INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT
Pierre Bensusan (France)
Benjamin Verdery (New York)
Cecilia Zabala (Argentina)
Brian Gore (California)
Concert Wednesday, January 28 at 7:30 pm
Calvary Church, 48th St. and Baltimore Ave. in West Philadelphia
Pierre Bensusan, Cecilia Zabala, and Brian Gore will teach a workshop,
also at Calvary, on Tuesday, January 27. Space is limited - please buy
tickets in advance or reply to this email to register.
http://www.crossroadsconcerts.org or 215-729-1028
INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT, North America’s premier mobile guitar
festival, has featured the best performing guitar composers from
around the world since 1995. Each tour, IGN founder Brian Gore invites
a new cast of guitar luminaries to join him for special evenings of
solos, duets and quartets that highlight the virtuosity and diversity
within the world of acoustic guitar. Since the beginning, audiences
have cherished the friendly informal ambiance of the performances.
Participants have relished the chance IGN affords to express reverence
for one another, and to collaborate rather than compete.For the
January/February 2009 U.S. tour, Brian welcomes French steel string
master Pierre Bensusan and renowned classical guitarist/composer
Benjamin Verdery from New York and guitarist/singer Cecilia Zabala
from Argentina.
PIERRE BENSUSAN was born in Oran, Algeria and moved to Paris with his
family when the country became independent in 1962. He taught himself
guitar at 11. Influenced by the folk revival blooming in Britain,
France and North America, Bensusan began first to explore his own
diverse musical heritage and then moved to the horizons beyond. At 17
he signed his first recording contract, and one year later his first
album Pres de Paris won the Grand Prix du Disque upon his debut at the
Montreux Festival in Switzerland.
Bensusan’s technique is clearly part of the fingerstyle acoustic
tradition developed during the 1960s folk revival, but his dynamic and
tone control is more characteristic of classical solo guitar and his
counterpoint arrangements often include sophisticated, highly
syncopated bass lines that set him apart from other fingerstyle
players. Bensusan’s compositions often start with melodies inspired by
various folk traditions, but he develops these ideas into compositions
of astonishing complexity, creating beautiful and sensuous sounds with
a sense of orchestration that goes far beyond what is generally
thought of as guitar music.
BENJAMIN VERDERY has enjoyed an innovative and eclectic musical career
and has been described as "one of the classical guitar world’s most
foremost personalities," by Classical Guitar Magazine, "an American
original, an American master," by Guitar Review Magazine, and
"iconoclastic" and "inventive" by The New York Times.
Since his 1980 New York debut, Benjamin has performed at festivals in
North and South America, Europe and Asia. He has recorded and
performed with many leading artists, and had music composed for him by
several composers. He has released over 15 albums and his most recent,
Start Now won the 2005 Classical Recording Foundation Award. Since
1985, he has been chair of the guitar department at the Yale
University School of Music. He is also a prolific composer whose works
have been extensively broadcast and performed at festivals and
universities in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Europe. In
addition to his solo tours, recording and teaching Benjamin performs
with guitarist Bill Coulter (Bill and Ben), his ensemble Ufonia and
with flutist Rie Schmidt (Schmidt/Verdery Duo).
Buenos Aires guitarist and singer CECILIA ZABALA composes and performs
music with a mixture of sensitivity, expression, technique and
intuition. She combines styles as different as Argentinian folk, the
contemporary language of SXX, jazz, tango and Brazilian music. She has
released two self-produced albums, Halo of Light, consisting of
original songs, and Milonga Without Words, dedicated to the music of
the great tango composer and bandleader Astor Piezzolla. In 2008, she
released her first solo album, Aguaribay, featuring originals and
interpretations of Argentine songs and instrumentals, with guest
artists Juan Falú, Quique Sinesi and Silvia Iriondo. She toured Europe
in 2007 and Canada in 2008 and makes her US debut with the 2009
International Guitar Night.
San Francisco "guitar poet" BRIAN GORE is gaining a reputation as one
of the most interesting and influential performers of "the next
generation" in fingerstyle guitar. A musical romantic, his
compositions draw inspiration from myth and modern literature. Hailed
as having "…one of the most unique new acoustic guitar styles on the
scene today (News and Review)," his lyrical, understated compositions
integrate classical and percussive techniques that display what the
Los Angeles Times calls "a characterful bounce and spaciousness all
his own."
Gore's style of playing offers strikingly beautiful tone and dynamics–
qualities that are often hard to find in steel string players. His
melodic, evocative songs rely heavily on the use of open tunings,
extending the "stream of consciousness" style of guitar composing he
grew up with in Northern California. Gore is an artist in residence at
the Boulder Chautauqua, and endorses LR Baggs Equipment, Ryan Guitars
and Morris Guitars. He is founder of the International Guitar Night,
sponsored by Acoustic Guitar Magazine. His music has been featured on
NPR’s nationally syndicated Echoes Radio, and many other local public
radio programs.
Brian founded International Guitar Night in 1995 as a forum for the
world’s finest guitarists/composers to play their latest original
songs and share musical ideas with their peers in public concert. This
has evolved into six critically acclaimed annual U.S. tours, a CD on
Favored Nations Records released in 2004, and a book of IGN
compositions scheduled for 2005 release.
INTERNATIONAL GUITAR NIGHT WORKSHOP
Calvary Church, Tuesday, January 27 at 7:30 pm
Bring your guitar!
Tuition is $20. Space is limited - please buy tickets in advance or
call or email us to reserve a spot.
SOUND SAMPLES AND MORE INFORMATION
http://www.crossroadsconcerts.org
TICKET PRICING
Standard price: $15 ($35 with workshop)
Special Supporters: $20 ($45 with workshop)
Discount price (for students, seniors, or if you can’t afford to come
otherwise): $10 ($30 with workshop)
Children under 12: $5 ($25 with workshop
Crossroads events are priced on a sliding scale. We are a not-for-
profit organization and want as many people as possible to be able to
come. If you’re unable to come otherwise, please pay the discount
price, and, if you can afford it, please consider paying the supporter
price so we can continue this policy.
TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT:
House of Our Own Books (3920 Spruce Street)
Brown Paper Tickets (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/producer/5868
or 800-838-3006 - there is a service charge)
At the door from 6:30 until we sell out.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Sat 2/21 - Amy Pickard & the Cradlers - bittersweet country songs
Sat 3/7 - Grainne Hambly & William Jackson - masters of the Celtic harp
Sat 4/18 - Keola & Moanna Beamer with special guest Raita Helm -
traditional & contemporary Hawaiian song and guitar
Sat 4/25 - Lissa Schneckenburger - New England fiddle
More events to be announced!
