I happen to think that the sound of a guitar orchestra is special, that it is a sound world of its own and there is a sound that no other instruments en masse can reproduce.
There are many who disagree with me, who, through experience of bad ensembles, think that guitar orchestra is synonymous with out of tune, imprecise, unmusical quasi-ensemble.
WYGF is the World Youth Guitar Festival, which conjures up images of children aged 8-18 jumping up and down with balloons, enthusiastic tutors being silly in a panto, and also some serious ensemble work with some of the best names in the business. It is a place where young guitarists of all abilities make music together under the musical direction of inspirational tutors and mentors.
This year, tutors include Gaelle Solal from France, the Duo Agostino from Australia, Frank Gerstmeier from Germany, Johannes Moller from Sweden, Peter Nuttall, Mark Eden, Mark Ashford, Helen Sanderson, Chris Stell, Nick Powlesland, Matthew Robinson and myself. The organisation was ably managed by Sandra and Trevor Dukes, Georgina Bashford as Head Mentor and the Festival Director Helen Sanderson.
This all took place in the hallowed grounds of Uppingham School.
A couple of videos – the first is the rehearsal of my piece for Organ and Guitar Quartet played by Tobias Aehlig, the Amadeus Duo and the Gruber Maklar Duo. This is in the Oberstdat Church in Iserlohn – sorry the video content is boring, but it is more or less what the audience was looking at! Las Meninas Bailan refers to the famous painting by Velasquez and is a depiction of what happens below stairs! The main theme is a Spanish Christmas Carol, “Riu, riu, chiu” from the Cancionero de Uppsala manuscript.