Your future, our focus
POWELL, Wyoming — Guitar teachers and players alike are invited to the second annual Northwest Guitar Summit Friday night and all day Saturday, Nov. 13-14, in the Nelson Performing Arts Center at Northwest College. Registrations are due by Monday, Nov. 2.
The event kicks off Friday, Nov. 13, with a 7 p.m. concert featuring Corey Christiansen of Utah, recognized as one of the preeminent jazz guitarists in the world, and Michael Videon, director of the guitar program at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Saturday, the two respected instrumentalists will join Jeff Troxel, a music instructor at NWC, to present a full day of workshops, with teachers and students learning in separate clinics.
Christiansen, in his sessions, will focus on electric guitar and its application in blues, jazz, rock and other styles, as well as related technique, tone and overall musicianship.
Videon’s workshops are directed at playing or teaching classical guitar, with emphasis on right- and left-hand technique, tone production, repertoire, reading and ensemble playing.
Troxel offers his expertise related to acoustic guitar styles and how to incorporate the flatpicking repertoire into a school program. His instruction also covers technique, tone production, musicianship and the role of guitar in school programs.
The day wraps up with a round table discussion for teachers and separate activity for students.
The Northwest Guitar Summit is open to all guitar educators and players of all levels, middle school age and older.
Troxel said the goal of the summit is to beguile participants into a deeper familiarity and comfort level with their instruments, not unlike the relationship platinum artist Joan Jett described: “My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.”
The $25 cost covers the Friday evening concert, all workshops and activities, as well as lunch on Saturday. Recertification credit is available for teachers who attend the workshops.
More details about the clinicians and the Saturday workshop schedule, as well as registration, can be found by following the “Festivals” link at http://www.nwc.edu/music.
For more information, contact Troxel at 307-754-6199 or Jeff.Troxel@nwc.edu.
The Northwest Guitar Summit is supported in part by a grant from the Wyoming Arts Council, through funding from the Wyoming State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.