NYGF Academy
The New York Guitar Festival Academy is an educational component of the New York Guitar Festival, launched in 2016. It brings together students, instrument makers, composers, audiophiles, and master soloists for discussions and workshops focused on various aspects of the guitar. The Academy aims to be a platform for in-depth exploration of guitar performance, construction, and its role in music.
Guitarists Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, Erika Anderson (EMA) and Ava Mendoza share and explain their methods of moving past creative walls. Moderated by Fabi Reyna, founder and editor-in-chief of She Shreds Magazine, on May 20th, 2017 at the New York Guitar Festival Academy. Presented by the New York Guitar Festival Academy and The New School’s Center for Transformative Media.
The Life of a Luthier
How visibility can create the next generation of guitar builders. Local repair women and luthiers Rachel Rosenkrantz, Mamie Minch, and Chloe Swantner discuss their experiences in starting, maintaining and inspiring the humble career of guitar building. Moderated by Fabi Reyna, the founder and editor-in-chief of She Shreds magazine.
Debashish Bhattacharya
The world is full of great guitarists, and India is full of gifted classical musicians. But in both worlds, Debashish Bhattacharya cuts a singular figure. Playing a specially-designed slide guitar, he has made his instrument an extraordinarily versatile and emotive purveyor of India's ancient raga tradition, while attracting fans from around the world. He spoke with WNYC’s John Schaefer on May 20th, 2017 at the New York Guitar Festival Academy about feeling at home between musical worlds.
Fabi Reyna
The guitar is still an instrument most often associated with guys. Fabi Reyna wants to change that. Not just by being a badass guitarist herself, but by creating a place where the ever-growing community of female guitarists can learn from and support each other. That place is She Shreds magazine, which she founded and which celebrates women, and girls (Fabi is an alumna of the Rock Camp For Girls), who play guitar or bass and who totally rock. Literally and figuratively. She spoke with WNYC’s John Schaefer on May 20th, 2017 at the New York Guitar Festival Academy.
Sharon Isbin
Sharon Isbin has been at the forefront of the classical guitar world for over 40 years. More than a virtuoso, she has commissioned more new concertos than any other guitarist, including a major new work by John Corigliano. And she has a long history of performing with leading Brazilian and jazz musicians as well. Truly the First Lady Of The Guitar, she spoke with WNYC’s John Schaefer on May 20th, 2017 at the New York Guitar Festival Academy about a career that has sent her from Italy as a young girl to the White House in 2009.
David Torn interview
Guitarist, texturalist and composer David Torn talks about Prezens. This new CD marks his return to the ECM label, twenty years after the release of Cloud Over Mercury. Torn has contributed to recordings by artists as diverse as David Bowie, Jeff Beck, kd lang, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tori Amos, and John Legend. Very much in demand in Hollywood, his music is featured in The Big Lebowski, Traffic, Friday Night Lights, The Order, March of the Penguins, and numerous other feature films.
WNYC's John Schaefer discusses global guitar traditions at the New York Guitar Festival
Author, radio host, and New York Guitar Festival co-founder John Schaefer talks about the guitar's impact around the world. Schaefer is the host of WNYC's innovative music talk show "Soundcheck," which features live performances and interviews with a variety of guests. Since 1982, Schaefer has also hosted and produced the popular new music radio program "New Sounds," hailed as "The #1 radio show for the Global Village" by Billboard magazine.
Vernon Reid discusses
the musical legacy of Jimi Hendrix
Vernon Reid, founder, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the band Living Colour, and co-founder of the Black Rock Coalition, discusses the musical legacy of Jimi Hendrix. Interviewed at Merkin Concert Hall before his performance at the New York Guitar Festival's "After Hendrix" that also featured jazz/experimental guitarist David Torn, and classical guitarist/composer Benjamin Verdery. March 16, 1999.
Ben Verdery discusses the musical legacy of Jimi Hendrix
Classical guitar virtuoso Benjamin Verdery (described by Guitar Review magazine as "An American original; an American master") talks about the music of Jimi Hendrix. Interviewed at Merkin Concert Hall before his performance at the New York Guitar Festival's "After Hendrix" that also featured jazz/experimental guitarist David Torn, and rock guitarist Vernon Reid (of Living Colour, and the Black Rock Coalition). March 16, 1999.