The only classical guitar festival in Thailand will be held for the third successive year in Pattaya on Saturday 29 October. This event, which is open to the public, is known for showcasing the top guitar makers and classical guitar musicians.
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The festival is highly recommended for all music lovers, players, collectors and students. It is one of the biggest and best classical guitar festival on the Eastern Seaboard with an impressive line up of guest artists from countries such as America, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Philippines and Thailand. The festival begins at 9:30 am with the junior and adult guitar competitions, which will be followed at 1:00 pm by a guitar exhibition with instruments made by world famous guitar makers. At 2:00 pm, there will be a concert by students of the Thailand Guitar Society and at 4:30 pm, the classical guitar star Hitoshi Miyashita will give an afternoon concert performance. This will be followed at 6:00 pm with a master concert performed by Woratep Rattana-umpawan, Santi Kaewjai and the Wong-Kojorn Guitar Quartet. This exciting day will come to a close with a concert at 8:00 pm by four classical guitar greats, Monching Carpio, Tomonori Arai, Paul Cesarczyk and Leon Koudelak. The Wong-Kojorn Guitar Quartet from Bangkok is a new group consisting of four very talented and experienced individuals. They played their debut concert on 18 September 2011 and were very well received and have since seen a significant rise in public and media interest. They have all won music awards and studied with world-famous teachers in America and Europe. As individual players, they have travelled the world giving concerts and playing at festivals. For the classical guitar lover, this is a performance that should not be missed. |
For the winner of the adult competition, there is a fantastic prize of a guitar worth $3000 and made by the world famous Indonesian Luthier Hanief Palopo. The junior competition winner will go home with a prize of 5,000 Baht as well as the opportunity to make a demo CD. The Father Ray Foundation will benefit from all proceeds from the festival. This foundation takes care of more than 850 orphans, as well as blind children, street children and young adults with disabilities. Tickets for this unique festival are 500 Baht for adults, while students with legitimate identification wil be charged 400 Baht. Both of these prices include a coffee break and soft drinks, which will be served between 15:00 and 18:00. The festival brings many benefits to Pattaya and to Thailand in general. As well as brining a new and distinct cultural flavour to the city, visitor numbers also increase, as does the international profile of the city.
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