Greetings, Beacon readers! Lauren Frick here, and unfortunately this time that doesn’t mean the Daily Roundup’s prompt 3 p.m. arrival in your inbox is indicating the waning hours of another work week. That’s right, summer fun is still in full swing, so that means we’re still playing Roundup musical chairs here at the Beacon. So while I can’t give my usual guarantee that weekend fun will commence in T-minus two hours, I can at least offer some Friday night plans as a consolation. 

As part of its 2026 Classical Guitar Series, the North Valley Music School (NVMS) on Friday will be presenting a special concert by Grammy-winning classical guitarist Jason Vieaux. 

The performance, which will be an hour long without an intermission, will take place at the music school’s Stack Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 14. Admission to the concert is free, but any donations will go toward the NVMS Scholarship Program. Donations can be made here.  

Friday night’s concert will mark Vieaux’s fourth time performing in Montana. Less than a year ago, Vieaux gave a solo recital in Bozeman, and in September 2024, he performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concerto de Aranjuez with the Glacier Symphony near Kalispell. He also performed at the Crown Guitar Festival in Montana in 2017.

“Montana audiences have been really great for me,” Vieaux said. “For this recital, they will hear a wide variety of musical styles and periods, from Bach to Latin American, a couple of my own short pieces from my forthcoming album Gratitude, and the first movement of a piece that American jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny wrote for me.”

Sought-after for his extensive concerto repertoire, Vieaux has performed with a long list of orchestras including Cleveland, Toronto, St. Louis, Houston and Columbus, and has made premiere recordings with the Nashville Symphony and the Norrköping Symphony. He has worked with renowned conductors including Giancarlo Guerrero, Jahja Ling, Gerard Schwarz and David Robertson.

Vieaux’s extensive discography includes his “Bach Volume 2: Works for Violin” released on Azica in 2022 to rave reviews for his “eloquent and vibrant performances.” Additional 2022 releases include “Shining Night” featuring his duo with acclaimed violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and Michael Fine’s “Concierto del Luna” with flutist Alexa Still, both enjoying strong critical acclaim.

Vieaux recorded Pat Metheny’s “Four Paths of Light,” a solo work dedicated to him by Pat, for Metheny’s 2021 album “Road to the Sun.” Vieaux won the 2014 Best Instrumental Classical Solo Grammy Award for “Play,” with the Huffington Post declaring “Play” as “part of the revitalized interest in the classical guitar.”

His performance with NVMS will be the third of four concerts part of the music school’s 2026 Classical Guitar Series — a new performance series that has brought some of the most distinguished classical guitarists in the world to the Flathead Valley. 

Curated and sponsored by Whitefish resident, classical guitarist, and producer James Stroud, the series represents an investment in the artistic vibrancy of Northwest Montana. The series will conclude this fall when Matteo Mela and Lorenzo Micheli — an internationally acclaimed Italian guitar duo who have performed in major venues worldwide — come to NVMS. 

Well, that’s all I’ve got for my tune today. Even though I can’t send you off to a fun (and hopefully smoke free!) weekend quite yet, I hope this newsletter still struck the right chord with ya. Let’s pick our way through the rest of today’s Daily Roundup.