Practicing

April 30, 2007
Waylaid from an early career as a classical guitarist, a teacher of the arts recounts his reimmersion in his music by undertaking an intensive regime of practicing. A serious artist is constantly plagued by the fear that he either has the gift or he doesn't, notes Kurtz, and that no amount of “busy work” can redeem him. Growing up in Great Neck, N.Y., in the 1970s, Kurtz tapped into the Guitar Workshop and mastered folk songs by the time he was 10; inspired by seeing Andrés Segovia perform, Kurtz envisioned a life devoted to music. He studied at Boston's New England Conservatory, where the key to success was constant practicing, and where he had to overcome a sense of the guitar's inferiority to other instruments. Trekking through Europe with other players, he was confronted with the economic exigencies of a musical career and eventually ceased practicing, to his great sorrow. In his mid-30s he took up the guitar again and gleans the painful lesson that although musical artistry may seem divine, mastery of the instrument is humbling and mundane. Kurtz's work contains a rich history of the classical guitar, including the work of Bach, Fernando Sor and Scott Joplin.

November 1, 2007
Adult/High School-Kurtzs memoir of his years as a guitar prodigy illuminates not only the joys of great talent, but also the terror of not knowing what to do with it. Most of the book follows the musician as he masters his art through long years of study and rises to become a budding professional classical guitarist following in the footsteps of Andrés Segovia. Yet Kurtz eventually realizes that he is no Segovia and that the artists life he has craved is even harder than he imagined. He is eloquent in describing what music means to him and how that kind of love can change a life. He conveys the joy he finds in hearing and creating beautiful and even not so beautiful sounds. "Practicing" is not just about guitar playing; it is also about studying the world you inhabit and expressing yourself as clearly as you can. Kurtz has taken this lesson and turned his eye to literature, writing this book about trying to find the musician he once was. He brings the same focus and nuance to his storytelling as he did to the music he created."Will Marston, Berkeley Public Library, CA"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2007
Guitar was the young Kurtzs passion. From lessons as a child, through summers at a guitar camp where he learned aspects of performance, on to the New England Conservatory of Music in preparation for a solo career, and actually pursuing that career in Vienna, he describes the journey that led to the recognition that he wasnt cut out to be a performer. Practice is putting love into the music, he sees, and performance is sending that love to the listener. Including discussion of the history of the guitar and of the composers of music for it, he traces an odyssey that turns full circle 10 years later when he resumes playing for his own enjoyment. He bares his soul, relating his feelings during practice, audition, and performance, as well as his experiences with teachers, mentors, and other artists. Although Kurtz writes in stream-of-consciousness style, virtually everyone who is dedicated to getting the most out of music by playing it will appreciate his insights into the art of practice for the love of music.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)