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Bringing six-string to the masses

Four acclaimed guitarists to perform in Whistler as part of International Guitar Night
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What: International Guitar Night

When: Saturday, Nov. 7, 8 p.m.

Where: MY Millennium Place

Cost: $22 adults, $19 students & seniors, $16 WAC Members

There's something about the guitar, that ever-present, seemingly common instrument that resonates in everyone who appreciates music, regardless of genre. Something that even acclaimed guitarist Brian Gore can't quite put his finger on.

"...Guitar is one of those interesting things - it's something that people often think you need to know about from an insider's perspective and yet it's the most pervasive instrument in the world. So a lot of people do know a lot about guitar and they just don't realize it," he said in a recent interview.

Gore wanted to bring classical, original guitar to a larger audience, so he decided to start International Guitar Night, an evening of phenomenal musical talent, back in 1995. Since then, the annual tour has grown into what is largely considered to be the world's premier touring guitar festival, bringing together an assortment of innovative acoustic guitarists to exchange musical ideas in public concert.

"I think that there's a lot of great guitar music out there in the world, and not as many people know about it or get a chance to see it in concert as should," Gore explained.

During each tour, Gore invites a new group of luminaries to join him for evenings of solos, duets and quartets that highlight their skills and influences . With an annual rotation of new artists circling into the performance, the event is also a great place for guitarists and composers to play their latest original songs and share musical ideas with their peers.

"It's kind of now evolved into a little bit more of showing some cross-cultural harmony and that's always important," Gore said. "We also feature guitarists that come from a wide variety of stylistic backgrounds, so putting them together and having them play together is also seldom experienced."

This year's lineup, version 10.0, includes Gore, Lulo Reinhardt, Stephen Bennett and Itamar Erez.

Gore is a melodic finger-style guitarist and author from San Francisco. He started International Guitar Night in 1995 with the idea of creating a cultural haven for some of the world's finest guitarists to get together and share their original ideas in a public forum. Since then, he has overseen the expansion of IGN as it has grown to reach beyond the U.S. borders and creep into Canada and the U.K.

Reinhardt learned to play gypsy jazz as a child on his grandfather's django Reinhardt model guitar. Later in life, he traveled to southern Spain searching out flamenco roots, and then onto South America, where he explored a range of Latin jazz styles. The end result of this travel and research is a distinctly elegant style of Latin swing.

Bennett wields an impressive range of instruments on stage - his great-grandfather's harp guitar, a 1930 National Steel, and a standard six-string guitar. A native of Oregon, Bennett grew up in New York and now lives in Virginia, where he composes emotionally charged, intellectual music. To date, he has released 18 solo albums and founded the Harp Guitar Gathering, a weekend of performances and workshops.

Israeli-born, Canadian-based composer, pianist and guitarist Itamar Erez rounds out this year's lineup with his fusion of European classical and jazz, to world music and beyond. He is the leader of the Adama World Music Ensemble and has had music commissioned and performed by various soloists and ensembles and throughout the world.

With a roster of musicians with such diverse musical and cultural backgrounds, it's somewhat surprising that these musicians have managed to find a way to meld their sounds and styles together in a live performance.

"That's always a question, and there's always a question mark about that - that's one of the things that always makes the show exciting, not just for players but also the audience," Gore said. "I would say this is the best album yet, the guys get along extremely well and there's a lot of great music, so I think we've done well on that score, this time."

The people he selects to become part of each tour definitely don't have to be famous, but they must be respected in the world of guitar. They are technically adept musicians who are creative and progressive.

"I always say the people who are part of IGN know who they are. They're very specific kinds of artists, this kind of guitarist that's part of the show," Gore explained. "It's people who do their own guitar music. For example, if you take a look at somebody like Lulo, something that's very special about him that makes him one of the few gypsy jazz artists that we'd include is the fact that he makes his own tunes and just doesn't play standard."

Now North America's longest running mobile guitar festival, IGN is back for its 10 th tour this year. The tour came to Whistler almost two years ago, and the night of mesmerizing musical talent is returning to town next week as part of the Whistler Arts Council's annual Performance Series.

And while there always seems to be a core group of guitar aficionados who turn up to every show, and are familiar with one or two of the players, Gore stresses that most people are just curious and passionate about guitar music, and want to learn more.

"There's a question mark that melts into surprise and elation as the show unfolds."