Stacy Arnold will return to Natchez Sunday as a concert guitarist who has played for audiences around the country.

When he left Natchez, Arnold was just a high school trombone player who learned a few rock and roll songs with his buddies.

“I kind of desire, especially in this past year, to give a concert in my hometown,” Arnold said. “It’s been on my mind in a heavy way.”

Arnold, a graduate of South Natchez-Adams High School, is a professor of classical guitar studies at Dallas Baptist University.

Arnold grew up in Morgantown, learned how to play guitar in Vidalia and is returning to demonstrate what he has learned since those days.

The guitarist will be performing at 3 p.m. Sunday at Grace United Methodist Church. The event is free and open to the public.

Arnold is a guitarist in the classical tradition. Instead of playing songs he grew up with, such as Kansas or the Doors, he said he focuses on Johann Sebastian Bach and Fernando Sor.

Classical guitar is typically played with the fingers, and not a pick, Arnold said. The style dates to the lute, a string instrument that pre-dates the guitar.

Arnold said many of his musical influences are Spanish guitarists during a 500-year span of time.

“It’s a unique, and different sound, compared to most other musical venues,” said Dale Young, who is the choir director of Grace United Methodist Church and a retired band teacher who taught Arnold. “You don’t get to hear classical guitarist very often, and it’s a unique sound.”

Young was the band director at Morgantown Junior High when Arnold joined the band in sixth grade.

Young described Arnold as dedicated and studious musician when he was in school, and the retired teacher was happy to help arrange the concert with Arnold.

“We talked about him being a concert guitarist, and I thought it would be an excellent opportunity for Natchez people,” Young said “We don’t really get concert guitarists in Natchez. I’m excited about the peppy upbeat sound.”

Arnold said he wanted to come back to Natchez after running into an old classmate, Martha Maron, in Arlington after one of his concerts.

That chance meeting made Arnold start thinking of home — and those days in the marching band.

“I think everyone knew me from music,” Arnold said. “So for me to come back, it feels like home. It’s heartwarming to come see everyone.”

Arnold was a jazz musician when he graduated from South Natchez.

He switched between the trombone and playing jazz with the guitar when he went to Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Arnold said he started to become more interested in how technical the guitar could be. He wanted to be able to use the instrument to its full potential and not just make notes he heard on the radio.

Wanting to continue his education in music, Arnold transferred to Belmont University.

“Up to that point I had a very limited knowledge of (guitar theory),” Arnold said. “Belmont was my first real exposure to that.”

Arnold soon gave up the trombone, selling his for the nylon string guitar required to play classical music.

The more Arnold learned, the more he wanted to devote himself to the hits of the past instead the 80s ballads to which he was accustomed.

“I loved jazz, and I loved classical music, and I loved rock music,” Arnold said. “But as I was doing all these studies, my ears started changing.”

He started to hear the same notes in every song he heard and could not find it interesting. More importantly, he did not find those songs fun to play.

“As a professional, trained guitarist, it’s sort of boring to me,” Arnold said. “To me there is no comparison to Bach.”

Arnold said he is ready to share his rock idols, such as Heitor Villa-Lobos, Andrés Segovia and Antonio Lauro with the people of Natchez.

“Ultimately, I just like to share this type of music. The classical guitar is something people don’t hear and see very often, if at all.”