A Conversation with Antigoni Goni by Lawrence Del Casale
(written by Michele Rosa-Clot)
Soundboard Magazine, Summer 2001
I first heard the Greek born guitarist Ms.Antigoni Goni a couple of years ago in Puerto Rico. We were travelling south from San Juan to the lazy resort town of Palmas del Mar. The guitar impresario Juan Orozco and the Maestro Carlos Barbosa-Lima were with me enjoying the ride and listening to recordings of various guitarists. At that time Mr. Orozco was planning his reinstallation of the Aranjuez Guitar Series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. As the beautiful coastline rolled by, Mr Orozco kept pulling out one cassette tape after another of guitarists he had either personally heard or heard about from friends and associates from around the world. One such guitarist was Ms.Antigoni Goni. Maestro Barbosa-Lima had heard Ms. Goni previously and assured us before listening that we were in store for something special. Barbosa-Lima commented on Ms. Goni's ability to perform and record in "three-dimensional" style. (This concept basically states that the bass, inner voices and melody are so clearly delineated by a guitarist the resulting effect are orchestral). And so it was. We were all impressed by Ms. Goni's playing. Barbosa-Lima suggested to Mr. Omzco that this wonderful talent appear on his Aranjuez Guitar Series.
I caught up with Antigoni Goni on a late summer afternoon eight months before her performance at Weill Recital Hall. We met at an Italian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue in New York City and what follows is a relaxed conversation often interrupted by city noise, good wine and much laughter.
The maestro Carlos Barbosa-Lima commented on your right hand technique calling it "three- dimensional." Many guitarists never achieve this level of performance. How did you develop this technique?
I didn't practice in a structured way to develop this technique. It's just the way I hear music. I don't hear the guitar; I hear music. I don't see the guitar as a limited instrument, and I stress this point to my students. I use the instrument as a vehicle to express what I hear and feel. So, when you approach the guitar from that aspect, the result is musical. By its very nature the guitar is a polyphonic instrument thus the guitar has a broad palette of sound at its disposal. The guitar is a microcosm of the orchestra and in my opinion that's how I approach it. You can do so many wonderful things with the instrument and as a result I am always challenging my teelmique.
You have an incredible feel for the melody. How was that nurtured in your artistic development?
I grew up in Athens, Greece. My parents were always singing either at our home or with their friends at someone else's home, in the car, or putting me to sleep with a lullaby. The guitar was also a part of their lives and subsequently it became a part of my life at a young age. Therefore carrying a tune became the most natural thing on earth for me. Besides singing my mother felt it was very important to teach me all the traditional Greek folk dances. I didn't always enjoy those dance lessons, but they were good for me when I look back on them, because the rhythmic movements to these dances ivere all in unconventional time signatures and from that I gained a good sense of rhythm. These two elements, the singing and the rhythm, created a freedom of expression.
I learned to express what I have in my mind without the restrictions of technique. This is the way I work. I am always thinking musically. I am always expanding my technique in order to service the music in the best way I can.
It sounds like your parents laid the perfect groundwork for your inevitable formal music training. What were your early lessons like?
My teacher was Evangelos Assimakopoulos, a student of Segovia and Presti & Lagoya. He came from a particular school of thought, which placed sound quality first. My teacher insisted on a beautiful sound, legato phrasing, soulful interpretations and a solid right hand technique. Beauty and art always came first. I remember at thirteen going to a lesson and playing the middle movement (Romanza) from Paganini's solo sonata. When I was finished with the movement he said, "You didn't touch my heart, try again." Very early on there was a need to communicate the music with the audience. I was not just playing for myself. My teacher told me that what I heard was not necessarily what the audience was hearing. So I had to step outside of myself and really listen. He also took it a step further by introducing me to his guitar record collection. He taught me to listen critically as well as being open to new ideas, suggestions and interpretations. When I was playing Granada by Albiniz I remember listening to every recording of Granada ever recorded both for guitar and piano. We compared interpretations, different fingerings, and the communication skills of the performer and finally our personal choices. I was never to imitate; on the contrary, those listening sessions helped me find my own fresh and personal signature.
Were there any other major influences in your early development other than musicians?
Yes, I spent Sunday mornings as a child with my grandfather who had a great influence on my life. I was his first granddaughter and his favorite. I simply adozed him. He was a fine artist. I remember going to his house to paint. together, he on the canvas and me on the floor with my crayons all the while Beethoven and Mozart would be blasting over the stereo. He would order
Deutsche Gramophone recordings from Germany and I grew up listening to all of them. Now I have inherited most of his LP collection.Many of those recordings have dedications to me from my grandfather in his elaborated signature accompanied by his encouraging words for my musical career. He was the first to record me at the age of twelve playing Carulli and Carcassi studies. My grandfather was also responsible for giving me my first Segovia recordings. Through my grandfather I developed a passion for great music, good food and an appreciation for art.
While in Greece did you attend any master classes?
Yes. And one of the biggest influences on my career was the master class I attended given by Leo Brouwer. I was eighteen years old.After listening to my performance Brouwer encouraged me to enter . the Havana Competition. It was to be my first international exposure and my first awarded prize. Traveling to Cuba was an incredible experience. I loved Cuba. Leo Brouwer took an interest in my career and told me that he would help me. As a matter of fact, it was my father, Brouwer, the guitarist -Rey Guerra and myself sitting at a café in Havana and Leo Brouwer leaned over the table and asked me, "Who would you like to study with?" So, I gave my dream answer and said, "Julian Bream." Brouwer explained to me that Bream didn't teach but he did give master classes at the Royal Academy of Music. Brouwer said, "I'll make a phone call and write a letter of recommendation." Adding, "Greece is small, you have to take your talent out." One year later I was in London studying at the Royal Academy. I owe Leo Brouwer a great deal because without his support and encouragement I wouldn't have gotten that far.
What was it like playing in master classes for Julian Bream?
I was so nervous I almost could not remember. I regret not having those sessions on video. I played the Five Bagatelles by Walton and the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro by J.S Bach. I was also able to watch him teach Suite PopulAre Bresilienne by Villa-Lobos and Nocturnal by Britten.
I remember clearly my first Master class in which I performed the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro. Bream made a point that guitarists concentrate on the trebles and no one thinks about the bass. So he told me to work on the bass lines, as the trebles will come out on their own. The highlight of the master class was the demonstration and lecture of Villa-Lobos' Suite Populare Bresilienne. Bream explained that each piece of the suite has five instruments in it, double bass, lead guitar and a singer strolling through the streets in Brazil.
You graduated from the Juilliard School and are nore teaching there. How did Juilliard come about?
Attending Juilliard was definitely a major influence on my career. While I was at the Royal Academy of Music in London, I made the decision that I was not going to return to Greece after graduation. My career was just beginning, and I knew I had had to learn more about music. So, I asked for a student exchange with the Juilliard School. The Royal Academy of Music graciously agreed and did everything to make it possible. I then sent an audition tape to Sharon Isbin. And here is a funny "studeist" story. The material on my audition tape was the same material that Sharon Isbin had just recorded. Of course I found this out after I mailed the tape and as you can imagine, I was horrified. We had such different ideas about the same music that I didn't know what she would think. I thought I would not be accepted into the program but I was.And Sharon Isbin was a great teacher; a good friend and a true guide who helped me put together all my musical ideas. Sharon is very organized and thoughtful, exactly what I was not at that time. My lessons with her were inspiring, and full of learning. Sharon and Oscar Ghiglia tome were the final touches of my academic experience.
In 1995 you won the GFA Competition, (Guitar Foundation of America). How has that event impacted upon your career?
I feel the GFA Competition helped me break through. I also believe that the prize of the, GFA is what a competition should be: award concerts! Young artists need to perform. Performance experience is absolutely essential. The-GFA competition gives a young artist the opportunity to experience life on the road and understand the realities of a concert artist while simultaneously helping to dissolve the myth of the glamorous touring life. The GFA competition gave me that experience an experience that doesn't always present itself.
What's happening for you currently and in the near future?
Right now I am concertizing a great deal and teaching just a few hours a week. Since 1995 I have been teaching at the Juilliard pre-college and just recently I joined the music faculty at Columbia University. I have to say I am enjoying myself tremendously right now. But, eventually I want to be able to live some place other than New York City and not have to be in the center of things all the time. Success for me would be the luxury to control and pursue an international career from a villa in Tuscany with my own vineyard out back. We will see. For now I feel lucky to be able to travel the world with my guitar.
Antigoni Goni is a Naxos recording artist. Her current CD recording on the Naxos Laureate Series features Ms. Goni performing the works of Rodrigo, Domeniconi, Brouwer, Barrios Mangord and Mompo. Her latest recordings on the same label feature works by John Duarte and Barrios Mangord.
I caught up with Antigoni Goni on a late summer afternoon eight months before her performance at Weill Recital Hall. We met at an Italian restaurant on Amsterdam Avenue in New York City and what follows is a relaxed conversation often interrupted by city noise, good wine and much laughter.
The maestro Carlos Barbosa-Lima commented on your right hand technique calling it "three- dimensional." Many guitarists never achieve this level of performance. How did you develop this technique?
I didn't practice in a structured way to develop this technique. It's just the way I hear music. I don't hear the guitar; I hear music. I don't see the guitar as a limited instrument, and I stress this point to my students. I use the instrument as a vehicle to express what I hear and feel. So, when you approach the guitar from that aspect, the result is musical. By its very nature the guitar is a polyphonic instrument thus the guitar has a broad palette of sound at its disposal. The guitar is a microcosm of the orchestra and in my opinion that's how I approach it. You can do so many wonderful things with the instrument and as a result I am always challenging my teelmique.
You have an incredible feel for the melody. How was that nurtured in your artistic development?
I grew up in Athens, Greece. My parents were always singing either at our home or with their friends at someone else's home, in the car, or putting me to sleep with a lullaby. The guitar was also a part of their lives and subsequently it became a part of my life at a young age. Therefore carrying a tune became the most natural thing on earth for me. Besides singing my mother felt it was very important to teach me all the traditional Greek folk dances. I didn't always enjoy those dance lessons, but they were good for me when I look back on them, because the rhythmic movements to these dances ivere all in unconventional time signatures and from that I gained a good sense of rhythm. These two elements, the singing and the rhythm, created a freedom of expression.
I learned to express what I have in my mind without the restrictions of technique. This is the way I work. I am always thinking musically. I am always expanding my technique in order to service the music in the best way I can.
It sounds like your parents laid the perfect groundwork for your inevitable formal music training. What were your early lessons like?
My teacher was Evangelos Assimakopoulos, a student of Segovia and Presti & Lagoya. He came from a particular school of thought, which placed sound quality first. My teacher insisted on a beautiful sound, legato phrasing, soulful interpretations and a solid right hand technique. Beauty and art always came first. I remember at thirteen going to a lesson and playing the middle movement (Romanza) from Paganini's solo sonata. When I was finished with the movement he said, "You didn't touch my heart, try again." Very early on there was a need to communicate the music with the audience. I was not just playing for myself. My teacher told me that what I heard was not necessarily what the audience was hearing. So I had to step outside of myself and really listen. He also took it a step further by introducing me to his guitar record collection. He taught me to listen critically as well as being open to new ideas, suggestions and interpretations. When I was playing Granada by Albiniz I remember listening to every recording of Granada ever recorded both for guitar and piano. We compared interpretations, different fingerings, and the communication skills of the performer and finally our personal choices. I was never to imitate; on the contrary, those listening sessions helped me find my own fresh and personal signature.
Were there any other major influences in your early development other than musicians?
Yes, I spent Sunday mornings as a child with my grandfather who had a great influence on my life. I was his first granddaughter and his favorite. I simply adozed him. He was a fine artist. I remember going to his house to paint. together, he on the canvas and me on the floor with my crayons all the while Beethoven and Mozart would be blasting over the stereo. He would order
Deutsche Gramophone recordings from Germany and I grew up listening to all of them. Now I have inherited most of his LP collection.Many of those recordings have dedications to me from my grandfather in his elaborated signature accompanied by his encouraging words for my musical career. He was the first to record me at the age of twelve playing Carulli and Carcassi studies. My grandfather was also responsible for giving me my first Segovia recordings. Through my grandfather I developed a passion for great music, good food and an appreciation for art.
While in Greece did you attend any master classes?
Yes. And one of the biggest influences on my career was the master class I attended given by Leo Brouwer. I was eighteen years old.After listening to my performance Brouwer encouraged me to enter . the Havana Competition. It was to be my first international exposure and my first awarded prize. Traveling to Cuba was an incredible experience. I loved Cuba. Leo Brouwer took an interest in my career and told me that he would help me. As a matter of fact, it was my father, Brouwer, the guitarist -Rey Guerra and myself sitting at a café in Havana and Leo Brouwer leaned over the table and asked me, "Who would you like to study with?" So, I gave my dream answer and said, "Julian Bream." Brouwer explained to me that Bream didn't teach but he did give master classes at the Royal Academy of Music. Brouwer said, "I'll make a phone call and write a letter of recommendation." Adding, "Greece is small, you have to take your talent out." One year later I was in London studying at the Royal Academy. I owe Leo Brouwer a great deal because without his support and encouragement I wouldn't have gotten that far.
What was it like playing in master classes for Julian Bream?
I was so nervous I almost could not remember. I regret not having those sessions on video. I played the Five Bagatelles by Walton and the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro by J.S Bach. I was also able to watch him teach Suite PopulAre Bresilienne by Villa-Lobos and Nocturnal by Britten.
I remember clearly my first Master class in which I performed the Prelude, Fugue and Allegro. Bream made a point that guitarists concentrate on the trebles and no one thinks about the bass. So he told me to work on the bass lines, as the trebles will come out on their own. The highlight of the master class was the demonstration and lecture of Villa-Lobos' Suite Populare Bresilienne. Bream explained that each piece of the suite has five instruments in it, double bass, lead guitar and a singer strolling through the streets in Brazil.
You graduated from the Juilliard School and are nore teaching there. How did Juilliard come about?
Attending Juilliard was definitely a major influence on my career. While I was at the Royal Academy of Music in London, I made the decision that I was not going to return to Greece after graduation. My career was just beginning, and I knew I had had to learn more about music. So, I asked for a student exchange with the Juilliard School. The Royal Academy of Music graciously agreed and did everything to make it possible. I then sent an audition tape to Sharon Isbin. And here is a funny "studeist" story. The material on my audition tape was the same material that Sharon Isbin had just recorded. Of course I found this out after I mailed the tape and as you can imagine, I was horrified. We had such different ideas about the same music that I didn't know what she would think. I thought I would not be accepted into the program but I was.And Sharon Isbin was a great teacher; a good friend and a true guide who helped me put together all my musical ideas. Sharon is very organized and thoughtful, exactly what I was not at that time. My lessons with her were inspiring, and full of learning. Sharon and Oscar Ghiglia tome were the final touches of my academic experience.
In 1995 you won the GFA Competition, (Guitar Foundation of America). How has that event impacted upon your career?
I feel the GFA Competition helped me break through. I also believe that the prize of the, GFA is what a competition should be: award concerts! Young artists need to perform. Performance experience is absolutely essential. The-GFA competition gives a young artist the opportunity to experience life on the road and understand the realities of a concert artist while simultaneously helping to dissolve the myth of the glamorous touring life. The GFA competition gave me that experience an experience that doesn't always present itself.
What's happening for you currently and in the near future?
Right now I am concertizing a great deal and teaching just a few hours a week. Since 1995 I have been teaching at the Juilliard pre-college and just recently I joined the music faculty at Columbia University. I have to say I am enjoying myself tremendously right now. But, eventually I want to be able to live some place other than New York City and not have to be in the center of things all the time. Success for me would be the luxury to control and pursue an international career from a villa in Tuscany with my own vineyard out back. We will see. For now I feel lucky to be able to travel the world with my guitar.
Antigoni Goni is a Naxos recording artist. Her current CD recording on the Naxos Laureate Series features Ms. Goni performing the works of Rodrigo, Domeniconi, Brouwer, Barrios Mangord and Mompo. Her latest recordings on the same label feature works by John Duarte and Barrios Mangord.