Glasnost Is Sweet Music to Russia-Bound Guitarist

Listening to the street sounds by his Northridge home, Greg Newton dreams about the sweet sounds of another town: Moscow.

Newton, a classical guitarist who studied under Andres Segovia, plans to perform in five Soviet cities--Moscow, Leningrad, Volgograd, Kiev and Odessa--next May in a privately sponsored “Musicians to Moscow” tour. His fascination with Soviet culture parallels his longtime devotion to music. “I had a yearlong course in Russian history in junior high (Chaminade Intermediate School in Chatsworth),” said Newton, 28, “and it made a powerful impression. The culture is so vast and the history so rich. I can’t wait to go there.”

Whether he does is still not definite. Robert Rochlen, the trip’s promoter, said the group, which includes Newton and three other classical artists, must raise $15,000 for transportation, booking and publicity. That’s why the musicians are staging at least two Los Angeles fund-raising concerts, including one at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Japan America Theatre. The other is scheduled Nov. 4 with the same artists at the same location.

The response to Sunday’s concert has been limited, said Rochlen, who met Newton at a concert last year. “Realistically, we expect to get about 100 people there” and gross about $1,200, he said. The group will have to do better in November, he added.

Rochlen, a product administrator at Great Western Bank in Northridge, became interested in Soviet history while studying at George Washington University in Washington. In 1985, he traveled throughout the Soviet Union.

Although cultural exchanges between the United States and the Soviet Union have occurred more frequently in the past two years since the glasnost policy of openness began in the Soviet Union, the tour faces potential logistical problems. Rochlen said he expects New York-based Anniversary Tours to make arrangements with Soviet officials, but “the red tape is unbelievable.”

Newton isn’t worrying about money or politics; his mind is on music. As the first American classical guitarist to perform in Poland in 1984, Newton has experienced the applause of Eastern European audiences. Living in London, Newton arranged the trip through his English contacts. He found the trip very revealing.

“What I saw and heard was different than my conceptions,” Newton said. “You don’t see police on every street corner. The Polish people were the warmest audiences. We have this idea of the Iron Curtain that everything there is shrouded, and it’s not true.”

Newton plans to play American and Soviet compositions during Sunday’s concert as well as the tour. Among his repertoire will be the works of American composer Owen Middleton and Soviet guitarist Nikita Koshkin.

“I think it’s important to play music from our country,” he said. “I don’t think music from American classical guitarists is played enough by American artists anyway.”

As part of his solo performance, Newton will also play selections by Polish composer Alexandre Tansman. He will team up with flutist Laura Halladay of North Hollywood for other compositions. Halladay, 33, has been a featured soloist with the West Valley Chamber Orchestra and has studied under Roger Stevens, former principal flutist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

She echoed Newton’s sentiments about the trip to the Soviet Union.

“I never considered it possible that I’d get a chance to go there,” Halladay said. “It was a real closed culture, but not anymore.”

Joining Newton and Halladay for Sunday’s concert and the trip will be guitarists Peter Kraus and Paul Mayer. Kraus, of North Hollywood, and Mayer, of Simi Valley, will perform a duet. They will appear after Newton and Halladay. Newton will then join the pair for one piece.

Newton, who has appeared in concert all over the world, studied under Alirio Diza, Frederick Noad and Jose Tomas in addition to Segovia. He is on the board of directors of the American Guitar Society in Los Angeles.

Newton always expected to perform music on stage. Only he assumed his fans would be screaming and dancing, not sitting quietly.

“Like so many, I began with the inspiration to be a rock star,” Newton said. “But with my first teachers, I realized my true love was in classical guitar. I fell in love with it. It’s so personal. The flesh of your fingers produces the sound; there is nothing in between. The possibilities are so vast.”

Tickets for Sunday’s concert range from $9 to $15 and can be obtained at the Japan American Theatre at 244 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles, or by calling (213) 680-3700.