Sophomore Tristan Hill goes over sheet music for “Concerto in G Major,” arranged by Frank Kimlicko, during a Tyler Junior College Guitar Ensemble rehearsal Thursday in the Wise Cultural Arts Building at TJC.

From the front of a rehearsal studio at Tyler Junior College, Frank Kimlicko reaches down and starts a metronome.

Click, click, click.

About a dozen musicians in the Tyler Junior College Guitar Ensemble intently look at their music, a challenging composition by the Italian master Antonio Vivaldi.

“Let’s give it a shot,” Kimlicko says.

The sound of guitar music fills the studio.

“Energy, energy, energy,” encourages Kimlicko. He begins tapping his pin on a stand with the beat of the metronome.

Click, click, click.

“Good, good!”

He spreads his arms wide as the music reaches a resounding crescendo.

Click, click, click.

Kimlicko signals them to stop. Something is not right.

“It lost a little energy,” he tells the musicians, who seem to be hanging on his every word. “It lost about 10 percent energy.”

He is more pleased with the the second movement.

“So far, so good!” he says as they continue.

Kimlicko is preparing the ensemble for its Sept. 14 performance with East Texas Symphony Orchestra.

He is excited that the ensemble will experience playing with an orchestra and about the exposure it will bring.

“This is a wonderful opportunity,” he said.

Kimlicko holds a master’s degree in music from Southern Methodist University and has studied with Pepe Romero, among the most accomplished classical guitarists.

Before coming to Tyler Junior College in 1972, he was a professional musician.

He started Tyler Junior College Guitar Ensemble in 1980. It has performed with the Tyler Youth Orchestra and participated in guitar festivals at the University of Southern California and the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1990, the ensemble performed at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Spain, near Madrid.

The ensemble is made up of current and former TJC students selected through auditions.

One of the members, Alyssa Forrestier, became a member when she started at TJC a few years ago. She is taking classes at the University of Texas at Tyler this semester.

Forrestier plans to get a master’s degree in guitar performance and become a teacher.

When she first learned she would be performing with the ETSO, “It freaked me out a little bit,” she said. “The music is really fast and challenging.”

Kimlicko arranged the version of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Guitars that the ensemble will perform.

Richard Lee, the director and music director of the Tyler-based symphony, also has been preparing the ensemble for its moment on the big stage.

“They have been working so hard,” Lee said. “I’m impressed, particularly since this is not required for school credit.”

Lee said he has been rehearsing with the students so they can get used to his style of conducting and to go over musical ideas.

“We needed to figure out what was happening in the music, so to speak, and how to communicate this more clearly by playing in a way that makes the musical ideas come through,” Lee said.

The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at the University of Texas at Tyler’s Cowan Center.

Also performing as guest artists will be soprano Sooah Park and guitarist Isaac Bustos, the head of guitar studies at Texas A&M University.

The concert is being presented in partnership with the Hispanic Professionals Association of Tyler in observance of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Tickets cost between $18 and $65 and can be bought online at etso.org.

Kimlicko looks forward to being able to sit in the audience and listen as Lee directs the ensemble and ETSO.

“How they do will be out of my hands,” he said. “They will do fine.”

TWITTER: @Tylerpaper

Robin Bibeau

Ian Findlay

Alyssa Forrestier

Jonathan Gasper

Gema Gutierrez

Tristian Hill

Patrick McClain

Jacob Miles

Julian Mileski

Michael De Sanchez

James Tarburtton 

East Texas Symphony Orchestra kicks off Hispanic Heritage Month with music from Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Brazil and the U.S. This performance is in partnership with the Hispanic Professionals Association of Tyler. The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14 at UT Tyler’s Cowan Center. Visit etso.org or call 903-526-3876 for ticket information.