While the Champaign area frosted over on Friday, warm melodic sounds sprouted from Guido Sánchez-Portuguez’s guitar. The Champaign Public Library hosted an event in which Sánchez-Portuguez sampled a variety of intricate guitar styles for two hours.
The concert was part of the Unbooked series at the library. It was started last summer when the late Friday hours were restored, and opportunities for community events reopened. In the Unbooked series, live music plays on the fifth Friday of each month, if there is one.
Sánchez-Portuguez is a professor in FAA and mainly instructs students on guitar technique. On Friday night, he showcased many techniques and styles he’s mastered.
His relationship with the guitar began when he was in high school with his brother. They gained an affinity for heavy metal music and other popular music that involved rigorous guitar riffs and scales.
“It sounded like a world I wanted to be a part of,” Sánchez-Portuguez said. “I ended up actually forming a band with my brother, and our goal was to become one of these heavy metal icons.”
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After metal music became less popular, Sánchez-Portuguez’s interest in guitar shifted toward experimental methods and intense technique. Styles of guitar playing like jazz, flamenco and classical became his regular repertoire, and those are the main styles he played for the audience at the Champaign Public Library.
The event focused on classical styles and the different techniques Sánchez-Portuguez used for different pieces. As his face strained in concentration in the concert, equally complex melodies could be heard coming from his fast-moving fingers.
“When you play popular music, you don’t even think about mistakes,” Sánchez-Portuguez said. “You’re just enjoying it, so I do try to bring elements of joy and enjoyment into classical music, but you also have to be very careful not to start playing in a sloppy way.”
Chuck Allison, Champaign-Urbana resident and loyal admirer of Sánchez-Portuguez, sat in amazement while moving his fingers along with the music. Allison has been playing the guitar casually since the early ‘70s when he got his first guitar at 14 years old. The main thing he was watching Sánchez-Portuguez for was to learn from his techniques.
“I want to copy his style, his stance, the way he holds things,” Allison said. “I was just studying it tonight.”
A large benefit of this concert is the free admission and affiliation with the library. Any community member was welcome to sit for the duration of the concert and help themselves to the refreshments while they listened closely to Sánchez-Portuguez’s lullaby-like playing.
Many members of the audience even walked up after the show to talk directly with Sánchez-Portuguez as he cleaned up his set. He shook hands and talked with each one of them.
“One of our goals for this Friday night programming is for community connection, for a place where you don’t have to spend money, where there’s not necessarily alcohol, where community members can meet other people here,” said Michelle Morrison, program and events librarian at the Champaign Public Library.
Even though Sánchez-Portuguez is a local figure who usually plays intimate shows, his talent isn’t left unnoticed. The room reserved for his performance filled quickly, with staff having to grab more chairs for patrons.
“He’s amazing,” Allison said. “I would rather listen to him than some world-famous guitarists that have been around for decades. Everybody knows them. I’d rather listen to (Sánchez-Portuguez).”
