CGC 010 : Barrios and Berta Rojas

In this lesson

Berta Rojas joins Simon Powis for a conversation about Agustín Barrios, musical education and the relationships that shape a performer. Her connection with Barrios begins in Paraguay, where his music forms part of a shared cultural inheritance.

The interview also looks beyond the solo recital: touring with Paquito D’Rivera, recording guitar for a film and bringing music into schools. Together, these stories reveal how a classical guitarist can make connections with different audiences without losing the musical interests that drew her to the instrument.

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Originally published in 2015. These listening notes draw on the recorded conversation. Roles, projects, releases and event announcements refer to the time of recording. Practical reflections are suggested applications, not additional quotations from the guest.

Explore the conversation

Use these approximate timestamps to jump to a topic in the recording.

• 5:57 — Barrios belongs to a place as well as a repertoire
• 7:08 — Collaboration can introduce the guitar to a different audience
• 12:43 — The guitar can tell a story on film
• 18:43 — Young listeners deserve the opportunity to encounter the music
• 22:32 — Different teachers contribute different kinds of understanding
• 26:03 — A new setting can reveal another side of familiar music

Barrios belongs to a place as well as a repertoire

For Rojas, Barrios is a national figure and a personal musical presence. She describes growing up in Paraguay with his music and finding an enduring connection to its character. That context adds another dimension to works that guitarists elsewhere may first encounter as examination pieces or concert favourites.

Asked to choose among his compositions, she names several before settling on La Catedral. The discussion of its origins includes recollections and uncertainty about particular places. The interview should be heard as a personal conversation about the music, rather than a definitive historical account of the work’s composition.

For a student, the useful invitation is to hear a familiar piece within a larger body of music. Listen to a dance, a waltz and a lyrical work by Barrios. Their differences can broaden an impression formed from one demanding piece on the music stand.

Collaboration can introduce the guitar to a different audience

Rojas recalls travelling with Paquito D’Rivera to places associated with Barrios’s own journeys. Modern travel also prompted her to imagine how difficult those earlier journeys must have been.

The collaboration reached listeners who came with different musical interests. A jazz musician’s audience might meet classical-guitar repertoire through the partnership, while guitar listeners could discover another musical world.

The point is not simply to increase the size of an audience. A collaboration can change the context in which people listen. The same instrument may feel more approachable when it enters a conversation with a musician or tradition a listener already knows.

The guitar can tell a story on film

Rojas describes supplying the guitar playing heard when Barrios performs in a film. Her contribution was the musical voice, rather than an on-screen acting role. At the time of the interview she had not yet seen the completed film.

She also talks about making music videos with collaborators in Paraguay and Argentina. The conversation makes clear that a finished video involves a team, practical preparation and considerable work beyond the performance itself.

For viewers, that is a reason to attend to the relationship between sound and image. A location, a camera movement or a narrative can offer another way into a composition. The visual experience complements the playing; it does not replace the musical work behind it.

Young listeners deserve the opportunity to encounter the music

“I’m very encouraged to try to keep doing it because it’s an experience that enriches us so much.”

— Berta Rojas, 20:46

Rojas describes taking classical guitar into schools and being encouraged by the response of children who might not otherwise encounter it. She speaks warmly about their attention and about the value of returning to this work.

Her experience challenges the assumption that young audiences will automatically be uninterested. The opportunity to listen matters. A live musician, a welcoming introduction and the sound of the instrument can create an encounter that a child has never been offered before.

The school visits also enrich the performer’s experience. For a community guitarist, there is an accessible version of that idea: share a short, well-prepared piece, explain what you enjoy about it and give listeners room to respond.

Different teachers contribute different kinds of understanding

“So every teacher gives you so much and especially if you are open to receive”

— Berta Rojas, 25:08

Rojas reflects on teachers who helped at different points in her development. Her account includes physical ease and movement, breadth of repertoire, connections with opera and orchestral music, and the place of each note within a musical phrase.

What emerges is not a single formula copied from one teacher. The influences accumulate. One lesson may clarify a movement; another may expand the sound a student imagines or the music they choose to hear.

That suggests a useful way to prepare for a lesson or masterclass: arrive with a question and remain open to an answer you did not expect. Afterwards, identify the particular idea you can explore, rather than trying to change everything at once.

A new setting can reveal another side of familiar music

The closing discussion turns to a tango recording with Camerata Bariloche and arrangements by Carlos Franzetti. Rojas describes the possibilities of placing guitar within a chamber-ensemble setting, including music originally associated with another instrumental combination.

This connects with the earlier stories of touring, film and outreach. A musical identity can remain recognisable while its setting changes. Rojas’s enthusiasm comes through in the people, places and projects that allow her to keep exploring.

When listening to an arrangement, follow one melody through the texture. Notice what the guitar brings and what the other instruments make possible. That kind of listening can enrich your own phrasing, even when you return to playing alone.

Ideas to take into your own music

These prompts are reflections on the conversation, rather than a routine prescribed by the guest.

1. Hear a composer more broadly: compare three contrasting works by Barrios.
2. Listen across instruments: follow how a melody changes when another instrument takes it.
3. Take one idea from a lesson: make it a concrete question for your next practice session.
4. Share a short piece: offer a welcoming introduction to someone new to classical guitar.

Original episode notes and resources

The original introduction and resources are retained below. Any time-sensitive announcements belong to the episode’s publication period.

To celebrate the release of Mangoré, por Amor al Arte, a feature length biopic on the guitarist-composer Agustin Barrios, I had a conversation with the great Paraguayan guitarist Berta Rojas. Berta talks about her role in the film, and the prominent position that Barrios holds for the country of Paraguay. She also talks about her current projects in Paraguay and her latest release, Historia del Tango. Here is the trailer for the film Mangoré, por Amor al Arte

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