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String Sampler Concert: Fingerstyle Circle w/ Genfan, McManus, Miler, Nelson and Petteway, plus The Secret Trio, October 26, 2013 at Woodstock Playhouse, Woodstock, NY

The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase presents its annual String Sampler Concert, featuring a Fingerstyle Circle, with Vicki Genfan, Tony McManus, Adam Miller, Kinloch Nelson, and Al Petteway, performing individually and collaboratively in a round-robin format, plus a special performance by the acclaimed The Secret Trio (Ara Dinkjian, oud; Ismail Lumanovski, clarinet; Tamer Pinarbasi, kanun). 8:00 PM Saturday, October 26, 2013 at The Woodstock Playhouse,103 Mill Hill Road, Woodstock, NY, 12498, telephone 845-679-6900, www.woodstockplayhouse.org. Reserved seating, tickets $40 and $30, available through the Woodstock Playhouse Box Office.

The String Sampler Concert is sponsored by PRS Guitars, WKZE  98.1 FM, D’Addario Strings, Homespun Tapes, and Esotec Beverages.

Fingerstyle Circle Artists:

Playing her own percussive technique of ‘slap-tap’ acoustic guitar, Vicki Genfan has been showcased as one of the world’s top guitarists at festivals such as The International Montreal Jazz Festival, Germany’s Open Strings Guitar Festival, Italy’s Soave Guitar Festival and hundreds of venues and Performing Arts Centers across the US and abroad. Vicki was one of the featured artists on “La Guitara”, a CD featuring the world’s top female guitarists across all styles. She was also the first woman to win Guitar Player magazine’s Guitar Superstar Competition, after competing against nine other world-class players in front of celebrity judges. In addition to being a dazzling instrumentalist, Vicki is an award-winning singer/songwriter with a high-energy stage presence. Drawing from folk, jazz, pop, soul and world music, whether covering the tunes of others or presenting her own compositions, Vicki has a distinctive style that pushes the boundaries of the singer/songwriter genre into new territories. While hopping between continents for performances, master classes and clinics, Vicki loves teaching and has two Instructional DVDs to her credit and is in high demand at clinics and music camps all over the world.

Vicki’s appearance is presented with support from D’Addario Strings/J. D’Addario & Co., Inc.  www.vickigenfan.com

Tony McManus has come to be recognized throughout the world as the leading guitarist in Celtic Music. From early childhood his twin obsessions of traditional music and acoustic guitar have worked together to produce a startlingly original approach to this ancient art. In Tony’s hands the complex ornamentation normally associated with fiddles and pipes are accurately transferred to guitar in a way that preserves the integrity and emotional impact of the music. To find a unique voice on so ubiquitous an instrument as the acoustic guitar is quite an achievement: to do so within a centuries-old idiom where the instrument has no real history is truly remarkable. His 2009 release “The Makers’s Mark” saw him showcase 15 of the finest luthier built guitars available. Recording a solo piece on each instrument, the project caught the attention of the mainstream rock guitar press in a way that acoustic work rarely does. Never one to be typecast, Tony’s new album “Mysterious Boundaries” is his most ambitious to date. An encouraging challenge from mandolin virtuoso Mike Marshall to learn the Bach E Major Prelude on guitar led to an exploration of classical and baroque music – seemingly very different to the jigs and reels that he grew up with.

Tony’s appearance is Presented by Paul Reed Smith Guitars, with additional support from D’Addario Strings; Tony will be performing on his Tony McManus Signature Edition PRS Acoustic.  www.tonymcmanus.co

“Aproaching his guitar as if each of its six strings were a separate instrument, Australian fingerstyle guitarist Adam Miller is a groove machine, creating a sound that invites comparisons to Tuck Andress and Charlie Hunter.” (Acoustic Guitar Magazine) It’s this talent that has seen him play with Les Paul, Tommy Emmanuel, Matt Schofield, Adam Levy, Joe Robinson, Jim Black, Ben Gillies (Silverchair), and the list continues…  Australian Fingerstyle Champion (2002), Miller also lectures in guitar at the University Of Newcastle, Australia. His music is a dynamic combination of jazz, soul, and blues – with a healthy dose of improvisation.  www.adammiller.com.au

Kinloch Nelson’s 40-year career has run the gamut from club and festival dates with jazz, country, rockabilly, and rhythm & blues bands, to folk concerts, classical guitar recitals and recording sessions. Nelson has taught music and guitar since 1974 including 25 years at Hochstein Music School in Rochester NY, residencies at Maryland Summer Center For The Arts in Baltimore, private studies, and workshops at festivals around the country. Nelson’s guitar work has appeared in Acoustic Guitar Magazine, been reviewed in Just Jazz Magazine, and featured on PBS TV.  Currently Nelson maintains a performance schedule, runs a Guitar Mastery Concert Series and is acting president of The Rochester Guitar Club in Rochester, NY.  www.kinlochnelson.com

Grammy winner Al Petteway is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists in the world. Acoustic Guitar Magazine listed him among the “Top Fifty Acoustic Guitarists of all Time” and awarded him Silver and Bronze medals in the magazine’s “Player’s Choice Awards.”  He is best known for his traditional arrangements and original compositions inspired by the Celtic, Appalachian and Blues styles from his home in the North Carolina mountains.  His music is featured on dozens of CDs and DVDs and in many of Ken Burns’ PBS documentaries, most notably the Emmy Award-winning “The National Parks – America’s Greatest Idea.”

Al’s performance is presented with generous support from Homespun Tapes, with additional support from D’Addario Strings; Al is a Homespun Instructional Artist.  www.alandamy.com/al.html

THE SECRET TRIO is made up of three astounding musicians, Ara Dinkjian (oud), Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet) and Tamer Pinarbasi (kanun), who came together to create a new type of chamber music, combining the elements of sound, texture and rhythm with new and interesting approaches to their instruments. They perform original pieces and traditional melodies that fuse the microtonal modes and improvisation of the Middle East, dance beats of the Balkans, and elements of jazz, rock, classical and world music. The delicate harmonies, rapid-fire synchrony and intricate counterpoint are astonishing innovations, full of rhythm and drive

Ara Dinkjian is best known as the founder of the highly influential and groundbreaking instrumental group, NIGHT ARK, which recorded four CDs for RCA/BMG and PolyGram/Universal. His compositions have been recorded in thirteen different languages by top singers and musicians throughout the world (including Eleftheria Arvanitaki and Sezen Aksu), proving that music is indeed the international language. His hit “Homecoming” (“Dinata Dinata”) was performed at the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympics. Ara Dinkjian is also considered one of the top oud players in the world. He was chosen to represent the Armenians in the international oud festivals of Jerusalem and Thessaloniki.  www.aradinkjian.com

The Macedonian/Turkish clarinetist Ismail Lumanovski grew up in the Balkans cherishing his recordings of Western classical music, jazz, hip hop and rock. His ability to perform both Western Classical music and Balkan folk music with such inimitable skill is a rarity; none but a few distinguished musicians have truly mastered two opposite musical styles. Lumanovski is perhaps the first Roma (Gypsy) clarinet player to graduate from the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York, and his understanding of Mahler and orchestral playing is as developed as his profound passion for and skill in playing the music from his ethnic childhood. Lumanovski is also a member of the NY Gypsy All Stars and the Grneta Ensemble.  www.ismaillumanovski.com

Tamer Pinarbasi is THE Master of the Turkish kanun, an 80-string lap zither with dozens of little levers to raise and lower the strings’ pitches in microtones. Traditionally played with two thumb picks, Pinarbasi has developed an innovative ten-fingered technique on the kanun that is nothing less than astounding. In the words of master oud player Haig Manoukian, “There are kanun players, and then there is Tamer. No one else can do what he does.” Pinarbasi also plays with the NY Gypsy All Stars, and his 2009 and 2010 Woodstock performances with the Ara Dinkjian Trio were simply stunning. Prepare to be amazed.  www.facebook.com/TamerPinarbasi

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