Guitar Strings Strumming at Int’l Fest

THE skilled fingers of the national and international guests ofthe XI International Guitar Festival are ready to offer their best tothe public Sept. 1-5 at the National Theater.According to organizers, music lovers at the festival can enjoyperformances of diverse musical genres – from classical guitar topowerful flamenco, relaxing jazz, traditional Argentine tango,American ragtime, electric guitar and Cuban tunes.One of the highlighted events during the festival will be the performanceby Costa Rica’s Camerata Bach, who will play musicalworks composed especially for guitar and strings. Also, Costa Rica’sManfred Ramírez will debut his work “Fantasía-Bolero.”The concert “The Electric Guitar,” will be performed byacclaimed national players Aarón Retana, Camilo Poltronieri,Allan Murillo and Victor Soto and world-recognized NorthAmerican-Pakistani, Fareed Haque. The talented guitarist hasplayed with famous musicians including Sting, Paquito D’Rivera,Dave Holland, Joe Henderson and Cassandra Wilson, among others.U.S. guitarist David Qualey and Spaniard Miguel Rivera willopen the festival. Qualey will perform ragtime, swing and othermusical genres. Rivera will play flamenco, rumba, bulerías andsevillanas.ON Thursday, Cuban Eduardo Martín is expected to delight thepublic with his compositions and the Guitar Orchestra of theUniversity of Costa Rica, under the direction of Master LuisZumbado, will play “Concert for Guitars and Guitar Orchestra,”composed by Costa Rican Alonso Torres.Friday, German Jens Wagner will perform works by JohannSebastian Bach in the first part of the night. Later, Camerata Bachwill be on stage. Cuban Jorge Luis Zamora, and Costa Ricans LuisZumbado, Randall Dormond and Ramírez will be the soloists duringthe second part.Two concerts are scheduled for Saturday, the electric guitar at 4p.m. and at the night concert at 8 p.m., where Mexican CarlosLaguna will demonstrate why he’s one of the current and more recognizedplayers of the classic guitar while Argentine JuanjoDomínguez will give a taste of the folklore of his country as well assome Latin American rhythms.AT the closing concert Sept. 5, all the performers will offer aspecial repertoire. All concerts are at 8 p.m., except the electricguitar show on Saturday, scheduled for 4 p.m. at the NationalTheater.Ticket prices range from ¢4,000-6,500 ($9-14.70) for regularpresentations. The closing concert costs ¢4,500-8,000 ($10.15-18).For reservations, call 236-0914 or 297-1718.