The Strings they pulled: guitar students perform in Fairfax

On February 16, in Fairfax’s Alton Hall, guitar teacher Matthew Trkula and his group of six students performed A free concert open to anyone with the soloist and quartet opening the concert and Trkula playing the rest. 

Senior Daniel Robinson, sophomore Ryan Oats, senior Ethan Gonzalez, and senior Ben Schassler were the quartet. They performed “Techno” by Swedish composer Jerk Kimbo and “Irish Folk Medley” by Canadian composer Jeremy Sparks.

“The four best normally underclassmen just four ninth and 10th graders for this,” Trkula said.

These students are selected from their classes as the top performers to do something special like this concert where all these parents and other people get to see them perform. They are all led by Trkula.

“We’re doing all kinds of stuff, ” Trkula said. “Right now we are preparing for annual assessments where we are also taking a program of all Spanish music.”

The guitar students have a lot on their plate. Besides this, they also have to take care of their work in the class as well.

“This is the first time they have done something like this with me,” Trkula said. “I’m not sure if something like it has been done in the past, but I do know the school has had a great history of guitar and tradition.”

Trkula truly loves seeing his students do things like this from beginning to end.

“I don’t have a particular favorite memory but it’s anytime we go from not knowing how to do something to knowing how to do it,” Trkula said.

The students seemed equally thrilled. 

“I just wanted to perform Because I love to do it,” said sophomore Angel Luna Cardona. “It’s something I want to do later when I graduate and make a career out of it”. 

Angel played Waltz and the other soloist, sophomore James Nanna, played “Packington Pounds.” 

“It was my first solo performance, so I was very nervous,” Cardona said. “I kind of lied when I told Mr. Trkula because I told him I wasn’t, but when I got on stage when it was my time to perform, I felt like I was born to do this all the nerves went away.”

It can be an exciting night for young performers; even when they’re nervous they go out and perform their best.