Happy New Year everybody everywhere! We are ramping up for our next concert by oud and guitar player Celil Rafik Kaya.

We sometimes like to have the same artist in adjacent years, and once we heard some Celil’s oud performances, we decided to feature him with a half oud, half guitar program this season. And now it is less than five weeks away, Feb. 8.

The oud has no frets and a shorter neck and fewer strings than a lute. It is the direct successor of the Persian barbat lute. The oldest surviving oud is thought to be in Brussels, at the Museum of Musical Instruments. Some of you were around to hear our previous oud player, the late George Mgrdichian, who played for us a few decades back in a special Duke recital with his musical partner Dennis Koster, a friend of our Society.

On a personal note I am (sniff, sniff) finally losing my Duke email account, so make note of my new one: randyereed@gmail.com

My muse for 49 years, Selde, and I have been enjoying my retirement, traveling to Costa Rica to learn to true meaning of verdant and our annual trips to San Diego and sunny South Florida. I am attempting to swim 24 laps every day and just performed on guitar in a nice choral piece, Carols in the Southwest, by Conrad Susa in the Choral Society of Durham’s annual Christmas Concert on Dec. 22.

Folks, our Gourmet Kingdom lunch/performances are a great way to meet and chat with fellow guitarists and meet fellow teachers as well, so get your pieces ready to play at our favorite Chinese restaurant: Gourmet Kingdom, located at 301 E. Main St. in Carrboro. The date for the next Gourmet Kingdom lunch/performances is March 1.

Folks, we still need fine intimate guitar music that touches us and nourishes us to find a moment, however brief, of relief from nervous and serious thoughts and just experience blissful special moments of uninterrupted pleasant sounds of TGS guitar concerts.

And for some of us, let’s not forget those great reception parties where us members get together and agree that what we just heard and experienced was something special, something worthy, and something we don’t want to live without.

I want to thank all the folks who sent in their annual dues and also all the folks who are going to SEND IN YOUR ANNUAL DUES NOW! Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our nonprofit. See the box below for how to join and/or donate.

Here’s to another great year, and thanks go out to our board and folks who help create our reception parties (Selde, Sharon, and Jen) and run our church openings and closings (Len, Daniel, and Miles).

—