Australian, world, premieres for Adelaide Guitar Festival
The 2016 Adelaide Guitar Festival at the Festival Centre (August 11 to 14) will feature four world premieres and a number of Australian premieres.
One is the moving documentary of iconic flamenco guitarist, the late Paco de Lucía (pictured), by his filmmaker son Curro Sánchez. The screening of Paco de Lucía: The Journey includes a Q&A with Sanchez and flamenco dance performances by Maria Bermudez and Flamenco Areti.
For Girt By Sea: A Love Letter To The Australian Coastline, SA director Shane McNeil and Perth band The Panics do a Q&A on the visuals and music came together. The Panics also do a set, including the soundtrack and a preview of their new album.
The Seville Guitar Festival’s Artistic Director Francisco Bernier presents his Australian debut performance in Memories of Spain. The repertoire includes Sors, Turina, Abril and Tarrega. The night opens with Italy’s Massimo Scattolin and Australia’s Sergio Ercole present their recent recording, along with Spanish cuisine tastings.
Revered Spanish guitarist Ricardo Gallén will show off his passion for the challenging work of Bach. Opening is Bogdan Mihailescu, winner of the 2014 Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition, with the Romanian native returns for his Australian debut recital.
Composer Ken Murray will perform three new works by Brazilian composers, along with a variety of works by artists including Radiohead and Guinga. Oliver Fartach-Naini directs Guitarissimo who will join Murray on stage
The Guitar Festival Symphony Gala, featuring the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, boasts world premieres of new works from Cuban composer Leo Brouwer and acoustic electric guitar by Australia’s Andrew Ford.
The four days in August will see 300 artists perform – 18 international acts, 66 Australian names and almost 200 South Australian musicians.
A new component to the biennial festival is Guitars In Bars, where over 300 local rock, jazz, blues and folk guitarists will perform in over 100 venues across the state. Some of the events are part of the Music SA’s new live music festival Umbrella: Winter City Sounds and SALA.
Another new addition is Resonance, where acts will perform in hospital wards and homes for older people around Adelaide. The program acknowledges the human need for music and the role of music’s role in health, wellbeing, and recovery – a topic discussed at a free panel.
Festival Artistic Director Slava Grigoryan says: “This year, our Adelaide Guitar Festival stretches into new territory throughout the city, across platforms and encompasses new ideas and musical adventures. I am so excited to be bringing together world-leading artists who traverse many genres, to be exploring the nexus of health and music in our new Resonance program and to be working with Adelaide’s own world-class musicians.”
Adelaide Festival Centre CEO and Artistic Director, Douglas Gautier says: “The 2016 program reveals a diverse and culturally rich selection of artists. It is the breadth, creativity and calibre of guitarists in this year’s program that perfectly reflects why Adelaide was named as a UNESCO City of Music. The Adelaide Guitar Festival has gained an international reputation as a prestigious and successful event that showcases both Australian and overseas talent.”
Other events of note include the Adelaide International Classical Guitar Competition, Coopers’ Late Night Sessions’ return to Space Theatre, 15 Minutes of Fame where hopefuls can try their luck in the spotlight, Meet the Maker during which luthiers show off their craft (including custom aluminium guitar maker Dave Gartland and his playable replica of Triple Eight team driver Craig Lowndes’ V8 Supercar), the Guitar Expo at the Dunstan Playhouse foyer where spectacular one-off axes will be displayed and sold, and the Yamaha Come and Try Room where the public can test new Yamaha product. There are also workshops (covering improvisation, flamenco technique and songwriter’s introduction to slide), artist talks and master classes.
The diverse program sees the representation of classical (Karin Schaupp, Adelaide String Quartet), jazz (Wolfgang Muthspiel Trio), progressive bluegrass (Punch Brothers), folk (Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, Daniel Champagne), contemporary flamenco (Damian Wright), rockabilly (Cruisin’ Deuces), blues and roots (Genevieve Chadwick), acoustic blues (Matt Walker, Shane Reilly), R&B and surf instrumental (Velvet Moth) and children’s (Josh Earl).
Full details at adelaideguitarfestival.com.au.