"Theme, Variations and Finale was written for and dedicated to my dear friend Benjamin Verdery. Ben and I met when he was nineteen and one of my first college students. It was clear then that Ben was a unique talent and destined to become one of our great guitarists. He is now Professor of Classical Guitar at Yale University. For this piece I’ve tuned the third string to F sharp and the sixth string to D. This allowed me access to harmonies and sonorities that I’ve not before explored. Many were...