With his 13-year-old classical guitar, Ricardo Cobo stepped into the spotlight and took a seat in the single chair onstage. Wordlessly, he took a deep breath and began to play.

This was the start of Cobo’s performance Tuesday night in Setnor Auditorium. He showed an audience of more than 100 students and residents of Syracuse his passionate guitar chops. The program was the classically trained virtuoso’s first performance in Syracuse and featured 10 powerful Latin-based songs.

The songs he played are traditional ones from Hispanic countries such as Cuba, Brazil and Argentina. The guitar is a classical instrument that each of these countries has in common, and Cobo gathered all the music together so it could speak for itself.

‘I’m trying to be very true to the music,’ he said. ‘And at the bottom of that is an emotional connection.’

The light and brisk tune of ‘Los Cuajaritos’ echoed throughout the stunned auditorium, its simple melody creating ripples of soulful energy. Cobo’s fingers moved swiftly with the music, finishing the song with a powerful stroke and reaching to the sky.

The audience broke into tremendous applause as Cobo gave them an appreciative bow.

‘Daunting for the fingers,’ Cobo said. ‘But good for the soul.’

Ken Meyer, a Syracuse University guitar professor, was able to arrange the event because of his friendship with Cobo. The two became friends when they both performed once in a concert in Washington, D.C. Meyer said he holds Cobo’s music in high regards and was excited that he agreed to play at SU.

‘You get so much emotion from his playing,’ Meyer said with a smile during intermission. ‘He represents the best of what the guitar can do.’

Cobo is currently the chair of the classical guitar department at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. In 1987, he was the first Hispanic guitarist to win the Guitar Foundation of America award.

The audience listened avidly from the beginning of the performance to the very end. Cobo walked offstage after his last song, but he came back when he heard the audience was still applauding and received a rousing standing ovation.

Liliya Lifanova, a Syracuse resident who heard of the event through her guitar teacher, said the music was easy to listen to even though it seemed complicated to play. She also saw the energy Cobo was channeling in every song.

‘It’s very sweet to your heart and to your soul,’ she said.

Cobo will play the same song list at a Great Lakes Guitar Society event in Rochester on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Despite his busy schedule, Cobo noted how much he enjoyed visiting SU and seeing the students at Crouse College.

‘There’s a lot of souls playing around here that like to sing and clatter on drums and things,’ said Cobo after the concert, looking at a music rehearsal beginning onstage. ‘So it’s a very fun place to play.’

meantonu@syr.edu

Published on March 20, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Max: meantonu@syr.edu