by Ryan Barrera
Staff writer
Isaac Bustos greeting the audience at the Guitar Arts Series hosted by the CSUB music department October 18, 2013.
Latin American flare energized the crowd at the first Guitar Arts Series performance as featured guitarist Isaac Bustos, played to a full audience Friday at California State University, Bakersfield. Bustos is a classical guitarist and educator who has been playing the guitar for 26 years. His comprehensive performing career and love of music has taken him all over the U.S., Europe, Canada and Central America as he performs and educates people who have the same love of guitars as he does.
Jim Scully, director of the Guitar Arts Series, found Bustos’ passion for the guitar very fun to watch.
“Bustos played a wide range of music, he showed virtuosity on the instrument and really expressed a significant passion with certain pieces that I thought were a lot of fun,” said Scully.
Bustos began playing the guitar at age 11. At age 12 he was accepted into the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica in Managua, Nicaragua where he received top honors in guitar performance.The late Cuban guitarist Juan Mercadal later mentored him.
“I started playing just by coincidence. I think one day I was driving my mom crazy and she said go find something to do. So I started playing and just, from there on, the sound just drew me. It was like the music winked at me and I winked back. It was immediate,” said Bustos.
Isaac Bustos performing at CSUB October 18, 2013 for the Guitar Arts Series hosted by the music department.
During Bustos’ performance, the room was quiet as guitar musicians and music aficionados listened to him play his first song of the night, a piece from Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) that incorporates jazz and classical music.
Bustos played a total of eight songs with a brief intermission when attendees could enjoy complimentary coffee and cookies. One of the songs he performs, Guajira a mi Madre, is a Cuban piece that he considers his favorite.
“I just started playing it, but I love the rhythm of the piece, the melody, the syncopations and all the cool things of the piece and I would say it is my most favorite piece to play by far,” Bustos said.
The concert lasted an hour and a half and concertgoers had a chance to thank Bustos for a wonderful performance and even buy one of his CD’s that were for sale.
“He took a lot of care with every decision he made, the over preparation he made. I noticed he had the entire program memorized, so that there is nothing to chance while playing in front of an audience,” said Scully.Tickets are on sale now for the next Guitar Arts performance on Jan. 25, 2014, and can be purchased at brownpapertickets.com.
