World Guitar Congress

If you are a guitar afficionado, Baltimore is the place to be in June:

The weeklong event will include concerts, recitals, classes, symposiums and exhibits by leading manufacturers of guitar equipment.

“It’s really just showcasing the love of the guitar,” said Johnny Hiland, who ripped into his “blazing chicken pickin” hybrid style of country, rock and blues at a Hard Rock Cafe news conference.

About 50 musicians will participate, including electric guitar pioneer Les Paul, classical guitarist Sharon Isbin and jazz musician Pat Martino. Composers Jim Hall and Ronaldo Miranda also are scheduled to participate. Emilia Segovia, wife of the late guitarist Andres Segovia, is the honorary president of the event.

Organizers say the event is being arranged to encourage interaction between audiences and performers.

Martino will hold a symposium for students and discuss how he learned to play the guitar a second time after a 1980 brain operation left him with amnesia.

Martino said the guitar “became a toy once again, the way it used to be when I was a little boy.” He said he hoped to encourage students of music to “be as playful as they possibly can and not to be consumed by the responsibilities and the confrontations of their upcoming career.”

Isbin, who organized an international guitar festival in 1985 at Carnegie Hall, said the event will be a celebration of the instrument’s versatility.

“One of the great things about a congress like this or a festival that brings together so many different people is it ends up spinning off in all kinds of new directions,” she said.

The event is scheduled June 2-9 at 10 different venues at Towson University and Baltimore. Two concerts are scheduled at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore. [AP]

More information here, including a list of some of the guitarists scheduled tp perform:

Brazilian Guitar Quartet, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, Howard Alden, Sergio and Odair Assad, Sheryl Bailey, Jennifer Batten, Dusan Bogdanovic, Jimmy Bruno, Dick Dale, Jerry Douglas, Marty Friedman, Jim Hall, John Hammond, Steve Herberman, Johnny Hiland, Sharon Isbin, Eric Johnson, Albert Lee, Robert Lockwood, Jr. & Bob Margolin, Beth Marlis, Juan Martín, Pat Martino, Adam del Monte, Les Paul, Paco Peña, Tony Rice, David Russell, John Scofield, Andy Summers, Martin Taylor, Marija Temo, Ralph Towner, Derek Trucks, Tuck & Patti, Benjamin Verdery, Frank Vignola, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Very impressive and eclectic list – June might be a good time to visit the sister-in-law in Baltimore.