featuring Andy Summers, Victor Biglione and Benjamin Verdery.

The Long Strange Wide World of Jerry Garcia:Though he was quite possibly the brightest and most philosophically articulate interviewee of his era in popular music, Jerry Garcia was not the guru that the media canonized in his name. While charismatic and charming, he refused to be a leader -- not of the counterculture that flowered in his hometown neighborhood, the Haight-Ashbury of San Francisco in the '60s, nor even of the band, the Grateful Dead, for whom he played lead guitar for 30 years -- "You can call me the boss, man, just don't expect me to make any decisions."

A tribute to the man who almost single-handedly defined the classical guitar in the 20th Century, Andres Segovia.  The California Guitar Trio extend the role and the repertoire of the acoustic guitar by mixing Bach and Beethoven with the Ventures and their own original music. Tim Sparks is a country and gospel-inspired guitarist whose classical studies and passion for the traditions of other cultures has resulted in his being equally at home with Portuguese fado and The Nutcracker Suite.  And Virginia Luque, a pupil of Segovia, brings classical music and flamenco thrillingly to life.

Hardly a guitarist alive is not indebted in some way to Robert Johnson, the most important and influential Delta blues guitarist in history. Three eclectic talents will each illuminate a different facet of Johnson's legacy: guitarist John Renbourn, who weds the blues to his native British folk traditions, singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon, harnesses Johnson's visionary fervor and updates it for today; and guitarist Gary Lucas, who extends Johnson's ideas via his own decidedly post-modern avant-garde take on jazz, the blues, rock and folk styles.

Hedges, an extraordinary musician named by Guitar Player magazine as one of the "25 Guitarists Who Shook the World" blended elements of jazz, folk, classical and other styles into a hybrid he applied such tongue-in-cheek labels as "violent acoustic," "heavy mental," and "acoustic thrash."  Paying tribute to the genius of this American original, who died in an car crash in 1997, are three former colleagues: the formidably talented bass guitarist Michael Manring, French Algerian acoustic guitar wizard Pierre Bensusan, and, in a rare performance on Hawaiian slack key guitar, George Winston.

This program explores the legacy of legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix, featuring a trio of progressive guitarists: jazz/experimental guitarist David Torn, classical guitarist/composer Benjamin Verdery and rock guitarist Vernon Reid (of Living Colour, and the Black Rock Coalition).

So here’s the question I was asking myself on Saturday evening, January 26, 2008, especially around the time I hit Albany and it began snowing: What is it about Brazilian guitar music that would make me want to drive six hours down from northern Vermont to Manhattan to watch a marathon of Brazilian guitarists?

The warmth and splendor of Italy has inspired guitarists and composers for five centuries. Our day-long celebration of Italian guitar music, from the Renaissance and Baroque to Berio and the music of today,  as performed by artists includingEliot Fisk,Bill Kanengiser,Connie Sheu,Dale Kavanagh,Emanuele Segre,Jason Vieaux,Nigel North,Hopkinson Smith,Pino Forastiere,The Harlem Quartet, andLionheart.

Silent Films/Live Guitars: Groundbreaking guitarists premiere original film scores for silent comedies by Buster Keaton.

Groundbreaking guitarists premiere original film scores for silent films by Buster Keaton.

Groundbreaking guitarists premiere original film scores for silent films by Buster Keaton.

Big thanks to graphic artist Jason Munn for designing our tenth anniversary festival poster. Check out hiswebsiteto see more of his excellent work.

2012 marks the 30th anniversary of Brian Eno's landmark tribute to the NASA moon landings,Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks. The New York Guitar Festival presents a rare live re-imagining of this masterpiece featuring the Brooklyn ambient ensemble Itsnotyouitsme, legendary NY guitar master Larry Campbell and special guests David Torn, Noveller, Tortoise's Jeff Parker, and Phish's Mike Gordon.