CONTENT COURTESY MELBOURNE GUITAR FOUNDATION
The Melbourne Guitar Festival returns to Melba Hall, The University of Melbourne this September for its fourth iteration. Since launching 2015, it has grown to see concert artists, competition entrants, and festival guests hailing from all corners of the globe. The festival this year is especially proud to be presenting a large number of Australian performers, who are considered to be in the top echelon of classical guitarists in the world.
The opening act for this year’s festival is Stephanie Jones, a young virtuoso who has taken the internet and concert stage by storm. Her YouTube videos were the highest viewed of any classical guitarist in 2017, and for good reason! After a Wigmore Hall debut and several international tours, Stephanie will present favourite works by Regondi, Bach, Tarrega, Walton and fiery tangos by Piazzolla in an opening concert which includes complimentary beer, wine and cheese during intermission.
The Gothenburg Combo is one of Sweden’s finest and most original contemporary musical acts. Accessible, humorous, breathtaking ensemble-playing and a highly innovative way of using the guitars have made their concerts unique in the contemporary music world today. Fifteen years of intense touring has made their performances tight and dynamic. Their concert will feature favourites such as Rossini’s Overture from The Barber of Seville, Manuel de Falla: Danza Espanola No. 1 (La Vida Bréve), Domenico Scarlatti: Sonata in A-major and arrangements of ABBA and Michael Jackson!
Matt Withers’ career to date has seen him perform with highly esteemed artists of the likes of William Barton, Sally Whitwell and many national orchestras as well as maintaining strong commitments in the leading Australian chamber music groups Guitar Trek and The Brew Guitar Duo. At this year’s festival Matt will be teaming up with the illustrious Acacia Quartet (multiple ARIA nominated string quartet) performing works by Robert Davidson, Phil Houghton, a new commission by Richard Charlton plus the winning works from the 2018 Matt Withers Australian Music Composition Competition.
Harold Gretton brings a diverse mix of masterpieces to life with an interpretive approach founded as much on raw passion and imagination as on thorough research. He has won numerous international competitions, both as a soloist and in various chamber music combinations. He has been invited to perform concerts all over Europe, as well as in the USA, Mexico, Vietnam, and all over Australia. He has performed with orchestras in Australia and Europe, and gave the world première of Westlake’s concerto Shadow Dances under the composer’s baton. Harold’s concert will include Sor’s well-loved Introduction and Variations on a theme from Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Mertz’s virtuosic show piece Hungarian Fantasy, Koshkin’s highly colourful, imaginative and story telling The Princes Toys, three charming works by Weiss, and a set of Latin classics. Harold is also a very gifted composer, and will also present his piece Black Mountain. Harold’s concert includes complimentary beer, wine and cheese during intermission.
Dan McKay is one of Australia’s most-loved guitarists, and a familiar face for many, having performed extensively over the years in Guitar Trek and most recently as a permanent member of the Melbourne Guitar Quartet. Dan has given numerous solo, concerto and chamber music recitals across Australia, New Zealand and Europe. His festival concert entitled Australian Composer’s Hour will celebrate new and favourite works by established and emerging Australian composers.
Winner of the 2017 MGF International Concert Artist Competition, Callum Henshaw has been invited to give the closing concert at this year’s festival. Considered one of Australia’s leading young players, he has had success in a number of major national and international competitions, including First Prize Winner at competitions in Spain, Albania and Australia. His program will feature arrangements of keyboard sonatas by Scarlatti, the major work Mosstrooper Peak by Australian composer Nigel Westlake, and favourites by Ponce and Barrios.
Each year this festival hosts a competition open to all ages and abilities. With Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Concert Artist categories available, the competition sees guitarists from all over Australia and the world visiting Melbourne to perform on stage. Large cash and product prizes are available in each category with a $1000 cash prize and a paid eight-concert tour of Australia available to the winner of the Concert Artist competition. The winner of the Advanced category takes home a handmade guitar by Andrew Doriean ($6800 value), the winner of the Intermediate Category receives a Katoh DF-69 guitar ($2500 value) and the winner of the Beginner Category receives a Katoh MCG 85S guitar ($700 value).
There will be a number of masterclasses and presentations taking place across the weekend with masterclasses by Harold Gretton, Stephanie Jones, Callum Henshaw and the Gothenburg Combo. Andrew Doriean will be giving a presentation on his guitar building methods and luthier Chris Wynne will give a presentation on guitar construction using Australian Tonewoods.
There will be a large number of displays featuring notable guitar makers, dealers and music stores including Yamaha Music, Katoh Guitars, Hans Music, Thomas Lloyd Guitars, Hannabach Strings, Admira Guitars, Augustine Strings, Zoom recorders, Sony Products, and luthiers Andrew Doriean, Jayson Elazzi, Kim Lissarrague, Dan Kellaway, Cary Pedicini, Andrew Doriean, Derek Pendavingh, David Chin, Simon Rovis-Hermann and Sean Langelier.
The Melbourne Guitar Foundation was founded in 2014 by local guitarists Michael MacManus (Melbourne Guitar Quartet) M.Mus and Evan Hopkins M.Mus, with a mission to promote and cultivate the classical guitar in Australia. This festival is the largest event on the MGF calendar and is all about creating an inclusive and vibrant community event centred around world class performances.
The Melbourne Guitar Foundation would like to acknowledge the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, as main sponsors for the Melbourne Guitar Festival.
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