This year’s Guitar Foundation of America’s festival attracted several hundred people and offered numerous concerts by players from all over the world, masterclasses, lectures, guitar maker and dealer exhibitions and, of course, the always much awaited players’ competition. The week-long event, from October 18 to 25, was held at the University of Quebec in Montreal.

      The event was kicked off with a concert by Uruguayan guitarist Alvaro Pierri, and it was a kicker, certainly one of the best recitals of the week. Pierri has taught at The University of Quebec for some years and has won prizes in South and North America as well as in Europe. His artistry was in evidence as he played solo pieces by Agustín Barrios and Egberto Gismonti and chamber works with I Musici de Montreal, including a gorgeous concerto by Canadian composer Jacques Hétu.

      The other great concert of the festival was given at the end of the week by the always astonishing Assad Duo. Brazilian brothers Odair and Sergio Assad kept the biggest audience of the event enthralled by their renditions of Moreno Torroba’s 'Estampas,' Milhaud’s 'Scaramouche,' two sonatas by Scarlatti, Leo Brouwer’s 'Tres Danzas Concertantes,' Astor Piazzolla’s 'Tango Suite,' and Ginastera’s 'Sonata No.1.' Their performance was impeccable and powerful, ranging from the most delicate guitaristic effects to wild flights of virtuosity, all carried off with the nonchalant mastery which is their trademark. The packed hall called for and got two delightfully entertaining encores from them.

      On the second evening of the festival David Russell performed a rather dry and academic program of music by Giuliani, Frank Martin, Miguel Llobet, Antonio Jose and David Russell. It was pleasant and instructive to hear nine of the sixteen Catalan folksong settings done by Llobet (the by now tired old warhorse 'El Noi de la mare' not among them) and very seldom played. Perhaps it was to balance the British against the Catalonians that Russell gave his renditions of six Celtic ditties followed by encores of a lot more. As pleasing as these might sound next to a peat fire with plenty of Guiness stout on hand, in a concert hall they become dull quite quickly. But David shook out his blond locks and persisted to the bitter end.

      The L.A. Guitar Quartet gave their obligatory nod in the direction of classical repertoire by opening their Wednesday evening recital with the overture to Rossini’s 'Il Barbiere di Seviglia' and then launched into the hot 'world music' stuff they have become famous for, imitating exotic instruments by the use of gadgets dangling from their strings. Three examples of Andrew York’s guitar compositions were played faultlessly in all their repetiveness and lack of musical imagination. York explained each of his works at length, describing his piece 'Pacific Coast Highway' as based on jazz harmonies when there wasn’t a flatted fifth along the entire road, not to speak of a trace of jazz rhythm. (Perhaps he was thinking of a flat tire.) William Kanengiser’s arrangement of Manuel de Falla’s 'El Amor Brujo' was a massive display of guitar aritstry which three or even two guitars would have made much clearer and thus far more thrilling.

      Finalists in the players’ competition were Patrick Kearney, who played a delightful recital for us in 1997, Denis Azabagic, Ioana Ganbrabur, a young blind woman of amazing skill, and Alieksey Vianna from Brazil. All were extremely impressive. First place was won by Azabagic who hails from Bosnia and, besides a recording contract with Naxos, will be given a concert tour of the USA in the upcoming year.

      The other major concerts were performed by the young Australian virtuoso Karin Schaupp sinuously running the gamut from Dowland to Koshkin, including a stellar rendering of Sainz de la Maza’s brilliant 'Zapateado,' and Paul O’Dette who tiptoed between two antique composers, Dowland and de Murcia, trying hard to get the most out of his little lutes, not at all easy to hear in a large concert hall.

      Minor concerts provided two amazing afternoons with the German ensemble Trio Con Brio which blended perfectly the guitar with viola and cello in works by Sergio Assad, Brouwer and Stepan Rak; and French guitarist and composer, Arnaud Dumond who offered a lyrical program including three introspective original pieces. The grand old man of South American guitar music, Abel Carlevaro appeared at the very end with a selection of his compositions topped off with the world premiere of his 'Estampas Concertantes' for guitar with guitar quartet. Yes, a week supercharged with guitar music concluded with the throbbing sounds of FIVE guitars, a crescendo of plucked strings not soon to be forgotten.