Mariette Stephenson Interviews Dr. Jeffery McFadden

I recently asked the wonderful Canadian classical guitarist, Dr. Jeffrey McFadden, some questions regarding the instrument:   Jeffrey McFadden has been acknowledged as one of the finest guitarists of his generation. Over the past years, concert engagements have taken him throughout Canada and the United States and into Europe. He has given World Premieres of works by numerous composers and has been a featured performer at several international music festivals, including “Guitar ’87” and GuitarFest ’91 in Toronto , Gitarren-Symposium Iserlohn, Lachine International Guitar Festival, the Columbus State Guitar Symposium, The Niagara International Chambre Music Festival, the National Flute Association (USA) Convention, the Festival Mediterraneo della Chitarra, the Acadia Guitar Festival and others.  He is currently Artistic Director for the Guitar Society of Toronto and Artistic Director/Founder of the Sauble Beach Guitar Festival.

MS: Did you have a teacher who tremendously influenced you?

JM: There have been a number of teachers and performers that have had influences on my musical thinking. My main teachers were Norbert Kraft and Robert Hamilton. Norbert profoundly influenced the way I hear music and, in fact, how I hear sound in general. Robert Hamilton taught me to assess and process information at an entirely new level of detail. The recordings of David Russell and Manuel Barrueco from the end of the 20th C completely changed the degree of expectation I placed on myself as a performer and musician. I had a few classes in the late 1980’s with Leo Brouwer which taught me that music is part of a broader humanistic intellectual realm

MS: Generally, what should a student look for in a teacher?

JM: Students should choose a teacher that is knowledgeable and confident and can present a clear pathway to improvement, one that is open ideas, that encourages creativity and welcomes questions, that is engaged with the broader guitar community, that actively performs (or at least did when able to do so),  and is qualified to teach by having earned a degree or diploma in music.

MS: You are Artistic Director for the Sauble Beach Guitar Festival – what does studying at a festival offer students?

JM: I see festival attendance as almost indispensable. Private lessons are essential for any student hoping to improve their guitar-playing and musicianship, but lessons are just the start, and will not provide enough stimulus, no matter how good the teacher or how diligently the student absorbs the information. Students need to have input from other expert teachers; they need to see expert performers work; they need to see others from their cohort playing and learning and share their experiences with similarly interested people. They need to have the opportunity to perform for an audience and they need to stay up to date on everything from new repertoire to the latest ideas on performing to new developments in guitar building, strings, positioning devices, etc., etc. A guitar festival can provide an intensive experience which touches on all these things, and, it can be a huge amount of fun.

MS: You are an internationally renown musician and teacher –  are you still learning?

JM: No, I know everything now….Just kidding!! I feel that I will never reach the end of the road. Music and guitar and such an extraordinarily rich field that one can expect to keep learning endlessly. That is in some ways, what makes it such a great and important field of pursuit. I’m always thrilled to learn about a piece I’ve never heard, or a new approach to learning, thinking teaching or playing music. I’m quite certain that I’ll keep learning and seeking out knowledge of our field without ever feeling that I’ve covered it all.

For more information on the Sauble Beach Guitar Festival, please visit http://www.saubleguitarfest.com/