GUITARRA MAGAZINE: We have the pleasure to be here with the internationally renowned Cavatina Duo, Maestros Denis Azabagic and Eugenia Moliner.

GM: Maestro, can you tell us about your educational development as a guitarist; whom did you study with?

DENIS AZABAGIC: I started playing or going to school when I was 6 years old in my hometown Tuzla, in Bosnia. My first teacher was Predrag Stankovic. I was there for about eight years. Then I went to high school in Sarajevo for three years, where I studied guitar. After that I went to the Academy of Music in Zagreb. I was there for only one year because of the war in former Yugoslavia. Then I went to the Netherlands to finish at the music conservatory and finally to the US.

GM: How did you become so interested in guitar competitions?

DA: I think it is one of the logical moves in your course of studies. As a guitarist we are not in the orchestral world so we cannot hope for a position in an orchestra to play. I think that's one of the reasons we have so many guitar competitions, even more than other instruments. When I was very young studying in Bosnia we had music competitions regularly, every 2 or 3 years as a program in all music schools in the country, so I already knew about the possibilities of competing and I decided to try and it started going well so I just kept on going.

GM: In what way does winning competitions help the guitarist to develop an artistic career?

DA: Competitions give you a very valuable experience. How much does it guide you in an artistic sense?? I do not know if it benefits you that greatly in that area, but I think it does benefit the student to have deadlines and to set goals, it puts you under great stress that you have to learn how to deal with. To perform live in front of a jury is something that I think requires some training, or maybe some people are lucky to do it naturally. Finally, if you are successful at winning the competitions, it will help to bring out your name in the guitar circle, you start to become noticed. It helps you more in a career sense more than in an artistic way.

GM: Besides winning competitions what other actions have to be taken in order to become an active professional artist?

DA: Winning major guitar competitions is a good thing to do, but if you don't do anything after, it's as good as not winning it. You really have to work hard to promote your career, just as any other business these days. I mention before, winning a competition gives you a good curriculum, your name gets out there, but it is up to each and everyone of us to keep on working and promoting ourselves and search for opportunities, which are very scarce. I want to point out, that the greatest benefit I got from of all the competitions I won was winning the GFA, because it gave me the concert tour. Looking back to it, it gave me a valuable experience regarding touring, stage presence and traveling. Putting together a tour of 60 concerts in such a short period of time is something very difficult to do. I don't think any agency or manager can arrange this type of tour for a guitarist these days. The first price of the GFA competition is a very valuable experience. Something I want to emphasize is that not only winning but also using the opportunity given to you by winning it is what makes a difference.

GM: Changing topics, I often hear comments about guitar recitals being technically accurate but boring. What musical elements guitarists are missing when performing in a "boring" fashion?

DA: We always tend to put these aspects side by side. I just feel that music is like telling a story. You have to be excited about what you are saying (performing) and know what to do with it; if something is boring you just feel it. If something is played interesting it drags you emotionally into it (the music), …you don't have to think too much about it, each one of us knows what makes a concert interesting or boring.

GM: Do you think volume is an essential element for the execution of an intense and exciting performance?

DA: Volume in terms of dynamics is very important to the music, to give it another name, intensity. I don't think that there is intensity in the playing unless you are able to produce a good forte.

GM: So volume itself is not a solution to make an exciting performance, in other words, is not necessary to amplify the guitar to make a more intense impression on the audience, it is more about the dynamic range and musical intention?

DA: Well, you can amplify the guitar to blow everyone away, but that is not the point. I don't like to struggle with the volume when I play in large halls, so I like to use amplification if it is possible. The amplification itself does not give intensity. The musical excitement comes from within the person; even if you have a loud guitar it does not mean that your performance is going to be more intense. Using amplification does not help if you don't bring it out (intensity) from within yourself.

GM: Changing topics once again, Can you tell us about your recent appointment at the Chicago College for the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University?

DA: I was appointed last year in the spring. During the last two semesters I have done master classes and I have been promoting the appointment around the country (US) and internationally. We (the guitar faculty at CCPA) recently had some auditions and we are having some more coming up soon. I hope that starting from September I'll have good students and I'm sure that will be the case. I am happy to have a place where I can teach and where I can give the students what I know because I enjoy teaching a lot.

GM: Very good, now we have some questions for the Cavatina Duo. Eugenia, can you tell me how the Duo got started?

EUGENIA MOLINER: The first concert we ever played was in 1993. At that point we didn't think that the Duo was going to be something serious in our careers. I had in my mind I was going to be an orchestra player, and that Denis was going to be a solo guitarist and continuing with his competitions. In 1996 we started playing more often, just the fact that we started doing more complex and bigger repertoire made us think that this (DUO) could really work and we could do something very serious. Around 2 years and a half ago we were not really sure about what was going to happen. I think that the release of our first CD is what really settled what we have now, the decision of becoming a great Duo, and pursuing a great career and showing the music world that guitar and flute make a beautiful combination and inspiring many composers to make great music for us.

GM: What kind of repertoire does the Cavatina Duo perform? Is there any music being written for the Duo?

EM: The kind of music we like to perform is music written originally for flute and guitar; although right now we are preparing some transcriptions from some Piazzolla's pieces, which we love. I think that the music written by Piazzolla can be played very well by this combination (flute & guitar) because he used to write music for various combinations, he did not write music for specific groups, he had a big group of contemporary music…contemporary tango I might say. Interpretation is what determines whether the music is going to be good or not, not the kind of instruments that is being played.

Right now we have some music that has been written for us and we are working on it. Also we have some composers here (USA) and abroad that are writing music for us, I will not mention the names of the composers, but I will say that some are already quite famous. I am really excited about that and I am looking forward to perform pieces by great composers.

GM: How does it differ playing flute and guitar from playing flute and piano? Do you have to make musical adjustments?

EM: Musically I do not make any adjustments. I try to make music with the two combinations, guitar or piano. Off course I play different when I play with the guitar because of the volume, which is much less than the volume of the piano, and I have to adjust to that. Denis has learned also, thanks to me, to play louder (laughter) and he is really thankful to the fact that I always ask him for more volume, and this has helped him in his solo performance to play with more power. I do not feel a big difference in terms of music. I love playing music no matter the combination, off course I enjoy very much playing my flute and piano repertoire, but playing with Denis is so special, not only because he is a fantastic musician, but also because he is my husband, and I share the stage with somebody that I love and together we make music, there is nothing compared to that, there is nothing as beautiful.

GM: Here is a similar question for Denis. What difference do you find in playing solo guitar music and flute and guitar duos?

DA: I feel that music is music no matter how you play it. Both ways have great things. When playing solo you do not have to be aware of the other person, but when you play with someone you have to put yourself in a different dimension and be able to do this with a person that you feel connected with is a very special feeling. The main difference between solo and chamber music to me is that you can share the experience creating of something special with someone else.

GM: What are the futures plans for the Cavatina Duo? Are you working on any new recordings, have you commissioned pieces or are you working on future tours?

DA: We are always working on preparing the concerts and the tours in the management sense. In terms of preparing the material, we are working on some new repertoire to record a CD as soon as possible. We have recently put together a few pieces by Sergio Assad, a good friend of ours, as well as music by David Leisner, and some transcriptions of Piazzolla. This is a long term project but we are working hard.

EM: Regarding the touring, we are going to be in Europe this summer in Portugal, Spain and maybe in Croatia as well. In September we will be touring California, and in October we are going to be playing in the Chicago area.

DA: To add more about the Chicago area events, in October there is going to be a live performance on WFMT Live from Studio One. I think it is October 20 at 8 pm.

GM: For more information about the Cavatina Duo and Denis Azabagic's touring schedule, you can log onto Guitarra Magazine and find more about it.

GM: Thanks for being with us and sharing this great moment with together. We are sure our readers will enjoy this interview.

DA & EM: Your Welcome (At Unison!).