Guitars Alive VI |
Guitars Alive VI was on Saturday, April 5th, 2008. The tremendous success of the first five Guitars Alive concerts had now led to many school guitar groups in the area wanting to be part of the event. Also, ever since Guitars Alive producers Philip Candelaria, Paul Dunn and Gary DiSalle had performed in Guitars Alive II, there had been requests from the public for them to return as headliners.So, Guitars Alive VI presented more Sudbury area guitar ensembles than ever before, and the Guitars Alive Trio headlined the event. This also helped Guitars Alive generate even more scholarship and bursary money, since as producers of the event, the Guitars Alive Trio waived their fee to help the cause.
The first half of the program featured: Larchwood Public School Guitar Ensemble, under the direction of Janice Farrow, then Chelmsford Public School Guitar Ensemble directed by Francine MacDonald, Levack Public School Guitar Ensemble directed by Nicole Rocheleau, Sudbury Secondary School Guitar Ensemble, now directed by Carolyn Otto, St. Benedicts Catholic High School directed by D’Arcy Closs, Lasalle Secondary School Guitar Ensemble under Marc Savard and the Lasalle Secondary School Duo of Carter Umpherson on banjo with Justin Rideout on guitar, who performed Foggy Mountain Breakdown to a very enthusiastic capacity crowd. The first portion of the concert continued with the Cambrian College Junior Guitar Ensemble, then the Cambrian College Guitar Trio and the Senior Guitar Ensemble. Laurentian University Music program Bruce Boyer again ended the first half with a classical guitar solo. After intermission the Guitars Alive Trio presented their usual diverse program assisted by Tom Linklater on bass. With Philip Candelaria on Latin classical guitar, Paul Dunn on acoustic guitar and Gary DiSalle on electric guitar, this is indeed an unusual combination. As well, this diversity of guitars leads to a diversity of styles, which is a hallmark of Guitars Alive Trio programs. Latin, Ragtime, Blues, Swing, Folk, Nashville, Jazz – it’s all there with this trio, who received a standing ovation both for their performance and their hard work as producers of the Guitars Alive annual concert event. |