Day: August 27, 2024

This from Pauline who reports great success!

Timeless…

Announcing Cape Ann GuitarFest 2024! Join us for a celebration of guitar music to be held at Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, on September 28th, 2024, from 12:00 to 9:30 pm. Mariachi, Blues, Classical, American Primitive, and Malian Griot are all on the program, featuring local, regional, and national performers. In addition to the performances, there will be two workshops for guitarists, in Jazz and American Primitive styles. 

The versatility of the guitar will be on full display at Cape Ann GuitarFest as a solo instrument, ensemble member, and vehicle for storytelling and song. Cape Ann Guitar Society’s purpose is to elevate local guitarists as well as to connect with the global guitar family, and we are thrilled to present this diverse array of musicians under the big tent at Windhover. 

Festival Program

Workshops:

• 12 pm: Steve Lacey jazz guitar – Chord/scale relationships, common chord progressions and voicing, practice routines
• 1 pm: Nick Schillace, fingerstyle guitar, John Fahey and the American Primitive style. 

Concerts:

• 2:30 pm: Mariachi Guadalajara en Boston
• 3:30 pm: Cape Ann Guitar Society’s Brendan Evans, classical and flamenco
• 4:30 pm: Gloucester’s resident blues expert Bill Gleason
• 5:30 – 7 pm: Dinner*
• 7:00 pm: American Primitive guitarist Nick Schillace
•  8:00 pm: Griot singer, guitarist, and storyteller Boubacar Diabate and his band SambaLolo

*Food options: Order a Banh Mi sandwich with your ticket, BYO picnic, or queue up at the food truck for smash burgers and tacos. 

Tickets available here, or at http://www.capeannguitarsociety.org

Performer bios

Mariachi Guadalajara en Boston is New England’s premiere Mariachi ensemble, playing parties, shows, and concerts throughout the region. 

Classical guitarist Brendan Evans has performed, taught, and won awards throughout North America and around the world. A Rockport, Massachusetts native, Brendan performs and teaches locally and internationally, is the founder of the Cape Ann Guitar Society, and enjoys playing in various groups, including the original project Nightowls. Brendan holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in classical guitar performance from the Oberlin and San Francisco Conservatories. While pursuing his undergraduate degree Brendan spent a year studying flamenco guitar in the cities of Granada and Cordoba, Spain. 

Gloucester resident Bill Gleason has been playing guitar all of his life. He is self taught, and  used to hang out in DinkyTown Minneapolis with Bob Dylan before he was famous. 

An early devotee of traditional American guitar styles, Nick Schillace began studying fingerpicking techniques at the Augusta Heritage Workshop in West Virginia with artists including John Jackson, John Cephas, Steve James, Roy Book Binder, Del Ray, and many others shortly after picking up a guitar in 1984. Nick spent a decade adapting these techniques to acoustic and electric guitar, and later banjo, before entering the music program at Wayne State University, ultimately earning a masters degree with a focus on 20th Century American music identity.

Centering his research on the late guitarist and composer John Fahey, Nick explored the intersection of folk and vernacular influences and how these influences develop into a cultivated style for artists. This research still informs the way he approaches his own music, as well as his work as an educator via Orion Music Studio and Detroit Folk Workshop.

Griot singer, guitarist, drummer, songwriter and storyteller Boubacar Diabate from Bamako, Mali comes from the Mande lineage and has combined traditional rhythms with modern influences to create his own style of contemporary Malian Griot music presenting his own compositions and arrangements, singing and playing guitar with his group, SambaLolo. Singing in Bambara and Manding, Boubacar Diabate and SambaLolo create a performance that spans the full spectrum of Traditional to Contemporary Malian music from West Africa combined with Blues, Jazz, Reggae and Bluegrass – Bouba sings of our common shared experience of love, life and humanity, giving all an opportunity to hear the age-old West African tradition of Griot storytelling through song.

Cape Ann Guitar Society is dedicated to building and nurturing a community of listening and learning through guitar related concerts, workshops, and meetups. As a maritime center, Cape Ann’s culture is inherently diverse, and we seek out, represent, and learn from that diversity through the guitar. The Guitar Society amplifies local voices and brings visiting artists and teachers to Cape Ann, connecting our local communities with the global guitar family – music as cultural diplomacy. We seek to expand the repertoire through commissioning projects and collaborations with other local arts and historical organizations. 

Windhover Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center serving the greater Cape Ann region by creating and nurturing community through sharing the experience of the arts. In addition to public performances of dance, theater and music,  we offer classes, workshops, yoga and meditation retreats, and opportunities for community conversations about issues that matter.

Windhover offers sanctuary and shelter –  for the audience under the huge tent that now covers the stage and audience area, and for performers, directors and choreographers to work together in creative collaboration through week-long residencies.

Part of the Rooftop Evening Access at Beauport Hotelcollection

Bringing live coastal acoustic to you every Sunday-Thursday on Birdseye Rooftop at Beauport Hotel with craft cocktails and unbeatable views.

The kick off concert for the 40th Schooner Festival is scheduled for Wed Aug 28 at The Cut with Booty Vortex! Get your tickets here: https://thecutlive.showare.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=92

Shuttle Smiles aboard the lady Jillian

The construction of the Sawyer Free Library seems to be coming right along. The expected completion date is early 2025 so that’s coming right up! For more information on the project, check out this link. In the meantime, the staff is doing a great job at the temporary location on Main St above Mystery Train!

August 26, 2024 ~ Sawyer Free Library

Every Wednesday from 10:30 to 11:15 am

The Sawyer Free Library is thrilled to bring storytime back to 21 Main Street! Starting August 28th, join the Library every Wednesday morning from 10:30 to 11:15 am for a fun and interactive experience with the new Children’s Librarian, Tricia Balsan. Children of all ages, along with their caregivers, are welcome to participate in this engaging session where everyone moves, sings, plays, and shares stories together. Tricia, a picturebook enthusiast, will share some of her favorite books and introduce both kids and adults to the unique art and design elements that make these stories special.

No registration is required. If you have questions, call 978-325-5500 or visit sawyerfreelibrary.org.

Library Storytime at 21 Main with Tricia!