5th Annual Tennessee Guitar Festival at MTSU March 16-21 - All Concerts FREE

The biggest event of it's kind in the state - the Tennessee Guitar Festival begins this Friday at MTSU. There will be 5 consecutive nights of guitar concerts, all concerts free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 8:00 pm and are in MTSU's Hinton Music Hall. In addition, there will be 3 public masterclasses free and open to all. [Schedule here]

We are fortunate to be able to present these world class guitarists through grants from the Community Foundation of Middle TN, the D'Addario Foundation, and MTSU.

The next two consecutive Tuesday "Live in Studio C" programs on WPLN FM 90.3 will feature festival artists (11 am and 8 pm).

In addition to the usual excellent solo guitar concerts, look for some interesting stuff on opening night. William Yelverton will be performing on Renaissance lute and guitar and some duos with Deanna Hahn on flute. Roger Hudson will be performing with percussionist David Pruett - their duo 'Bella Musiqa.' Roger has become one of Nashville finest oud players. He'll be performing his own great stuff on guitar and some Turkish music on oud with David playing darbukkah (Arabic hand drum).

Saturday, Steve Robinson will be performing a solo guitar concert ... hailed by the NYT for his "effortless virtuosity with intelligence and good taste." (Man, how'd you like to have a quote like that!)

Sunday brings Mike Chapdelaine.... this will be definitely something different. (Mike has been known to perform on rollerskates) Chapdelaine is the only guitarist to win both the Guitar Foundation of America International Classical Guitar Competition and the National Fingerstyle Championships in Winfield, Kansas. He’ll play a program with both steel string and classical guitar that’ll include his own works as well as arrangements of pop/rock standards.

Monday, Richard Todd will be performing. His program looks to be one of the most substantial of the festival. He'll be doing the entire Bach D minor violin partita (including the infamous Chaconne). He's such a flawless player, it should be great.

Tuesday, Mike Patilla will be playing a great program of both European classical stuff and South American Music.

If you like solo/classical guitar music, if you're looking for a cheap date (everything is free) and if you happen to be a guitar player looking to be inspired by some great players, please come. All concerts start at 8 pm. If you're a high school guitarist looking to possibly major in music in college, this festival and the masterclasses are strongly recommended!!

It's only once a year, so come on over. See you there...