The La Guitarra California Festival is held every two years and is sponsored by Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California.  This was the festival’s ten year anniversary.

 

The 2009 Festival was held on September 25, 26 & 27 and it was a “Celebration of Guitar!”  They presented 21 internationally acclaimed artists in 14 events over three days!  There were ten major concerts, three Masterclasses, a free lecture, dozens of Luthiers exhibiting their instruments and the famous Forderer Collection of Rare and Historic Guitars was on display.

 

The first page of the Festival Program reads, “This year marks the 100th anniversary of the deaths of Francisco Tárrega and Isaac Albéniz and the 50th anniversary of the death of the Heitor Villa-Lobos; three of history’s great composer whose compositions will be played by guitarists forever. The 2009 La Guitarra California Festival is dedicated in their honor.”  This wonderful dedication is followed by three pages of their biographies.

 

This year’s festival featured an incredible artist lineup, featuring:  Manuel Barrueco, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Carlos Barbosa-Lima, Berta Rojas, David Tanenbaum, Carlos Pérez, Jérémy Jouve, David Leisner, Judicaël Perroy, Michael Partington and the Alturas Duo.

 

FRIDAY:  Music education is a hallmark of La Guitarra and the festival began on Friday afternoon with a Masterclass conducted by David Leisner, Co-Director of the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.  Maestro Leisner is a respected and perceptive teacher, and this class was attended by over 100 people!

 

The opening night concerts started with David Tanenbaum playing a program of composers Terry Riley, Lou Harrison and Steve Reich.  Tanenbaum’s second set featured a quintet of three guitars, cello and standup bass.  La Guitarra presents very diverse aspects of classical guitar, and this concert was eclectic and unique, to say the least.

Next to take the stage was the spectacular duo of Carlos Barbosa-Lima and Berta Rojas with a program of South American music.  They brilliantly conveyed their love of this music and the audience was very enthusiastic.  Barbosa-Lima’s solo of his famous arrangement "Aquarela do Brasil" was dazzling, and Berta Rojas’s solo of "Barrios’ Val Op. 8, No. 4" was magnificent.  They thoroughly captivated the large crowd who were on their feet many times, even before the encores.  What a memorable concert!

SATURDAY:  One great aspect of La Guitarra is the casual, friendly and festive atmosphere.  This event truly deserves the title of “Festival.”  The attendees not only experienced the world’s greatest guitarists in concert but the Vendor Fair was full of guitars and guitar accessories, and the Forderer Collection of Rare and Historic Guitars was simply awesome.  This collection strives to chronicle the evolution of the guitar from its early beginnings to the modern six-string guitar, and you can actually pick up and play these priceless instruments! 

Here’s something unique to La Guitarra - before each concert, two randomly chosen audience members are given large “Festival Gift Bags”.  These gift bags had a bottle of local wine, guitar strings, a T-shirt, a guitar cloth, and other guitar accessories. 

All during the festival, the attendees were lining up to receive free sets of guitar strings, complements of the festival.  At every La Guitarra there is a guitar silent-auction, and people were placing their bids on the beautiful instrument.

The 48-page Festival Program was attractive and very compressive and was given to every attendee at no charge.  It included all ten concert programs and even named the Luthier of each artist’s guitar.  All of the festival Masterclass students were presented with a Certificate of Achievement, signed by their Maestro, and each student’s name and city was listed in the Festival Program - one of the finest Programs I’ve ever seen.

La Guitarra is also affordable - most concerts were $20, the lecture was free, and observing an inspiring Masterclass was just $10.  The concert tickets were reserved seating which provided a more relaxed and sophisticated concert experience. 

The theater is a fine venue - 400 opera-style seats and the stage gently “juts” out to the audience.  Most artists chose to use a microphone and the sound was very natural. 

Saturday’s events began with a Masterclass conducted by David Tanenbaum, Chair of the Guitar Department of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.  Maestro Tanenbaum is recognized as a Master-Teacher, and his class was attended by 110 people!

The first concert of the day was by Jérémy Jouve of France.  Jérémy has appeared on the cover of numerous guitar magazines and has won many international competitions including the 2003 GFA Competition.  His program consisted of works by Rodrigo, Tedesco, Britten and Bogdanovic, each masterfully performed.  His stage presence was remarkable and the audience loved it all.

Then Welsh-born Michael Partington took the stage and entertained the audience with both traditional and modern works.  I thought the Leo Brower Sonata was particularly enjoyable but many audience members said they could barely hear his guitar and could not hear him at all when he spoke (I’ll never understand why guitarists refuse to use even a voice mic).

There was plenty of time between each concert to eat, visit the Vendor Fair, see the rare guitar collection or examine the artist’s CDs for sale.

 

The next concert was the Alturas Duo who are from Chile and Canada.  Their unique blend of South American and classical music for guitar, viola and charango is incomparable. Their pure joy and enthusiasm for this lively music was immediately apparent and enchanting. 

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet ended Saturday with a brilliant concert to a sold-out audience.  The “LAGQ sound” is familiar to any guitar aficionado and they never sounded better.  Their concert program barely fit on two pages in the Festival Program!
The first set started with Rossini’s “The Barber of Sevile” and then came 16 superb pieces from their “Music in the Time of Cervantes,” both arranged by the LAGQ members.

In the second set, they took the audience to South America with six pieces from their “Images de Brazil” and then back home with “Four American Classics” which included Count Basie’s toe-tapping “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” and Andrew York’s lyrical “Shenandoah,” both audience favorites.  They played two or three encores, I lost track.
An extraordinary recital by the legendary quartet!

SUNDAY:
The last day of the festival began with a morning Masterclass conducted by Berta Rojas.  Maestro Rojas is widely recognized as a world-class performer and Master-Teacher.  Her class was sold out - 139 people attended!

The day’s concerts began with a recital by Judicaël Perroy of France.  Judicaël was described as a child prodigy when he began his guitar studies at the tender age of seven at the Paris Academy of Music.  He went on to win First Prize at many international competitions including the GFA Competition in 1997.  His first set was a brilliant rendition of Manuel Ponce’s “Theme, Variation and Fugue” and “Sevilla” by Albeníz.  In his second set he startled everyone with his dazzling presentation of Legnani’s “Fantasia Op. 19”.  This was pure virtuosity right before our eyes, and it was breathtaking!

Then it was time for the free lecture given by well-known author, guitarist and lecturer, Dr. Thomas Heck.  His topic was “Spotlight on Guitar History” and used instruments from the Forderer Guitar Collection as examples.  Then Dr. Heck interviewed Jim Forderer as they picked up various instruments in the collection and spoke about the importance of that instrument to the evolution of guitar and guitar-making.  The lecture was very interesting and well attended. 

The next concert was by Carlos Pérez of Chile.  Although not a household name in the U.S., he is celebrated the world over for his guitar virtuosity and his compositions and arrangements.  His concert program consisted of works from little-known or forgotten South American composers.  His recital was plainly the most spectacular performance to be seen at the festival!  He literally stunned the audience not only with his impressive musical virtuosity but also with the genuine sincerity with which he played.  The music seemed to burst from his heart directly to the listener, as if it was just you and he in the theater.  Many in the audience saw it through teary eyes and I was one of them.  It was incomparable and it was spellbinding!
As the crowd left at intermission, they were still shaking their heads and muttering “Whew!” or “Wow!”  Then they stormed the sales tables and purchased all of his CDs. Carlos Pérez was a truly unforgettable experience!  Don’t miss a chance to see him.

The festival was to end with a recital by Manuel Barrueco.  The Festival Director, Russ De Angelo, told me that he believes a Director should never influence an artist’s program by asking the artist to play certain pieces.  So he didn’t mention to any of the artists that this festival would be dedicated to Tárrega, Albéniz and Villa-Lobos. 

Even so, with the exception of two pieces, Maestro Barrueco’s concert program consisted of the works of these three composers.  The first set was all Albéniz with Tárrega and Villa-Lobos saved for the second set.  He played these classical standards in the superb technical beauty that he is known for, and the richness of his tone was luscious.  The audience couldn’t refrain from applauding between each piece and Barrueco seemed to be somewhat unnerved by this.   He played three encores and ended the festival with his marvelously haunting arrangement of Cuban composer, Ernesto Lecuona’s “La Comparsa”.
The perfect ending to a magical three days!

Compliments to Allan Hancock College for sponsoring the festival.  And special congratulations to Festival Director, Russ De Angelo, for two years of tireless planning and promotion.

Russ told me that the mission of La Guitarra California is to expand the understanding and appreciation of all aspects of classical guitar. 
With the 2009 Festival it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

This was my third La Guitarra California and they just keep getting better. 
I won’t miss the 2011 Festival!

... David Bernard