Gitarrenfestival Münster: International & Eclectic

Few instruments can claim a similar rise to fame as the Guitar. For the third time in as many years, the "Internationales Gitarrenfestival Münster" is paying hommage to this quickfire acension with two and a half weeks of concerts and events based around international acts and a stylistically diverse roster. Organised by the “Pro Gitarre” society, the festival covers Guitar music from Lithuana to Japan and from as far back as the Middle Ages to the 21st century. Exciting solo concerts will be juxtaposed by large-scale orchestral sessions and stimulatingly experimental sounds will take turns with relaxing classical connotations. You can expect audiences to be composed both of enthusiastic colleagues, obsessive fans and complete newbies, which lends the Gitarrenfestival its uniquely familiar ambiance and will undoubtedly bring the curious in contact with music and techniques they may never have heard of.

While the program of the Internationales Gitarrenfestival has a plethora of highlights on offer, there’s a couple of gigs we can especially recommend: Fans of pure Classical Guitar excursions should enjoy the double bill of Jens Wagner and Robert Aussel, whose joint repertoire for their concert on October 26th ranges from Cuban maestro Leo Brouwer to Jazzrock legend John McLaughlin. The new trio of Erhard Hirt (Guitar), Martin Theurer (Piano) and Paul Lovens (Drums) is set to explore the territory of free Improvisation. The Brazilian Guitar Quartet will dive into daring arrangements of Baroque pieces by Bach as well as a blend of more contemporary composers. Meanwhile, the Gitarrenfestival Münster hasn’t forgotten to thank Hans Werner Henze for his dedication to the Guitar: “There’s not a single seminal composer, who has contributed to the its repertoire as much as him”, the organisors claim.

The faculty of Münster’s School of Music, last but not least, will dish up a special treat on November 6th, when father and son of the “Indian Slide Guitar” Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and Salil V. Bhatt will take the stage for a joint session.

Homepage: Internationales Gitarrenfestival Münster