Kazuhito Yamashita: Classical Guitar Virtuoso

I know this post is off-topic, but I had to share my impressions of Kazuhito Yamashita’s performance last night here in Austin, which I attended with the Japan-America Society of Greater Austin. Before I begin, I guess I should apologize for not having any pictures or video from that performance, but the organizers of the concert made it very clear that Yamashita-san didn’t want pictures or video taken.

I managed to snap a couple of shots of the preconcert performance by Lamar Middle School Guitar Class (directed by Jeremy Osborne) and the McCallum High School Advanced Guitar Ensemble (directed by Andrew Clark).

Now on to Yamashita-san’s performance: it was sensational to watch this virtuoso at work. It was almost as if I was invading his privacy, for he looked like someone who was jamming on his guitar alone in his house. Many a time have I sat alone, plucking out a tune, with my chin resting on my guitar, like Yamashita plays.

Of course, the big difference is that Kazuhito Yamashita plays flawlessly, his guitar merely an extension of his own body, demonstrating the decades of dedicated practice he’s put into it.

He began his performance with Sonata No. 1 for solo guitar “The Blue Flower” Op.75, a piece arranged and dedicated to him by Keiko Fujiie. And with this powerful piece, the audience was given a taste of things to come. Personally, I could hardly contain myself from clapping after the first section, “Allegretto.”

Here’s the night’s program:

While I couldn’t record a video or take pictures of the concert, I dug up this video that’s over 56 minutes long. Enjoy!

While none of the songs on this video were in the concert last night, you get an idea of how incredible this man is.