Tobin Roye, an accomplished guitarist, performed at California State University, Chico on Wednesday April 16 in a benefit concert for the CSU, Chico guitar program. Tobin Roye earned his BA in music from CSU, Chico, graduated from San Francisco Conservatory of Music with a M.M, where he studied with notable professors/composers such as David Conte and Robert Greenberg and worked for Guitar Solo, the world-famous classical guitar music publisher and distributor in San Francisco. Now he teaches at CSU, Chico, where he directs the guitar program.
During his recital entitled “Brazilian Daze, Spanish Knights” Tobin performed eighteen songs written by the 19th and 20th century Brazilian, Spanish and South American composers such as Paulo Bellinati, Isaac Albeniz, Enrique Granados and others. The last 4 musical pieces he played with special guests: two of them were performed with his former CSU, Chico teacher Warren Haskell and the other two were assisted by his students – guitarists Matt Fish, Luciano Marazzo and Max Stout. Most of the songs among which were “Marta” by Marco Pereira, “Primarosa” and “Un Amor de Valsa” by Paulo Bellinati, “Fandangullio” by Joaquin Rodrigo had an absolutely magical, slow, romantic melody, which transforms your mind into the tranquil land of breathtaking white mountain-top villages, bougainvillea and neat sidewalk cafes of Andalucia in Spain. This sensual touching music makes your heart sing and dance under the bright sun on the pristine and secluded sandy beaches of Jericoacoara in lush Northwest Brazil. Each of the songs tells you a romantic story that represents the exotic culture of Brazil and Spain that can’t help but fill your heart with harmony, serenity and romance. I really enjoyed listening to all the songs, but I should say that my favorite of all slow melodies was “Vals Op.8, #3” by Augustin Barrios. This was a more European style piece that had an absolutely gorgeous, soul-touching melody that makes you close your eyes, forget about all your problems and disappear in its amazing light and soothing tone. There were several songs that were more dynamic, rhythmic and energetic than all the rest, among which were “Saudade #2” by Roland Dyens, “Jongo” by Paulo Bellinati and “Sevilla” by Isaac Albeniz. This joyful, vibrant and dancing type of music transports your thoughts to the bullfighting in the streets of Granada or stunning and picturesque Brazilian Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. My favorite song among these robust pieces was undoubtedly “Asturias” by Isaac Albeniz, which was full of emotions and passion. This is a famous song, which originally was written for the piano part, but later was recomposed for the guitar as it is a national musical instrument of Spain. This zealous, exciting piece boils your blood, makes your heart beat faster and almost forces you to get up, put on a sombrero and start boogying. The musical compositions performed with Warren Haskell and three of Tobin’s students were quite remarkable. The two duets with Warren Haskell were played beautifully, with a wonderful touching intonation and gentle, lyrical and a little saddening melody. I thought the harmony part played by Haskell was very moving and their ability to listen to each other and to play in accord while performing simply amazed me. I was also quite astonished by Tobin’s students who assisted their teacher confidently and skillfully. I really enjoyed the marvelous music played by Tobin Roye and was totally satisfied with this splendid recital. As a violin player (I have been playing violin for two years now) I am well aware of how difficult it is to play any string musical instrument that is why Tobin’s skills and techniques as a guitarist absolutely stunned me. He plays his guitar with an incredible lightness dispersing in its touching sound and tender melody. He puts his whole soul into his playing as you can read the story of each song by the expression of his face. The emotions of each song are all exposed in the movement of his fingers, body and face which makes his performance very personal and unique. Every piece is played with all his heart making each song exclusive with its own special charm and distinguished melody. I am very proud that CSU, Chico has such a wonderful guitar teacher and hope that he will amaze us with more beautiful songs and more talented students. 
1 comment on Nothing is more beautiful than the sound of a guitar....
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robburton
said 3 weeks ago
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