The ninth edition of the Southern Illinois University Carbondale International Guitar Festival starts Sunday, Nov. 12, with a twist — partnering with the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society to offer audiences an exciting series of concerts.
Hosted by the School of Music, the festival will share three concerts with the chamber music society in fall 2023 and spring 2024. The festival offers master classes, lectures and concerts.
The festival begins with performances on Sunday and Tuesday, Nov. 14, with a return to the region by Franco Galvão, acclaimed guitarist, arranger, composer and music producer from Sao Paulo.
On Nov. 12, Galvão will present a solo guitar recital, “One Year of Solitude,” at 3 p.m. at the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship, 105 N. Parrish Lane. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $5 for students with an ID.
Rossana Cauti, upper strings faculty in the SIU School of Music, said “One Year of Solitude” arises from feelings of solitude and loneliness that Galvão explored during the COVID-19 pandemic. The concert, which features Galvão playing a seven-string guitar, “takes the audience to experience the possibility of falling and the greatness of flying.”
“The repertoire was selected as representative of the Brazilian way of playing guitar, which has such
long tradition and subtleness in its style,” she said.
Franco will also introduce the audience to the main aspects of Brazilian music and history.
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, Galvão will perform with the SIU Versa’tile Chamber Ensemble in a free concert at 7 p.m. at the Old Baptist Foundation on campus. The ensemble will feature SIU master’s students Iasmim Bonfim de Carvalho on violin, Maria del Mar Añasco Mina and Noah Brown on viola, and Catherine Begin on cello.
The concert series is sponsored by the SIU School of Music, the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Society and the SIU Fine Arts Activity Fee.
Ticket information and a complete schedule of master classes and concerts is available on the guitar festival’s website. More information on the festival is available by contacting Isaac Lausell, associate professor of guitar and jazz and director of jazz studies in the SIU School of Music, at 618-536-8742 or isaac.lausell@siu.edu. High school or middle school programs that would like to be sponsored to attend the festival should contact Lausell by email.
