21–29 October 2016; 15–16 November 2016
National Forum of Music, Vertigo Jazz Club & Restaurant
An international music competition, organised as part of the 19th edition of the Wrocław Guitar Festival GITARA+. Many great guitar players from all around the world will come to Wrocław for open auditions to compete in one of two categories—fingerstyle and classical guitar.
The Wrocław Guitar Festival GITARA+ has had 17 editions so far. For years, it has been a unique event in Poland and in Europe, characterised by its rich tradition and high artistic level. It is called a celebration of guitar, because its atmosphere attracts many guitar players and lovers of guitar music from all over the world to come to Wrocław. The idea of the GITARA+ festival is to present diverse music styles connected with guitar. The list of genres includes classical music, flamenco (often accompanied by singing and dancing), jazz, Latino music, ethnic music and an endless fusion of sounds borrowed from many other musical genres. This diversity proves that guitar music has no clear boundaries.
Artistic Director: Krzysztof Pełech
Organisation director: Katarzyna Krzysztyniak
Organiser: Wrocław Guitar Association
www.guitarmasters.pl
http://www.gitaraplus.pl/
Paid admission.
Guitar Masters 2016 International Festival (known before as Gitara+), located in Wrocław, is one of the most exceptional musical events in Poland and Europe. This year we will host such remarkable artists as Anoushka Shankar, Tommy Emmanuel, Renaud Garcia-Fons Trio, Falk Zenker, Marco Tamayo, Vicente Amigo and Richard Galliano&Sylvain Luc.
Guitar Masters Festival’s audience might enjoy all kinds of guitar music, from classical to fingerstyle, jazz, flamenco or folk, performed by the biggest stars of the music world. Our artists reveal full potential and diversity of the guitar. They prove that it is a wonderful solo instrument, but that it can be also set together with other instruments in infinite number of stunning arrangements.
With 19 years of experience, dozens of artists from all over the world performing for us each year and 6 strings of the guitar, we not only deliver unforgettable musical emotions, but also show the true colours of that popular instrument. That is why, Guitar Masters 2016 International Festival, which takes place from mid-October to mid-November, is widely seen as a true guitar feast.
Guitar Masters 2016 International Festival is organised by Wrocław Guitar Society, non-govermental organisation established in 2001 to promote guitar music. It was co-founded by an eminent polish classical guitarist Krzysztof Pełech, who is also the artistic director of the Guitar Masters 2016 International Competition & Festival. This year’s edition of Guitar Masters 2016 International Festival is organised within The European Capital of Culture 2016 programme.
All auditions and concerts of Guitar Masters 2016 are going to be held in the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Poland. The building was designed by Kuryłowicz & Associates Architecture Studio, selected through an international architectural contest. The architect was inspired by a musical instrument – its shape and the façade covering imitating timber resemble the body of a string instrument. The foyer, covered with black and white Corian, brings to mind the piano keyboard.
The Main Hall seats 1800 people and includes the parterre, amphitheatre, choir and three balconies. The parterre is the part of the audience closest to the front of platform. Each of the three chamber halls has a unique character and is equipped with state-of-the art audio and video equipment.
The state-of-the-art acoustics of the concert halls have been designed by Arup (selected as Artec Consultants Inc) from New York, who were also the theatre planning and audiovisual systems designers for the proejct. Arup (and Artec) are known for highly acclaimed concert halls around the world including the Culture and Congress Centre in Lucerne, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay in Singapore, Harpa in Reykjavik, and La Maison Symphonique in Montreal, and Bartok Bela National Philharmonic Hall in Budapest.