Current Issue #488

Powerchord to the People: Guitar Festival Launches 2016 Program

Powerchord to the People: Guitar Festival Launches 2016 Program

The Adelaide Guitar Festival has launched its program for the 2016 edition of the popular celebration of strings. With a strong set of headline acts, as well as a push to spread the Festival out across the city and state, this year’s iteration is focussing on growth and reaching the masses.

The festival will be held over four days in August with a diverse range of international and local acts playing shows at the Adelaide Festival Centre and other venues around the city. Ever the versatile instrument, a huge variety of guitar genres will be covered this year such as rock and roll, flamenco, bluegrass, rockabilly, blues and roots, folk, classical and Spanish guitar. Marquee acts include American bluegrass group The Punch Brothers, Grammy winner Béla Fleck, flamenco favourites Maria Bermudez and Flamenco Areti as well as Spanish guitar maestros like Ricardo Gallén and Ken Murray. “The 2016 program reveals a diverse and culturally rich selection of artists,” said Adelaide Festival Centre CEO Douglas Gautier in a release. “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.” A new set of programs will get feet tapping in the lead up to the festival proper too. A new initiative called Guitars in Bars and Other Places will kick off in mid-July, seeing more than 300 local musicians playing in upwards of 100 venues across the state in the lead up to the festival.

Punch-Brothers-Adelaide-International-Guitar-Festival-indie-classical-music-usa-americanRead our interview with Chris Thile, leader of American bluegrass group The Punch Brothers

In the spirit of local collaboration, Guitars in Bars and Other Places will be working in conjunction with SALA to bring local musicians to play at local exhibitions, and many city gigs will also take place as part of Music SA’s city-wide winter music festival, Umbrella: Winter City Sounds.  In the spirit of local collaboration, Guitars in Bars and Other Places will be working in conjunction with SALA to bring local musicians to play at local exhibitions, and many city gigs will also take place as part of Music SA’s city-wide winter music festival, Umbrella: Winter City Sounds. Meanwhile a health-based program called Resonance will bring world-class guitarists to play in hospital wards and old persons’ homes throughout the first two weeks of August. “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,” said four-time artistic director of the Guitar Festival Slava Grigoryan. Further events showcasing the festival’s accessibility will include the popular Meet the Maker sessions, where luthiers will demonstrate their craft, the Guitar Expo, where guests can explore exquisite rare guitars and the Yamaha Come and Try Room, where kids and adults can try their hand on the strings for free. Added to this huge roster are a whole range of film screenings, workshops, talent shows and artist talks running throughout. Adelaide Guitar Festival August 11-14 Adelaide Festival Centre and various local venues adelaideguitarfestival.com.au

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