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As a part of the St. Vincent De Paul Lecture and Concert Series, Thomas Aquinas College seeks to cultivate in its students a love for truly beautiful music. “We hold, with Plato and Aristotle, that appreciation of beauty is essential to any real appreciation of wisdom, and that love of beauty is especially fostered by listening to good music,” said Dr. Michael Letteney, the Dean of the ����ӰԺ campus, in introducing this fall’s Lecture and Concert series. “Learning to love good music or, rather, great music, prepares the soul to love learning, to take delight in all that is good, all that is true, and all that is beautiful.”

On Friday,  September 27, the TAC-����ӰԺ community was able to experience great music by listening to the masterful performance of Paul Galbraith, an internationally acclaimed classical guitarist. Mr. Galbraith, who has brought the beauty of his music to the College twice before, was born in Scotland and now resides in Cambridge, England. He is a Grammy-nominated artist who has toured the globe and is known throughout for his virtuosity and innovation. Instead of a traditional guitar, he plays a “Brahms Guitar,” an instrument he helped to develop. This unique instrument has two additional strings, which expand the instrument’s range, as well as a metal endpin, allowing Mr. Galbraith to play it upright in a cello-like position. 

During the concert, Mr. Galbraith gave new life to music from across centuries. The program featured masterpieces from Sylvius Leopold Weiss, Johann Sebastian Bach, Lennox Berkley, Robert Schumann, Enrique Granados, and Isaac Albeniz. Although some of these pieces were originally written for the lute or piano Mr. Galbraith arranged them for his eight-string guitar.

The many students, faculty, family, and friends of the College who gathered to listen to Mr. Galbraith were fascinated by the expert craftsmanship of his performance. “I was captivated,” said Madryne Alario (’28). “There’s something so amazing about hearing works from composers who we are pretty familiar with expressed in a different medium. It adds a certain nuance to the piece and to the experience.”