Last night I had the pleasure of hearing Andrew McKenna Lee play a concert for the Orange County Guitar Circle. I joined the group of board members and students who went to dinner after the concert and got to talk a bit with Andrew. For much of the time he talked to the two students who were also guitar/composition majors at Chapman University.
The subject of playing piano came up and Andrew mentioned that he does sometimes use the piano when composing. One of the students said he was happy he had finished his piano requirements since he did not like playing piano. Andrew said he plays piano poorly.
The performance was very good and the program was not trivial. He’s a strong player and does best when playing his own compositions.
We did not get to talk a lot since the two students were enjoying a nice conversation about music. The students were concerned about their futures as musicians so the conversation was mostly about guitar and composing. I did manage to ask about his interest in other subjects having noticed the titles of his CDs and he did state that he was interested in science though I did not find out much about his background in science.
It was a nice evening of music and Andrew is a bright young man who has a lot to offer. I look forward to hearing more of his compositions.
