Category — Latest news

Although the nights are now drawing in and there are only 50 days until Christmas, here at WYGF HQ we are still basking in the post-festival glow of WYGF09. More importantly, it’s wonderful to hear how much fun was had by everyone involved, both from the perspective of our own WYGF students and tutors but also from some of our visitors.

We were thrilled to have Steve Gordon from ACOUSTIC – the UK’s only dedicated acoustic guitar magazine -  spend a day with us during WYGF09 to see what our festival is all about: he was able to soak up the whole atmosphere first hand and judging by the fantastic write-up he has given us in the November issue of the magazine he had a fabulous time. He describes WYGF as “a unique event in the guitar world” which is something we are very proud of, but more importantly he recognises that “the importance of the biennial World Youth Guitar Festival can not be overstated, because it is aimed at the grass roots and most important musical and educational level: children!” [Read more →]

We have been getting some fantastic feedback from this year’s WYGF. We’re busy doing a festival overview which we will feature here on the site shortly, but here’s a little bit about the WYGF09 experience from Michael Oram (see above: far left) who came to WYGF for the first time this year. Michael writes ….

“My experience of the WYGF was absolutely fantastic; however it got off to a shaky start, as a few days before I became ill. It was very upsetting for me as I remember thinking I wouldn’t make it, and I had been looking forward to the festival for absolutely ages. I finally got better the day before the festival and only missed the first day, to make sure I was 100%.
[Read more →]

At the fantastic final student concert at WYGF09, Director Helen Sanderson announced the launch of GUITAR CIRCUS, a new guitar ensemble scheme for young players aged 12-18 years old.

The first three GUITAR CIRCUS ensembles will begin in January 2010 under the musical direction of Gary Ryan (London), Mark Ashford (Birmingham) and Craig Ogden (Manchester). It will be an unmissable opportunity to train throughout the year with these inspirational artists. [Read more →]

The Trinity Guildhall YouTube competition evolved from the idea of having a guitar competition at WYGF without the pressure of a live performance in front of an audience. Competitors were able to submit their best ‘live’ video recording and up-load it to their own YouTube account and each entry was then linked into our own WYGF09 YouTube channel’s Trinity Guildhall competition playlist for all to see and hear. [Read more →]

WYGF 2009 has just finished! The CD recording of Corinium Players and Gitarenstadt is in-the-can and the school feels ghostly quiet after four days of hearing the sound of over 200 participants! We now have a chance to get back to reporting on the festival, so we thought we’d kick-off with a bit of an overview and then get round to the specifics later on once we’ve looked through all the photos, comments, and video footage which has been accumulated during WYGF. [Read more →]

Chris Stell, one quarter of the VIDA Guitar Quartet, but a full half of the Eden Stell Guitar Duo, talks to WYGF in 20 seconds! [Read more →]

Martha Masters - Guitarist, International prize winner and teacher, takes the WYGF 20 second interview. [Read more →]

Guitarist, International prize winner and teacher, Mark Ashford takes the WYGF 20 second interview. [Read more →]

Guitarist, composer, teacher, and musical innovator, Gary Ryan takes the WYGF 20 second interview. [Read more →]

We are on the final countdown to this year’s festival and WYGF HQ is a veritable hive of activity. There’s always time for a quick update however, to tell you a little more about some of the retail therapy opportunities available at WYGF09. [Read more →]