Encounter is the keyword. At the International Guitar Festival Hersbruck everything should connect with each other: the most diverse guitar styles from classical to fingerstyle to flamenco or jazz; musicians from all corners of the world; teachers and learners; the artists and the audience. This universal, generalist approach is probably the secret of success, how in just 23 years a local, privately initiated small event became one of the most important German guitar festivals, to which the international stars of the scene travel to the Nuremberg region. Again, for the 23rd edition from August 12th to 18th.
Responsible for this is first and foremost the artistic director who took office 19 years ago, the Munich guitarist Johannes Tonio Kreusch. Here he saw and seized the opportunity to get out of the niches, drawers and ivory towers that had already spoiled his classical guitar studies. He used several levers: First, he opened the festival to all styles, a process that was completely unusual in the scene at the time. Then he didn’t just have his artists travel to and from concerts: all of them, including the big stars, give workshops and individual lessons here, so they stay for several days, if not the whole week, and come together with colleagues from all walks of life, such as the ” base” together. Finally, the audience is brought as close as possible to the musicians, during and after the concert as well as in the supporting program.
The framework conditions helped him: the unreserved support of the mayor – first the co-founder and current chairman of the association Wolfgang Plattmeier, then Robert Ilg, who has been in office for a long time. The growing identification of the entire city population with the festival, because on the one hand one could discover previously unimagined charms of guitar music and on the other hand proudly saw that this cultural highlight made the city famous. The – this year even freshly renovated – AOK training center as an ideal festival center with all possibilities for accommodation, lessons and get-togethers. Finally, the modern Geru Hall as an appropriate venue.
So it’s been about more than just the guitar for a long time. But also about the peace and reason-oriented community that the universal world language of music can create. What Kreusch has in mind is demonstrated very well this year by the “Classical Guitar Gala” on Sunday, the second day of the festival. In addition to the Belgian classical music star Jan Deprenter, Tatyana Ryzhkova and Marko Toptschij, a guitarist from Belarus and a Ukrainian guitarist play together.
Of course, despite all the philosophical superstructure, the music is always the focus. Already at the opening, where gypsy jazz with a homage to the great Baden Powell and the trio of award-winning jazz guitarist Martin Taylor with Sandro Roy on violin and Peter Cudek on bass lead to the guitar and percussion duo Ahmed El- Salamouny and Mauro Martins scores. Monday belongs to flamenco, first with the great and innovative dancer Ana Morales and her group, then with guitarist Alfredo Lagos, long associated with the “maestro” Enrique Morente.
The magic of movement to guitar music will be demonstrated by the famous flamenco dancer Ana Morales.
(Photo: Sandra Neumann)
The big Fingerstyle Night, which has already become a tradition, brings three top experts in the field to the starting line again on Tuesday: Alexandr Misko, Silvio Schneider and Adam Rafferty, the darling of the public from Hersbruck. After a Fiesta Cubana with singer Mayito Rivera & Sons of Cuba Thursday is about “The Art of Guitar Duo”, pre-exercised by the classics Pavel Steidl & Edin Karamazov as well as Katrin Klingeberg & Sebastián Montes.
With tango, blues, jazz and soul united under the auspices of an “Aire Latino”, the grand finale begins on Friday. This is contested by the Argentinian Máximo Diego Pujol, not only a great virtuoso but also one of the most important composers for guitar, who has already written a number of pieces for his friend Johannes Tonio Kreusch, and the singer/songwriter Gaby Moreno from Guatemala, who lives in All of America is an Emmy-nominated, Latin Grammy-winning star.
All in all, the Hersbruck Guitar Festival once again offers unrivaled performances in terms of both top and breadth. An offer to meet that one should not refuse.
23rd International Guitar Festival Hersbruck, Sat. to Fri., August 12 to 18, Geru Hall and AOK Education Center, www.guitar-hersbruck.de