International Guitar Festival of Great Britain

In 2007, this national music festival, based in Wirral, celebrates its 19th year at the forefront of the celebration of one of the world’s most popular musical instruments.

Nineteen years and hundreds of guitarists later the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain is still striving to expose the rich seam of the guitar within the music of the world. Unique in its structure, the Guitar Festival presents concerts and workshops showcasing the widest range of guitar styles performed by world-class artists. The events are held in a variety of settings, ranging from concert halls and galleries, to theatres.

The Wirral celebrates the guitar throughout the month of November and as an area that has a strong tradition of local players and enthusiasts; no place is better suited to host such an event.

The early days of the festival established a serious and committed administration and audience for guitar music in the classical tradition and offered players within all genres the opportunity to be listened to in intimate surroundings with an informed and enthusiastic audience with open minds and ears.

The intimacy and integrity of the festival has continued over the years as the festival has moved into different venues and attracted a wider audience from outside of the immediate area and artists from around the globe. A series of large-scale concerts to run alongside Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008 and a ‘cutting edge’ series of concerts concentrating on guitar innovators are all plans for the future.

This year the festival continues to offer a diverse range of guitar music with some of the finest players in the world visiting us in November. We hope that you will join us at the concerts, workshops and recitals keeping the seventeen-year tradition of fine artists and superb audiences strong throughout the Wirral.

The 2007 programme features performers such as Neil Smith, Martin Taylor, Ralph McTell, Stan Yates, Nick Harper, Dominic Miller, Woody Mann, Otis Grand, John Etheridge and John Williams, to name but a few.

We get to our public through music – so could you!

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