Announcing the 2012 Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase (and Tonewood Festival)
Staff | March 20, 2012 | Comment
The 2012 Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase (and Tonewood Festival), will be held October 26, 27 & 28, 2012, at the Bearsville Theater and Utopia Soundstage, 291 & 293 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 12498. The Woodstock Invitational is an alternative guitar show, featuring fine, contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed musical instruments, exhibited by their makers.
Entering its fourth year as a public event, The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase is an intimate gathering for the community of acoustic stringed-instrument builders, players, collectors and aficionados. Fine, handmade acoustic instruments such as these are not usually available in music stores or other retail environments. This is a rare opportunity for the public to see, hear, play, buy or commission custom-made instruments – the finest examples of the luthiers’ art – gathered together in one place. Meet the builders, discuss custom instruments, and hear some fine music. Nylon-string classical and flamenco guitars, steel-string guitars – flattops, archtops, manouche, resonators, hybrids – plus mandolins, lutes, ouds, ukuleles, banjos, violins and bows will be on display in the Bearsville Theater. Other vendors include tonewood dealers, parts and tool suppliers, string and accessories manufacturers, publications and instructional materials, our Sponsors, plus a Special Exhibit of rare and significant historic, vintage and contemporary instruments loaned by major collectors, all right next door to the Bearsville Theater in the Utopia Soundstage Vendors Annex. Also in the Vendors Annex, in conjunction with Northwind Timber, is Tonewood Festival, a pre-Showcase shopping opportunity featuring a number of fine tonewood dealers, open to the public with free admission on Friday October 19, and included in the price of admission Saturday and Sunday October 20 & 21.
There is continuous live music, including luthier mini-concerts, demos and special appearances throughout Friday and Saturday, by some of the nation’s finest musicians, in the Bearsville Theater Lounge, included in the price of admission. There will also be a series of instructional clinics and workshops for players, plus seminars and colloquia for builders, by separate admission. Plus our annual String Sampler Concert of acoustic music featuring internationally known artists, details to be announced.
The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase is nationally advertised in the guitar press, locally promoted in regional journals and papers, and draws attendees from the populous heart of the northeastern seaboard. The 2011 Woodstock Invitational featured some 50 exhibitors, and drew approximately 1500 attendees over two days.
Woodstock, New York is an internationally known art and music community with a deep pool of notable local talent. Only a two-hour drive from New York City, convenient to Upstate New York and the New England region, there will be peak autumn foliage in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. The Bearsville Theater is an historic venue built by music-impresario Albert Grossman as a part of his Bearsville Sound complex. The Utopia Soundstage was built for musician/producer Todd Rundgren. The two-day show is open to the public by admission. A portion of any proceeds will benefit The John Herald Fund, Family of Woodstock, regional food banks and local soup kitchens.
Sponsors include ACOUSTIC GUITAR Magazine; the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans/GUITARMAKER Magazine; D’ADDARIO STRINGS & PLANET WAVES Music Accessories/D’Addario & Company, Inc.; FISHMAN Acoustic Amplification; The FRETBOARD JOURNAL; GUITAR PLAYER Magazine; Hudson Valley Homes & Land; LA BELLA STRINGS/E. & O. Mari, Inc.; and the Woodstock, NY Chamber of Commerce and Arts.
Exhibitors will be listed on our website as they are confirmed. For more information, exhibitor applications, history, links, updates, directions, lodging, etc., please visit www.woodstockinvitational.com
EXHIBITOR INQUIRIES: This Press Release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an invitation to exhibit. Please note that we are already SOLD OUT of Luthier and Vendor Exhibitor space for October 2012, with a substantial waiting list for any cancellations. Feel free to contact us regarding 2013 and future Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcases.