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Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas traces his development as a classical guitarist from his childhood in Cuba through his education and professional career in the United Kingdom. His musical upbringing was shaped by an unusually broad cultural environment: children’s choral music, the Cuban classical-guitar tradition, Nueva Trova, African music, Soviet recordings, and popular music such as the Jackson Five.

His earliest musical experiences came through the children’s choir Pinquio, directed by María Esrius and Nora García. Although he initially attempted to study violin, he ultimately found his instrument in the guitar, beginning his formal studies with Fernando López. His education was grounded in the Cuban guitar school associated with Isaac Nicola, whose pedagogical tradition emerged from Nicola’s studies with Emilio Pujol in Spain. Ahmed describes the method as incorporating European, South American, and specifically Cuban musical materials, demonstrating that his classical training was never entirely detached from his Cuban cultural environment.

His trajectory changed significantly in 2002 when he moved to London amid restrictions affecting travel between Cuba and the United States. His family background helped prepare him for this transition: his father had studied in the Soviet Union, while his mother taught Russian. In London, Ahmed entered a new musical and cultural environment and developed a professional career that eventually included performances at major venues such as Wigmore Hall, Royal Albert Hall, and Queen Elizabeth Hall, as well as recognition at the Cuba Disco Awards, where he received awards for soloist and instrumental album.

A major thread throughout the conversation is migration and changing perceptions of identity. Ahmed contrasts his experience in Cuba with his experience in the UK. In Cuba, he describes a strong sense of national identity in which being Cuban could take precedence over racial distinctions. At the same time, he recognizes a contradiction: despite Cuba's culturally diverse society, the classical repertoire he encountered remained overwhelmingly European.

Moving abroad made questions of identity and representation more visible to him. Rather than approaching representation primarily through a demand for external recognition, Ahmed emphasizes self-reliance, artistic excellence, and confidence in one's own work. His philosophy is essentially that an artist should develop the substance of their craft rather than depend upon foreign institutions to validate their legitimacy.

This philosophy is connected to his broader understanding of music. Ahmed's exposure to multiple traditions allows him to look for what he calls "connecting tissue" between seemingly different musical worlds. Cuban classical guitar, Nueva Trova, African music, Soviet music, rock, and European classical music are not necessarily isolated categories for him; they form part of the musical environment through which he understands himself.

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In this episode of Finding Our Way, Damian Goggans speaks with composer and guitarist Justice Phillips, an Austin-based musician whose relationship with the guitar began through Austin Classical Guitar's school programs.

Justice reflects on his early musical development, his experiences at McCallum Fine Arts Academy and the University of Texas at Austin, and the transition from classical guitar performance to composition. He discusses improvisation as a foundation for his creative process, his work with poets and vocalists, and the development of his compositional voice.

The conversation also explores Justice's wide-ranging musical influences—from Shostakovich, Bartók, and classical guitar repertoire to flamenco, jazz, rock, metal, pop, and hip-hop—and how these traditions inform the music he creates.

Later, Justice discusses his experiences as a Black guitarist and composer, the question of representation within classical guitar, and the challenges of creating spaces for musicians and audiences who have historically had less access to the field. Damian and Justice also consider the usefulness—and potential limitations—of terms such as AfroDiasporic guitar traditions, asking how musicians can be recognized without being placed into restrictive categories.

The episode concludes with Justice reflecting on his desired legacy, his advice to his younger self, and his current work as a composer.

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• Kareem McCullough reflects on his compositional process, beginning with improvisation, experimentation, and musical discovery.
• He discusses how pieces such as “Finding My Way,” “Aftermath,” and “Internal Shadows” came into existence.
• Kareem explores the relationship between improvisation and music theory, and how theory helps him develop ideas rather than dictate them.
• He discusses his fascination with modal mixture, harmonic ambiguity, major 7th and 9th chords, and internal dissonance.
• He reflects on how the guitar itself shapes his compositional language, particularly through its ability to blend and “warm” dissonant sonorities.
• Kareem describes composition as an archaeological process of discovery, including the experience of musical ideas emerging through dreams and improvisation.
• He discusses the influence of blues, jazz, rock, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, and classical guitar on his musical voice.
• Kareem considers what makes music Black music, emphasizing lived experience rather than a fixed collection of rhythms, scales, or stylistic characteristics.
• He reflects on the autobiographical nature of his music and the ways his experiences as a Black man in the United States inform his creative practice.
• Kareem discusses race, identity, class, solidarity, and the evolving way he understands his place within American society and the classical music world.
• He addresses the challenges Black musicians face in entering classical music, including access to private instruction, socioeconomic inequality, and representation.
• Kareem discusses the importance of seeing people who look like you in spaces where you may not initially see yourself.
• He encourages the next generation of Black musicians to “expand the net” rather than limiting themselves to a single musical or cultural category.
• Kareem reflects on his hope that, eventually, Black music can simply be understood as music—while still acknowledging the importance of preserving and discussing Black cultural history.
• Finally, Kareem considers legacy and memory, sharing what he hopes listeners and musicians might discover in his music generations from now.

Themes: Composition · Improvisation · Black Musical Identity · Classical Guitar · Race & Identity · Representation · Access · Class · Tradition · Musical Memory · Legacy