By Janelle Gelfand
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Clare Callahan is a pioneer. When she started the guitar program at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music 30 years ago, there were no textbooks and no university programs to use as models.

Clare Callahan started CCM's guitar program 30 years ago. (Michael Snyder photo)

"When I got here, I said, let's put this in motion and see how far we go with it," Callahan says. "I started with four students - two guys and two girls - and began to build."

CCM became the first major music school in the United States to offer a full complement of courses in guitar. Today, her program is considered one of the best in the country. Saturday, the Classical Guitar Department will celebrate its 30th anniversary with a concert at 8 p.m. in Patricia Corbett Theater.

"She's within one of the top five schools that I'd recommend. It's a combination of the quality of the program and the instructor," says Richard Provost, professor of guitar at the Hartt School in Connecticut. He founded the Hartt School's guitar department shortly before Callahan started hers at CCM.

"We were working it all out at the same time," says Provost. "We were all working with (Italian guitarist) Oscar Ghiglia and we had attended (Andres) Segovia master classes. We were all like the disciples trying to move this thing forward.

IF YOU GO

What: Classical Guitar Department 30th Anniversary Concert When: 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Patricia Corbett Theater; a reception follows in the Baur Room The program: Music from Renaissance vihuela and lute through modern classical guitar, including Passereau, Bizet, Segovia, Brouwer, Tesar, and the world premiere of Guitango by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Writes Zohn-Muldoon: "The piece unfolds as a quirky network of variations, based on a 'tango' theme I wrote several years ago. Its sound world evokes the percussive guitar style of Huapango music from Mexico. The work is dedicated to Clare Callahan and the CCM Guitar Ensemble." Admission: Free. 556-4183 or Web site. Today: The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Jesus Lopez-Cobos conducting, with Los Romeros, classical guitar quartet, 3 p.m. in Music Hall. All tickets are $5. 381-3300 or Web site. Local guitar events coming up: The Cincinnati Pops, Erich Kunzel conducting, with guitarist Christopher Parkening, 8 p.m. May 9 and 10; 7 p.m. May 11, Music Hall. Tickets: 381-3300 or Web site. CCM Graduate Classical Guitar Ensemble, 7 p.m. May 18, Watson Hall. 20th Anniversary Classical Guitar Workshop, July 28-Aug. 3 at CCM. Information: 281-2865 or visit Web site.

TO CONTRIBUTE

In honor of the CCM Guitar Department's 30th Anniversary, an anonymous donor has pledged $10,000 for scholarships, guest artists and activities of the guitar department. Others wishing to contribute may send donations to the "UCF/CCM Classical Guitar Fund," CCM External Relations Office, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 210003, Cincinnati, OH 45221. Information: 556-2100.

"Back then, there was only Segovia. There wasn't a market for classical guitar."

Indeed, guitar wasn't on Callahan's mind when she came to Cincinnati in 1972. She was here to study choral conducting. A Dayton native and daughter of an Air Force colonel, Callahan had lived and traveled all over the world. Guitar, she says, "was a hobby that became more than a hobby over the years."

Although she was a protege of the legendary guitarist Segovia - "the father of the modern classical guitar" - Callahan thought that conducting would be her ticket to a career in music. She worked with choral icon Robert Shaw for two years before coming to Cincinnati.

When it became known that she played guitar, she was recruited to perform in CCM recitals. That got the attention of Jack Watson, then dean of the conservatory. He called her in one day, and proposed the guitar program.

"He said, 'I've been thinking about this for a few years. How does this strike you?'" Callahan recalls. She loved the idea. Immediately, she thought the guitar program should be as rigorous as those offered for violin or piano.

"I told Watson I wanted to tailor a program just like what other instrumentalists have," she says.

But it meant developing a full range of courses - from guitar literature to the tricky art of reading lute tablature - a system that uses letters, numbers or other signs instead of musical notes. Yet everything she had done seemed to be preparing her for such a challenge - she had even earned a master's degree at Ohio State University "because I wanted to know about all this lute tablature," she says.

From the outset, part of her mission was to erase the misconceptions about the classical guitar - a different animal from jazz and rock guitar. Playing classical guitar is as challenging as learning to play the finest Stradivarius violin, she says. She has passed down the Segovia tradition to her students.

"You just don't accept what comes out by going 'plink,'" she says. "It's about Segovia's concept of tone, which is a vibrant, well-played full sound, the attention to technical detail, and the incredible discipline. (Segovia) always would say, the reason there aren't better guitarists out there is because they're still in bed, sleeping. He'd get up at six, and get in two hours of practice before dressing."

Since Segovia died in 1987, the Italian guitarist Ghiglia is the last great exponent of the European tradition, she believes. One of the highlights of her tenure has been bringing Ghiglia to CCM every year since 1974 for a concert and a residency with her students (he performed April 6).

"He has a link with the European style of guitar playing, that's different from American guitar playing," she says. "It's not all speed and flashy. There's a lot of tone, and seasoned repertoire, and certain amount of sophistication."

Today, classical guitar has become better known through large-scale concerts with orchestras, using amplification, such as the Los Romeros concert with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (repeating today in Music Hall.) It's good for publicizing the instrument, but not how one should hear the guitar, she believes.

"We don't have big volume, but we do have color. It's sort of orchestral in itself. If (people) could hear what is possible on the guitar, they would be astonished," she says.

"In running one of the country's best and most complete classical guitar programs at CCM, she sets an example for students and professionals alike that is both inspiring and daunting," says Jeffrey Van, director of the guitar program at the University of Minnesota. "In the studio, the lecture hall, the concert hall and the boardroom, (Callahan) has been a tireless advocate for the classical guitar and its place in the world of music."

Twenty years ago, Callahan established a master's degree program and began a popular summer workshop. Her students have won many awards, and perform and teach all over the world. By June, 86 students will have graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees from her program.

"The instrument itself is such a novelty, such a beautiful instrument, if it's well played," Callahan says.

E-mail jgelfand@enquirer.com