1. Describe the early years of your musical roots and how your talent was nurtured.

I started out at age three with a red, toy plastic Mickey Mouse guitar that doubled as a pretend canoe paddle when I was playing outside in the backyard. My mother is a classical pianist so I had a lot of musical influence from an early age and must have inherited a few genes suited for the task as well. When I was six years old my mother gave me a small child-sized steel-string guitar and I started taking lessons with the mom of one of my kindergarten classmates, Mrs. Goldsmith. Actually, she started me out on the autoharp so that I could learn some songs and be able to play chords easily by just pressing the buttons. Soon after that she taught me two chords on the guitar, E and A7 and I learned to play a two-line song called "Poor Howard". (I still get requests for that at home sometimes.) I remember that Mrs. Goldsmith wanted me to learn to change chords without stopping for each one so I worked really hard on that for a week or two until I was able to do it properly and without looking. I guess for a six year old I was very intent on wanting to work on things until I got them right. When I was around nine years old I started lessons with another teacher, got a larger nylon-string guitar and learned to play various folk songs from the Pete Seeger songbook, arrangements of Beatle songs and basic finger picking patterns.Around the time I was eleven years old I learned to read music and started learning classical guitar pieces. From there I had several other teachers, a better guitar, and continued with the classical guitar repertoire. By the time I was fourteen I was quite serious about the classical guitar and even entered a few local music competitions. When I was in high school I started taking lessons with George Sakellariou, one of Segovia's students and an excellent guitarist. George was hard to please so I worked extremely hard for several years and it really paid off in terms of getting a solid technical foundation. I was also able to participate in two of Michael Lorimer's guitar master classes in Berkeley when I was still in high school, which was a new experience for me. While growing up I remember listening to my mother practicing piano and accompanying various vocalists so I heard a lot of good music right there in our living room and was very close to the practicing and rehearsal regimen of professional musicians.I also had started playing the trumpet and then the French horn in fifth grade. I was fortunate enough to being able to play the French horn in student bands and orchestras all the way through college and beyond which one misses out on as a classical guitarist so it was a good variety of solo and ensemble musical experiences growing up. In college I majored in music and began performing more often. During that time I participated in a guitar master class given by Eliot Fisk that was sponsored by the local guitar society. I was so amazed by Eliot's playing and knowledge of classical music that I knew I wanted to study with him someday. After completing my undergraduate degree, I was accepted into the music school at Yale University where I studied with Eliot and received my M.M. degree. Since leaving college I have performed quite a bit locally as a solo classical guitarist and also as a guitarist in several folk-pop groups in Seattle. I now work full-time the software industry which somewhat limits the amount of time I have to practice and perform but there's always room for some music whether I'm playing Bach and Villa-Lobos in my living room or out at a concert enjoying someone else's performance.

2. Where there any events, people or catalyst(s) that were influential?

Mrs. Goldsmith (my first guitar teacher), my mom and all the wonderful piano music, the folk guitar teacher lady on PBS television, other classical musicians and concerts on PBS, the Bach Brandenburg concertos that I absolutely loved. I also listened to the Beatles and other pop music when I was young and played songs from the Beatles songbooks with my flute player friend from across the street. My guitar teachers certainly had a big influence on me - George Sakellariou, Michael Lorimer and Andr?s Segovia whose concerts I went to when I was very young. Julian Bream to some extent and most definitely John Williams (the guitarist). It was John Williams' recordings that really inspired and motivated me the most as a guitarist when I was in my teens. When I was in high school I won a local music contest and was invited to perform a guitar concerto with the local symphony the following season. Being able to tackle a difficult work and play with the symphony was certainly a dream come true for me and a big step forward in terms of what I was able to accomplish and improve on during that time. While still in high school I was a performer in Michael Lorimer's master classes in Berkeley and that really opened my eyes and ears to lots of new repertoire and how to approach, interpret and learn it. There were also several class concerts open to the public that attracted fairly sizable audiences and those were very exciting for me to participate in.During my last year at college I was very influenced by Eliot Fisk whom I eventually studied with and Sharon Isbin whom I had not met at that point but had read about in various guitar magazines. I felt greatly inspired by the fact that she was one of the few women classical guitarists at that time who was really making a name for herself in the guitar world and playing major concert halls. I eventually did take a few master classes with her and what I admire so much about her now is that she's done a terrific job of introducing the guitar to wider audiences and inspiring composers to write new repertoire for her, both solo and concertos with orchestra. After graduate school I moved to Seattle where I became interested in song-writing and steel-string instrumental work. I think the first musician who really opened my eyes to some other possibilities was Linda Waterfall who was one of the first singer-songwriter guitarists in the area to break new ground into the contemporary folk-pop genre. Some of the other musicians that influenced me in that realm back then were Alex de Grassi, Chris Proctor, Joan Armatrading, Suzanne Vega, David Wilcox, Indigo Girls, Shawn Colvin, Patty Larkin, and others. Over the past 10 years I've been involved as a lead guitarist and songwriter in a few local Seattle folk-pop groups and I've also attended several of the Folk Alliance Conferences as a freelance music reviewer which has opened up my ears to a many new and wonderful indie musicians.

3. What does your live sets consist of?

I usually start with some early Spanish Renaissance guitar music and then some slightly later English Renaissance lute music that's been transcribed or arranged for classical guitar. After that maybe some Bach, most people seem to like the cello or lute suites so I'll play a few of the movements. Then I like to play some South American music from the 20th century, usually some of the Villa-Lobos preludes plus preludes by Abel Carlevaro (Uruguay) and Antonio Lauro (Venezuela). I might also play music by Spanish and French composers plus some things by Sor, Mertz, and others from the late 18th-19th century.

4. You’ve been on local television in Aspen, Colorado. What was that like?

It was actually a kids show so I fit right in. Thinking back on that, I seem to recall that I only had a day notice to come up with something that would be entertaining to small kids for their TV show. I played one or two short simple pieces, talked about the guitar and what all the parts are called and then I did a little interactive thing that they really enjoyed which was that I let them strum the guitar while I did the chords. I think that gave them a sense of satisfaction and fun, maybe a few of them asked their parents for guitars that evening.

5. What was it like to participate in the 1999 Stotsenberg International Classical Guitar Competition at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California?How did you prepare for that?

I was so thrilled to have been selected out of about a hundred applicants worldwide that I mostly went for the experience and not necessarily to win. I figured that if I could play my best and have a positive experience there then it didn't matter what the outcome was. I had been doing a lot of local performing, open mics, plus a few house concerts and festival performances and that helped me to prepare for the judged performance aspect of the competition. In terms of regular practicing, I was very diligent after coming home from work every evening to make a quick meal and then practice for three or four hours until midnight. The first hour was warm-ups and exercises and after that it was working on the repertoire, working on the hard parts and then playing through things from beginning to end as if it were a live performance situation. I also remember taking a lot of walks in my neighborhood in the month or two before going to the competition and repeating a little pep talk that fit with the walking pace, sort of a little positive thought mantra. It sounds silly but I think it helped. As it turned out, I played well but did not get past the first round so after that I enjoyed a few stress-free days in Malibu and listened to the rest of the finals.

6. When did you create your own label, why? Are there other artists on your label Fretgirl Records?

It was something I had thought about long before I recorded my CD or started my website. Actually, the original idea was to have other artists and be a link site for other guitarists. By the time I had finished my CD it seemed that most people were self producing their recordings and so the need for another indie label was not all that necessary but it's still a possibility.

7. Did you write any of the compositions on your solo classical guitar debut, “Impressions”?

All of the pieces on my CD are standard classical guitar repertoire with the exception of Syrinx by Claude Debussy which was originally for solo flute. I needed something to fit in as an into to the Manuel DeFalla piece which is an homage to Debussy so I decided I needed something by Debussy that I could learn fairly quickly and that was not already being played and recorded a lot. Although Syrinx was written for flute, it turns out that with the right fingerings and phrasing it's quite playable on the guitar so that was the one transcription I contributed although it was really just a matter of figuring out the right fingerings and getting the phrasing to sound convincing.

8. Can you tell me about the creative process for “Impressions”.

My original plan was to have a theme or commonality between the pieces but I also needed to record things that I knew fairly well. It takes quite a long time to really learn and absorb classical music to the point that the performance is free to reflect the performer's emotions without any technical hinderance. After tossing around a bunch of ideas, I decided to start with a core of material that I already knew very well and then tossed around a bunch of ideas for learning some other things that might fit in somehow. In the end I realized that I had a lot of music by early 20th century composers who had been influenced by or had some connection to music of the French impressionist composers, namely Claude Debussy.The recording process was such that I had booked sessions on weekends and each session was devoted to recording and editing a single piece. Prior to each session I made photocopies of my music with measure numbers at the beginning of each line so that when the recording engineer and I were making the edit decisions we could easily communicate about exactly what measure, note, etc. we needed to look at.After the recording, editing and mastering were all done I started work on the rest of the tasks which included designing the CD and writing the liner notes. My years of studying music history as an undergrad music major prompted me to delve into the history of each composer and to do quite a lot of research for writing the liner notes in the CD booklet. After getting all the histories and facts the next hurdle was editing it all to fit into a small space while maintaining the salient points and making the notes for each composer interesting to read.The design of the CD booklet was the next major task to do. Although I had a fair amount of previous experience designing other CDs and materials, it was still a very challenging task even though I knew the design software fairly well. There's always that slight fear that something unexpected will show up after everything has been printed and shrink-wrapped. I had a friend at work take the photographs and then I got everything scanned so I could do all the design and image editing digitally in the various software programs. I experimented with a few cover ideas and played around with some tiling techniques using samples of some of the photos to create other things such as borders and backgrounds for the cover and booklet.In the end, while everything had a few small compromises here and there it turned out to be very close to what I had originally envisioned. I think the hardest thing was being able to get a realistic perspective or take a step back since I knew every tiny detail and would hear and see things that most people would never even notice.

9. “Impressions” was selected as one of the winners of Acoustic Guitar Magazine's 2003 Homegrown CD Award. What are your comments about this?

The funny thing is that I forgot I had sent them my CD so when I got an email many months later saying "you're a winner!" I thought it was some junk email and started to delete it. Then I decided I had better read it first and was completely surprised to find out that the editors of Acoustic Guitar had selected my CD as one of the three winners. I'm still amazed by it actually. It really made me feel that all the hard work and attention to detail was worthwhile and does make a difference.

10. What is your practice routine?

My ideal classical guitar practice session usually starts with an easy chord progression or two that I like to play just to warm up with for a few minutes. Next I like to do various studies, preludes and etudes such as Carulli, Sor, Villa-Lobos, Lauro, etc. for about 45 minutes. This might also include some slur studies and scales. After that I like to work on the various pieces I am learning for a couple of hours, maybe 30-45 minutes each, working out the difficult parts. After that I like to run through a few things I already know fairly well just to refresh them and keep them playable. I might also sight read some music, sometimes I will spend a whole evening just reading through things.For steel-string and song writing I usually start with the last song or instrumental thing I was working on and see if I can get any further with the lyrics or musical ideas. I tend to improvise a lot more on the steel-string but sometimes on the classical guitar too. I'll revisit older songs and play through them, it seems like there is always something to change. I don't really do any specific technical practice on the steel-string. I guess most of the technique carries over from the classical guitar fairly well although playing with a pick is a bit of a challenge for me so I just play the songs over and over to get that to work.

11. How do you deal with fingernail maintenance? Do you avoid the dishes?

Ha! How did you know I hate doing dishes!? Good question, the fingernail situation is something I constantly struggle with. Unfortunately I have rather thin nails and the irony is that the more I practice, the more they wear down so by the time I'm all prepared for a public performance my nails have been worn down so much they are almost too short. I have experimented with a few things in the past with some positive results and am considering trying some other things I've read about. Some people use acrylic glues or actually go to nail salons and get artificial nails, there are various nail hardener products similar to glues and others that contain oils that supposedly get absorbed and prevent the nail from drying out. I've heard some negative things about the glue products and generally do not use them unless I need to repair a cracked nail which I can do with just glue or sometimes glue and a small plastic patch. I used to use one of the oil-based products (I think it had jojoba oil in it) and around that time I was eating a lot of fresh fish and getting a lot of sleep which seemed to help. I am somewhat careful about my hands and nails and have a good collection of garden gloves, work gloves, paint gloves and do the dishes gloves.

12. Have you thought about recording music that is not classical?

Yes. I used to write some solo steel-string instrumentals and lately I've been doing some song-writing and experimenting with home recording and arranging. At some point I may record some of my songs or maybe a mix of songs and instrumentals. I used to play lead guitar with a couple of folk-pop groups in Seattle and I recorded a full-length CD with one group and did some demos and compilation recordings with another so there are a few non-classical recordings out there with my guitar and vocals on them.

13. Have you had the opportunity to meet and play with some of the guitar players that you admire?

I've been very fortunate to have been able to meet many of the guitarists and musicians I admire after their performances and to chat with them a little and let them know how much I appreciate and am inspired by their work. I hope there will be some opportunities in the future to play with some of them or just to be part of the same concert or festival.

14. What music organizations are you affiliated with?

Indiegrrl, Recording Academy - Pacific NW Chapter, Seattle Classical Guitar Society.

15. What technical challenges do you face when you play live indoor & outdoor as opposed to a studio or concert hall?

The weather can make your hands cold or even numb which can make it difficult to play. If it's windy and you need to use your music that's always fun trying to keep it on the stand. I ended up making photocopies of my gig music and putting the sheets into plastic sleeves and then into a binder which keeps everything organized in one place and prevents things from becoming airborne. The other thing is that most classical guitarists never use amplification in an indoor recital situation so getting used to hearing yourself sound huge through amps and monitors takes a little getting used to. I have a gig guitar, a Takemine ES-132, that's great for situations needing amplification. It's got pickup built into it and also sounds good acoustically. My personal preference is to use the line out and a mic if possible but with the right EQ it can sound good with just the pickup which is what I do for casual restaurant or reception type gigs where I have to bring my own amp.

16. Are you performing at any outdoor festivals this summer?

I've applied to a few festivals that take place at the end of Summer so I'm still waiting to hear back on those.

For more info on Jessica Papkoff visit www.fretgirl.com or see the female classical category of the database.

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