by Dr. Debra Lew Harder, October 6, 2017
Debra: We hear you began your musical life playing electric guitar. Tell us about that.
Jordan: As an electric guitarist, I played rock and jazz. I started my first band at age 12 and played in local bands till the end of high school. My biggest goal in life until then was to be in a touring rock band.
Debra: What happened that made you decide to become a classical guitarist?
Jordan: When I was 15, my guitar teacher gave me some classical guitar recordings that made a lasting impression on me — particularly Andrés Segovia’s recording of Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tárrega and Julian Bream’s recording of Five Bagatelles by William Walton. I also started learning classical repertoire like J.S. Bach and Mauro Giuliani, which I found mysterious and captivating. Classical music was an unfamiliar world to me and the more I dug in, the more it seemed there was to find. So little by little I devoted more time to classical technique and repertoire, and even though I still play electric guitar, my once-serious ambitions on that instrument phased themselves out. There are only so many hours in the day…
Debra: The renowned Curtis Institute inaugurated a program for classical guitar several years ago, and you were one of the first students admitted to the program. What was it like to be one of the first to study guitar at Curtis?
Jordan: It was exciting because a lot of people were looking forward to working with the guitarists. Students were eager to explore the interesting new chamber music possibilities while faculty and staff looked forward to upcoming seasons of adventurous concert programming. It was energizing to be in the mix and to receive all that support.
Debra: You commission a lot of contemporary work, some of which we'll be hearing on your program. What's the most intriguing piece you'll be performing for Tri-County?
Jordan: The most intriguing piece on the program is probably Jason Eckardt's suspension/bridge. The piece has great intensity, and the player is asked to execute a number of unorthodox playing techniques; for instance, detuning while notes are ringing, scraping and snapping the strings, using a guitar pick for rapid-fire tremolos, bending notes, drumming on the body of the guitar, and more. The texture of the music alternates between loud outbursts and soft, meditative moments of quiet.
Debra: When you know the composer personally, how does that shape your interpretation of a piece?
Jordan: Knowing the composer personally gives me insight into the character of the piece. And there is a lot that can’t be expressed in the score, no matter how much instructional text accompanies the music, so one really learns a lot about the subtleties of how to go about playing the piece by talking to the composer. In fact, there are often specific moments in the music that need to be discussed in order to pull them off as the composer had in mind — sometimes not only discussed, but also demonstrated on the instrument.
Debra: You'll also be performing some J.S. Bach. Does Bach inform your playing of new work in any way?
Jordan: Playing the music of J.S. Bach informs my playing of any other piece. The level of attention required to play one of Bach’s fugues, for instance, sharpens your senses and I like to think the other pieces on the program are enhanced because of this. I’ve found that Bach’s music, in particular BWV 998, often puts me into a flow state, which is a sort of effortless mode of performing often experienced by athletes, actors, and others — in this state, the music seems to play itself.
Debra: Tell us about your guitar, and how you chose it.
Jordan: My guitar was built by Gary Lee, who is a brilliant luthier based in New Jersey. The clear and balanced tone of his guitars is a necessity whether playing contrapuntal music by Bach and Dowland or adventurous contemporary music.
Debra: What do you enjoy most about being a guitarist?
Jordan: My favorite part of being a guitarist is that the instrument connects with audiences immediately. Audience members who are not familiar with classical music “get” the guitar right away and are more likely to listen closely to music they might not otherwise seek out. On more traditional classical instruments, the music of say, Bach, may seem lofty and esoteric, but on the guitar it’s welcoming. In other words, the guitar helps remove barriers to audiences.
Debra: Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. We are all looking forward to hearing you perform on our Emerging Artists series.