By Lexi McFarlane, Times Chronicle
A collection of premier guitarists will be bringing their talents to Oliver this weekend for the first time.
International Guitar Night (IGN), billed as “the world’s premier touring guitar festival”, is entering its 26th year of performing action, and the Canadian leg of this year’s tour is kicking off on Sunday, January 25 at Oliver’s Venables Theatre.
IGN founder Brian Gore, reached via email, describes it as something most acoustic guitarists not only know of, but strive for.
“(They) regard it as a high honour to be part of the tours,” Gore says.
Four guitarists will feature in the Canadian shows, one of whom is classical and flamenco guitarist Itamar Erez, along with fellow flamenco guitarist Caroline Planté, jazz guitarist and vocalist Jocelyn Gould, and harp guitar innovator and fingerstyle virtuoso Jamie Dupuis.
Erez, who is also a teacher at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music, noted that this is IGN’s first time visiting Oliver, which will also be their only stop in the Okanagan. It’s something he is fully looking forward to.
“That’s a new venue (for us); very, very exciting,” Erez says. “I’ve actually never been to Oliver.”
Jamie Dupuis
There is also a special element to performing in a new locale for the first time, which you can only experience once per city or town.
“When it’s the first time, there’s this excitement, of course,” Erez explains. “(Like), ‘I have no idea’. It’s always great to discover a new place and a new audience. And usually, there’s a tradition of coming back to the same venue.
“So it’s great when there’s an addition of a new venue that we haven’t been to before.”
Erez’s favourite part about performing with IGN is getting to connect and collaborate with the other artists, each of whom has a different style to being a guitarist.
Caroline Planté
“This is my third tour with International Guitar Night, and every time there’s a lot of excitement meeting new players,” Erez says. “People that I’ve never collaborated with (before). And each person has a variety of styles and influences, and different kinds of guitars; it’s always fascinating and inspiring as a performer.
“You learn a lot just by playing with other people, collaborating, arranging the music.”
There will be a lot for the audience to look forward to as part of the IGN experience, too.
“First of all, audiences love guitars,” Erez explains. “People love that instrument. It has such a variety; it can sound like an orchestra, or… you can play a pop song, and a classical tune in flamenco.
“(Secondly), our audience is usually very excited, and we usually meet them in the intermission to talk about the music. And we have some merchandise that we sell, like CD’s and things like that, but it’s great to connect with the audience in a way that sometimes, you don’t get as a performer.”
But even with Erez’s description, you have to come see it for yourself. Gore says no two shows are the same, but they do share something in common.
“Each tour is unique, which makes every show a one-of-a-kind experience. Most of our shows sell out, and there has not been a night without standing ovations and encore requests in 27 years!”
Like Erez, Gore is excited to have the IGN tour visit Oliver for the first time, and knows all of the performing artists are eager, too.
“We are elated by this opportunity to debut IGN at Venables Theatre, which the players know to be an absolutely wonderful venue,” Gore says. “The troupe is excited about performing there and looking forward to seeing and being with the community!”
