recitals, and the two Brouwer solos inspired other projects.

The universe being what it is, I received multiple notes this week from people in different parts of the country complimenting the album. I want to say, “thank you. I was so young, so check out…” but I don’t. I just say, thank you.
– February 12, 2026, Boston

Kevin, Aaron, and Ryan Vigil. Ogunquit Muesum of American Art, 2007

2025 was quite a year. I’m not sure how to express exactly what it was, especially with all that was/is happening outside of my little bubble, but it was quite a different experience from anything prior or from what I expected. 

I went into 2024 with a plan: recording, performing, premiering particular works and living life, and besides a few bumps it went well. 

2025 began with a lot of questions due to a less than typical performance schedule, which brought a bit of anxiety, but also allowed me to do things I hadn’t done prior: write more music! 

January, I attended APAP in NYC to observe and learn. I met so many people in the music industry and was overwhelmed in the best way possible. 

February, attended Chamber Music America in Houston. Similar to APAP, but much smaller in scale focusing only on classical music, I met many presenters and wonderful artists! 
Podcast for Piano Technicians Masterclasses – Watch
Gave a scholarship to a Cambridge high school student from Mu Phi Epsilon Boston Alumni.

March, Tour in California performing for Ventura Classical Guitar Society, the Bender family in Encinitas, the Athenaeum in La Jolla, and Center for New Music, and a talk for composition class of Ken Ueno at UC Berkeley. AMAZING: visiting Muir Woods!! 
Visited luthier Pepe Romero Jr. and recorded multiple videos 
Wrote first draft of ‘Cider Meditation’ for choir and guitar.

April, Performed on Bargemusic in Brooklyn, New York for two concert programs; very pleased that the NY composers concert was very well attended. Returned to Maine for a last minute performance at Bowdoin College to premiere a guitar duo by Hayden Byrne.

May, Recorded all of the solos for Guitar America 250 (coming on March 1, 2026!), and reconnected with violinist Irina Muresanu for a recording of our arrangement of ‘Adoration’ by Florence Price. Premiere of New Lullaby Project solo ‘All Through the Night’ by Keane Southard.

June, Attended the Guitar Foundation of America in Louisville, Kentucky. Write and record Bill of Rights, Amended for new album. 

July, performed concerts in Boston and a mini-tour along the Maine Coast in Eastport, Steuben, Hallowell, and Kittery. 
Recorded Trevor Neal, poet Charles Coe and Jeffrey Lependorf reading works of Francis Harper, Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau/John Cage for Guitar America 250 in Newport, Rhode Island and Northampton, Mass.

August, visited Art Omi in Ghent, NY and made a few videos in their SILO, gave livestream for New England Conservatory and an interview performance for WOMR radio. 

September, the 2025-26 Season started with a rush of events:
09-9-25, Cage Trust Event – A beautiful event celebrating outgoing JCT director Laura Kuhn. 
09-10-25, Hingham Library – My first all-Latin American concert in over 10 years.
09-13-25, Wellfleet Preservation Hall – My first performance in this amazing space!
09-16-25, BU Composition Class – return to BU to speak and share music with young composers.
09-17-25, Radio – WCRI – Conducting Conversations with Mike Maino – Listen
09-28-25, NSM – Convergence Ensemble – Words & Music with poet Charles Coe. 
09-30-25, King’s Chapel – bunches of New Lullabies and album preview!
Sign with Rhizome Arts for touring and management – announcement
Article Revelations on Guitar The Provincetown Independent

October, debut with Newport Classical. Premiere of New Lullaby Project solo ‘Night Echoes’ by Jin Hee Han.
WCRI’s Kids Classical Hour – New Lullaby Project – Listen

November, Tufts University all-Latin America program.
Publication of ‘American Patriotic Songs for Guitar’ with the American Composers Alliance
Publication of ‘Cider Meditation’ for SATB+G with the American Composers Alliance
Music Career Talk for Mu Phi Epsilon Boston Alumni – online

December, 3-weeks in Colorado!
12-05-25, Perform with the Cherry Creek High School Meistersingers and Kantorei
12-6/7-25, Perform concerts of 14 works for choir & guitar with Kantorei – Premiere of ‘Cider Meditation’!
12-8/9-25, 2-day residency in Carbondale and Basalt public/private schools for the Aspen Music Festival
12-10-25, Perform with the Cherry Creek High School Meistersingers
12-12-25, Bravo! Vail – 1-day residency in Edwards in the public middle and high school
12-19/21-25, Perform with Kantorei – Premiere of ‘Cider Meditation’ and Sir Christemasse by M. Ryan Taylor!
Article feature in The Aspen Times on the residencies for the Aspen Music Festival

Over 2-million streams in 2025!

Premieres 

• All Through the Night by Keane Southard, guitar solo
• Cloud Lacrymae by Douglas Knehans, electronics and guitar
• Cider Meditation by Aaron Larget-Caplan, choir and guitar
• Coastal Highway by Aaron Larget-Caplan, guitar solo
• Night Echoes by Jin Hee Han, guitar solo – New Lullaby #80
• Sir Christemasse by M. Ryan Taylor, choir and guitar
• Suite for a Changing Climate by Hayden Byrne, guitar duo

Premieres (arrangements) 

• Adoration by Florence Price, guitar solo
• America* by Paul Simon
• Battle Cry of Freedom* by George F. Root
• Harmony 20, O Give Thanks – James Lyon (From Apartment House 1776)* by John Cage
• Harmony 26, Judea – William Billings (From Apartment House 1776)* by John Cage
• Lift Every Voice and Sing* by J. Rosamond Johnson
• Star Spangled Banner* by John S. Smith

* Featured on Guitar America 250 (Navona, March 2026)

Publications

• ‘American Patriotic Songs for Guitar’ with the American Composers Alliance – HERE
• ‘Cider Meditation’ for SATB+G with the American Composers Alliance – HERE

Videos

• Videos Pepe Romero Jr.
• Videos in Muir Woods
• Videos in a Silo at Art Omi

Supporters (Spirit, Fractured Atlas, Patreon & Private)

American Composers Alliance, Beverly Abeg, Bender Family, Simon Henry Berry, Christopher Bush, Laurie Caplan, Gene Caprioglio, Charles Coe, Olivier Fanton D’Andon, Stephen Drury, Alex Fedorov, Peter Frewen & Jenie Smith, Gina Genova, Frederic Hand, Paul Hatala, Simon Henry, Steve Hunt, Ross & Cody Jones, Patricia Krol, Laura Kuhn, Catherine Larget-Caplan, Caroline Larget, Patrick Lathrop, Jeffrey Lependorf, Beverly Maher, John McDonald, Melissa & Alex Menter, Marcelino Miranda, Nick and Jessica Morgan, Irina Muresanu, Mu Phi Epsilon Boston Alumni, Trevor Neal, Lubos Naprstek, Will Rowe, K.S., John Weston, Ian Wiese, Peter & Bonnie Yates.

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In May and June, I had the pleasure of working with a few wonderful musicians and artists on a forthcoming recording project. I can’t say what it is for at this time, but stay tuned for an exciting and profound artistic experience.

Artists:

Violinist Irina Muresanu

Baritone Trevor Neal (Newport Classical Artistic Director)

Musician Jeffrey Lependorf (John Cage Trust Director)

Poet Charles Coe

Amazon Music – 7,193,011
Spotify – 3,416,060
Youtube – 1.8 million
Apple Music – 68K

*as of December 28, 2024

Special Thanks to Tiger Turn, Stone Records, Alex Fedorov, Steve Hunt, all of the composers, and most of all, the LISTENERS!

Thank you to Take Effect Reviews for a 10/10 in this February 2024 review of Spanish Gems!

Link to Review: https://takeeffectreviews.com/february-2024-2/2024/2/28/aaron-larget-caplan

“a richly diverse and attentive performance that’s profoundly technically and perfectly beautiful. 10/10”

Listening Links: https://lnk.to/SpanishGems

*click image to enlarge or read the text below

February 28, 2024
Spanish Gems – Aaron Larget-Caplan
Tiger Turn, 2024

10/10

The globally praised classical guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan returns with his 11th solo album, where the Spanish classical and flamenco sounds are fleshed out with an inimitable attention to form and mood.

Francisco Tárrega’s “Capricho Árabe (Serenata)” opens the listen with Larget-Caplan’s finger acrobatics retaining the radiance of the original, but also delivered in his own meticulous spirit, and “Panaderoes”, by Esteban de Sanlúcar, offers dizzying progressions that are so flawless and precise it hardly seems like just one guitar is present.

Further along, the dance floor ready “Asturias (Leyenda)” also possesses calm moments as Larget-Caplan takes the song off Isaac Albéniz’s piano and places it on his agile guitar, while Gaspar Sanz’s “Suite Espanola: Canarios” is packed with firm, melodic gestures from the most intense piece included.

Arriving closer to the end, the intimate and reflective “Spanish Romance” tugs on the heartstrings thanks to the sublime and expressive playing, and “Sonatina”, by F.M. Torroba, exits with 3 chapters of cautious and absorbing musicianship that leaves a lasting impression.

If you’re keeping score, this is Larget-Caplan’s 2nd album of Spanish celebration, and it’s a richly diverse and attentive performance that’s profoundly technically and perfectly beautiful.

This summer, the 2022 release of my original guitar solos, honey cadence, reached 4 million streams on Amazon Music. 

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This was not expected, but most welcome.

The most popular songs are a surprise to us.

Do you have a favorite?

From the honey cadence liner notes:

Composed at the end of 2021 and early 2022, the six pensive solos of honey cadence are the first of my compositions to be recorded.

I started sketching melodies and gestures that were floating in my head with the intent of creating an album of meditative intimacy, which though on the quiet side, would be able to keep one’s attention. Improvisations highlighting my preferred qualities of the guitar: tone and timbre variation, note doubling, harmonics, pitch bends, and percussion gave me the confidence and freedom to explore. Each of the six titles has a connection to music, as well as general language, i.e., ‘anticipation’ is a musical ornament and linguistically expresses expectation or prediction.

May the album add some sweetness to your life.

We are over joyed and grateful to all who have listened and continue to listen to the album

honey cadence is on all streaming services and a few physical copies are available at concerts or via Bandcamp.
Scores are published by the American Composers Alliance.

* album streams are different than song streams

Guitarist Aaron Larget-Caplan is back with his 11th solo album, and second celebrating Spanish musical heritage with Spanish Gems, a collection of works from the classical and flamenco repertoire (Tiger Turn 888-11 ALCguitar.com).

Included are Tárrega’s Capricho Arabe and Adelita, Esteban de Sanlúcar’s Panaderos, Albeniz’ Asturias, Gaspar Sanz’ Canarios from Suite Española, Emilio Pujol’s El Abejorro and – perhaps somewhat surprisingly – the ubiquitous Spanish Romance.”

Torroba’s three-movement Sonatina closes a thoroughly enjoyable – albeit brief at 35 minutes – CD full of Larget-Caplan’s customary clean and sensitive playing. O

June, July, August 2024
page 61

Link for listening: https://lnk.to/SpanishGems

Link for reviews, videos, and press: https://alcguitar.com/album-spanish-gems.php

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SPANISH GEMS • Aaron Larget-Caplan (gtr) • TIGER TURN 888-11 (34:43)

TÁRREGA Capricho Árabe (Serenata). Adelita (Mazurka). SANLÚCAR Panaderos. ALBÉNIZ Asturias (Leyenda) (arr. Larget-Caplan). SANZ Suite Española: Canarios. ANONYMOUS Spanish Romance. PUJOL El Abejorro. TORROBA Sonatina

Spanish Gems is another outstanding recital by Aaron Larget-Caplan. On three previous occasions, I’ve reviewed for Fanfare recitals by the Boston-based guitarist. God’s Time—Music of J. S. Bach on Guitar (Tiger Turn 888-09) (Fanfare 46:3, Jan/Feb 2023) features Larget-Caplan’s transcriptions. Nights Transfigured (Stone 888-02) and Drifting (Stone 888-03) (both reviewed in Fanfare, 45:2, Nov/Dec 2021) are Volumes 2 and 3 of Larget-Caplan’s New Lullaby Project, featuring works the guitarist has commissioned, premiered, and recorded. In all cases, I was impressed by Larget-Caplan’s lovely, singing tone, aligned with mastery of both the technical demands and idioms of the works involved. That same level of artistry may be found in Spanish Gems, a collection of favorites teeming with seductive melody, rhythm, and color (strumming effects abound). Larget-Caplan plays all the Spanish works with a compelling balance of fire and elegance, magnified by the closely miked recording. This is a most enjoyable recital. Ken Meltzer

Four stars: Aaron Larget-Caplan’s beguiling recital of Spanish guitar favorites

– Fanfare, September/October, 2024

Link for listening: https://lnk.to/SpanishGems

Link for reviews, videos, and press: https://alcguitar.com/album-spanish-gems.php

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Featured as the title track to Aaron’s 2022 All-Bach album, ‘God’s Time is the Very Best Time’ BWV 106, is a beautiful and solemn solo and of my favorite compositions by Bach.

 

It has a very personal connection to pianist Seymour Bernstein, for whom Aaron was studying with at the time. “Seymour performed it for me and asked me to arrange it for guitar. I knew it would be title track of a future album.”

 

Arranged for moderate level and above players, the solo is written in Drop D (E string 6 tuned down to D). The arrangement includes a brief history of the work, performance notes, and ornament realization.

Listen to ‘God’s Time is the Very Best Time’ BWV 106:

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