CLASSICAL PROGRESSION
Guitarist to perform traditional, modern pieces in online concert
Guitarist and flutist Diana Schaible likes it loud, and she likes things tame. Her virtual concert for Guitar New Mexico on Saturday, April 24, will have a little bit of both.
“I kind of picked a couple of pieces that are more modern and noisy, because I actually, I love, like, more modern classical guitar music that’s kind of dissonant and loud,” Schaible said. “But I also picked some kind of late Romantic, early 20th century relaxing stuff like Francisco Tarrega, the Spanish composer. He wrote a lot of really nice, seemingly simple, little preludes and tunes that are just pleasant to listen to.”
The concert will be streamed live on Zoom. Schaible will perform Le Gondolier by Johann Kaspar Mertz, Nadie se Conoce (from the Caprichos de Goya Op. 195) by Mario CastelnuovoTedesco, The Fall of Birds by Nikita Koshkin, Endecha y Oremus by Francisco Tarrega, Prelude no. 5 by Tarrega, Marieta by Tarrega, Una Limosna por el Amor de Dios by Augustin Barrios, Confesion by Barrios and Due Canzoni Lidie by Nuccio D’Angelo.
As a child Schaible was drawn to her father’s guitar and began to play guitar around age 8 in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
“My dad had an old classical guitar that he had, I think, from a guitar class in college, and it was just always sitting in the corner,” Schaible said. “And so I got to look at it every day. So obviously, I got really interested. And he picked it up one day and showed me how to play the first few notes of ‘Smoke on the Water.’ But my mom heard that, and she was, like, ‘Oh, no.’ She just signed us up for regular lessons.” Schaible was also drawn to the flute. “I just really liked the sound of it,” she said. “And as a 10-year-old girl, I liked how shiny it was. And so I just convinced my parents, and then one day they rented a flute for me and got me into band and lessons and went from there.”
As an adult, Schaible received her bachelor’s degree in both instruments
from the University of Idaho. She later received her master’s in music performance at the University of Arizona. Schaible has been recognized
with accolades at music festivals and competitions, including the 2020 Flute Society of Kentucky Flute Festival, the 2020 SF Bay Guitar Competition,
and the 2019 Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition, in which she took first place, according to a news release.
When not performing concerts, the Tucson resident dedicates her time to teaching at the Tucson Academy of Music and Dance. She also is a teaching artist for the Tucson Unified School District and works mostly with kindergarten students.
“I love teaching private lessons, and that’s what I do at the Tucson Academy of Music and Dance,” she said. “I just have a lot of private guitar students, and I enjoy that a lot. And then for the school district, Tucson Unified School District, the program we do is called ‘Opening Minds Through the Arts.’ It’s kind of a music integration program. We go and teach music, but also we teach their grade-level curriculum with a musical slant. … (It) exposes them to music performance and listening.”
Schaible has also used her talent to help patients at the Tucson Medical Center as part of its Healing Arts program. Schaible played at the hospital a few times in early 2020. The hospital created a music channel at the beginning of the pandemic. Schaible has been recording videos for the music channel.
“It’s aimed at basically improving the healing process for patients there and for families and just making it a more positive atmosphere,” she said. “… I guess there are scientific studies that specifically say music of a certain tempo can actually speed the healing process. So it’s a really nice idea.”