This season, our Elemental Guitar program is led by Co-Directors Laura Mazon Franqui and Erin Young. Some of you may remember Erin from our 2021/22 season, when she joined the program in January 2022 to lead our Intro Guitar group. This fall, as Erin continues her work with our beginning guitarists, Laura will take over the helm of Elemental Guitar and work with our intermediate and advanced guitar students.

Erin Young

Both Laura and Erin are amazing musicians and dedicated educators. We are excited to see how our Elemental Guitar program will grow and thrive under their leadership! To learn more about our two new directors, check out our interview below!

Elemental Music: How old were you when you started playing music?

Laura Mazon Franqui: I was 2 years old when I discovered the piano. There was a piano at my home (my aunt is a lead soprano from the National Opera of Cuba) and I was just so intrigued by how the sounds came out of the keys. I was always trying to climb up the bench and play. However, my serious training started at age 5, when I started taking private piano lessons with professor and composer Maria Matilde Alea. By that time, I hadn't discovered the guitar yet - hadn't even held one in my hands.

My guitar journey started actually when I decided that I wanted to enter an elementary school of music - sort of a magnet school, where, in addition to the typical elementary subjects, you had also solfege classes, music theory classes, choir classes, piano classes, ensemble classes, and your main instrument lessons as well. To enter that school, you had to go through a very demanding selection process, and just like the Sorting Hat that decides who goes to Gryffindor or Slytherin, they decided through those tests what your instrument should be. It turns out that they decided that the guitar was my instrument! Again, I had no idea of how it felt to play the guitar, or how it worked, but the moment they gave me my first guitar at school and I played the open strings for the first time, I was in love. It was the sound that captivated me and still does, to this day.

Erin Young: My older siblings were playing music around me my whole life so I was always trying to make music, but I got "officially" started in piano lessons when I was four years old. Growing up I heard lots of Blues jam sessions and that’s where I really became fascinated with the guitar. When I was six I started taking my first guitar lessons and I haven’t stopped ever since!

EM: What do you love about the classical guitar ensemble?

LMF: I started my guitar journey as part of a guitar ensemble when I was 10 years old. There, I learned not only the basics, but also how to create music together, and how rich that experience can be.

For me, being selected to join a 100-student guitar orchestra at such a young age - to be conducted by the great Leo Brouwer and open the International Guitar Festival of Havana - was an unforgettable experience. Not only was I inspired for life, but I also discovered what it felt like to "live the musician life" and to make music with others. I also made friends and had fun with music as well!

I believe that the classical guitar ensemble is a rich one, which can be envisioned almost like an orchestra (our instrument is so full of possibilities and effects!) and which provides incredible opportunities for performing very diverse repertoire. It is also an engaging way of introducing children and teens to the universe of music-making, building collective discipline and commitment, as well as nurturing social skills and friendships through music.

EY: I love the community of guitar ensembles. Typically as classical guitarists we tend to focus on solo repertoire, so getting to play with other guitarists is always a refreshing experience musically and socially! It also gives us a fun opportunity to explore repertoire and compositions that we might not otherwise get to play solo, so it’s a great learning experience as well.

EM: What do you like to do when you're not teaching or performing?

LMF: When I am not teaching or performing, I love to create music videos and share them with the world, and to do collaborations with other fellow musicians. I am also an avid reader and love the sea.

EY: I like to go to concerts around the city since there are always interesting concerts happening across LA. I also enjoy baking, reading guitar duets with my husband, playing board games and video games, and going to the beach with my dog Luna!

EM: What are you most looking forward to about directing your program?

LMF: I am most looking forward to meeting all the students and hearing their ideas about the sort of music that they would love to discover, so we can tailor together a great repertoire that brings the best of the classics but that adapts as well to our times and that gets them excited and proud to play the classical guitar. I want them to feel like musicians…musicians on their way!

EY: I'm looking forward to getting to meet some new students and seeing some familiar faces from last year! We are going to have a big ensemble this year and I can’t wait to see what we’re able to achieve as a group building on all the great work everyone did last year. For me personally, I’m very excited to introduce our brand new Intro Guitar students to playing the guitar for the first time!