A trio of acclaimed experimental guitarists – Sean McFarland, Matt Sargent, and Trevor Babb – will perform a special program dedicated to the music of composer James Romig this weekend in Baltimore and New York.
The performances showcase Romig's trilogy of solo guitar works: The Complexity of Distance (2022), The Fragility of Time (2022), and The Distortion of Memory (2024) – a series of compositions exploring themes of perception, memory, and sonic space.
Critics have praised Romig's music for its unique atmosphere and slow-evolving intensity. The San Francisco Chronicle described his work as "rapturous slow-moving beauty," while Burning Ambulance famously compared it to "a steamroller driving down a highway paved with skulls." Meanwhile, The New Yorker noted its organic progression, saying it develops "with the naturalness of breathing."
Romig's reputation in contemporary classical music continues to grow; his solo piano composition Still was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Performance Dates
The Performers
Sean McFarland, a Baltimore-based composer and guitarist, performs the baritone electric guitar for the program. A Master of Music candidate at the Peabody Conservatory, McFarland studies composition with Michael Hersch and is a recipient of the Philip D. Glass Endowed Scholarship. His work often explores the human experience and has been performed by ensembles such as JACK Quartet and Rhymes With Opera. Outside the concert hall, he is active in Baltimore's DIY scene, working with Charm City Art Space to support independent music.
Matt Sargent, an electric guitarist on the program, is a composer and technologist based in upstate New York. An assistant professor of music at Bard College, his work blends live performance, recording technology, and computer-driven composition. Critics have praised his technological artistry, with writer Peter Margasak describing his sonic tools as "a veritable fountain of intensifying, kaleidoscopic spumes."
Completing the trio, Trevor Babb performs on classical guitar. The New Haven-based musician is known for his dedication to contemporary music and collaborations with modern ensembles such as So Percussion and Bang on a Can All-Stars. A Fulbright Award recipient and winner of the Yale School of Music's Eliot Fisk Prize, Babb frequently premieres works by emerging composers and records original material, including his albums Warmth and From a Dream.
Together, the three musicians bring Romig's meditative yet powerful trilogy to life, blending classical technique, experimental guitar textures, and contemporary compositional language across two intimate concert settings.
