THE MENTORS  

Mentor: A wise loyal advisor

"Someone who has a profound positive impact on your life without whom you might not reach your highest possible goals.  I've been fortunate to have two." (Bill Baker)

 Classical guitarist Bill Baker was greatly influenced by two eminent guitarists -- Cuban-born Hector Garcia and Spain's Emilio Pujol.  His studies with these two men resulted in his unprecedented performance and composition style
   Born in Havana in 1930, Hector Garcia studied guitar at the Pyrellade conservatory.  He concertized throughout Cuba, becoming well known for his sensitive interpretation and brilliant technique.
   During the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, Garcia was imprisoned.  For him, not being permitted to have a guitar was worse than the terrible prison conditions. After months of trying, he finally convinced his captors to give him a guitar. Practicing all day and most of the night, he provided hope and inspiration to the other prisoners, but angered the guards, who locked him up in solitary confinement many times. Still he continued to compose and play throughout his two years in prison.  After his release he appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show" to perform some of those songs about freedom and war.
   In the early 1960's Garcia came to the U.S. and settled in New Mexico.  He taught at the University of Albuquerque, where he began the first guitar department in the United States.  Later he became Chairman of the Guitar department at the University of New Mexico, where Baker was one of his students.  Garcia also continued his concerts throughout the U.S. and Europe, performing with major symphonies and making countless solo appearances.
   Much of Garcia's teaching philosophy focused on interpretation and technique.  Musical interpretation of a piece differs widely among guitarists and cultures.  For example, the French and Spanish "versions" of the same song can sound like two completely different pieces.  Garcia taught the Spanish interpretation, which is usually more languid, drawn out, emphasizing the emotion of each phrase, while the French version is often more clipped.
   Known for his beautiful interpretation of Spanish music, Garcia taught Baker how to communicate with  he character and passion of the most complex works.  Garcia's Spanish influence can be heard in Bakers emotionally charged performances.
   From 1968 through 1976, Garcia served as assistant to the eminent scholar, musicologist and guitarist, Emilio Pujol for his summer "Curso International de Lute, Guitarra and Vihuela" held in Cervera Spain.  It was Garcia who suggested Baker continue his studies there.
   For Baker, Hector Garcia has been more than a teacher.  "we became close friends and discussed not only music, but many aspects of the arts and life in general," Baker says.  "Our rapport is indescribable, we've helped each other out a lot in terms of personal as well as musical growth."
  "Hector showed me the tremendous  importance of a flawless technique.  That of course is only the first  step to making fine music.  The knowledge and thorough understanding of the language of music is the second, which he helped me with too," Baker explains.  "He also taught me that the only way to effectively communicate the profound emotionalism of a piece is through your soul."
   Baker's other mentor, Emilio Pujol was born in Granedella, Spain in 1886.  He studied in Barcelona, becoming the pupil of the famous guitar virtuoso, Francesco Tarrega. With emphasis on the quality of tone production and the significance of Classical guitar as a concert instrument, Pujol's teaching focused on defining and and developing subtle nuances as well as revolutionary techniques.
   Pujol is the author of the ultimate treatise on the guitar, an impressive five volume of work, Escuela Razonada de la Guitarra, (School of reason for the guitar), prefaced by the great Manuel De Falla and first published in Buenos Aires in 1954.  The books based on Tarrega's principles of technique; he was the most famous person in the history of guitar to play the fingertip method on the right hand as opposed to the more common fingernail style. The true essence of pure sound was Tarrega's consideration.
   The always energetic, dynamic Pujol tirelessly continued to share his genius with others until his retirement in 1976.  He died at the age of  94 in 1980.  Baker was among the fortunate few to be in his last class.
   "He taught me about achieving virtuosity," Baker says, "there are those who think that it consists of fast musical passages and difficult hand positions on the guitar, but true virtuosity exists in the depth of how you play the work... in giving it the proper emotion and atmosphere, penetrating it's soul."
   "Pujol has such a great poetic command of language," he continues, "and a deep understanding of music and it's relationship to nature... he could clearly express the profoundness of music in words.  This helped me to grasp the depth of music better and thereby bring more out in the performance of each piece.  Emilio Pujol was a profoundly religious man whose joy of life and God was echoed in his every phrase."
   Baker's unique background linked to these two master  guitarists -- Hector Garcia and Emilio Pujol -- provided a profound musical scope that few guitarists have the opportunity to experience in a lifetime, much less at the outset of their career.
   "I hope that now, through my music I can communicate to audiences some of what these two mentors have given to me."