Skip to main content

Quotes from Guitarradas

“Thank you all for Guitarrada IV, it was very educational and informative. Your format is great -- all the attendees can enjoy this presentation regardless of their level of understanding of great guitars and luthiers. Id love for you to bring the Guitarrada to our La Guitarra California Festival.”

--Russ De Angelos
La Guitarra California Festival
Pismo Beach, CA

“It is a revelation to hear and feel the sounds of the master luthiers of the past at events like the Guitarrada. How lucky we are in the Bay Area that discerning collectors like John Harris and Bob Dell are generous enough to share the fruits of their passions with the rest of us. Even if these Guitarradas did not teach us to better understand the evolving aesthetics of the classical guitar (which of course they do), they would still be irresistible for the fun they provide in bringing together great instruments and great playing in an environment of unsuppressed enthusiasm.”

--Marc Teicholz
Guitar Faculty
San Francisco Conservatory of Music

“Thanks so much for honoring me with inclusion in the Guitarrada. The opportunity to see and hear instruments drawn from two fine collections—guitars not easily accessed by most musicians, guitarists, and enthusiasts—this is very, very special.”

--Armin Kelly
Guitars International
Cleveland, OH

"For me the real value of the Guitarrada is to be able to hear some of the old guitars that people have heard about but never had the opportunity to hear in person. Using contemporary guitars as a frame of reference offers an even more valuable experience. In spite of all the inherent difficulties one encounters in such an event -- questions about format, players, guitars, repertoire, and the like -- it always seems to end up being a fascinating and rewarding experience."

--Gregory Byers
Luthier
Sonoma, CA

“It is always revelatory to hear these older instruments at the Guitarrada, and to hear them in relation to each other and the newer guitars. The students gained much, for sure, and this was another step, as we had hoped, in integrating the historic instruments into the students’ deeper understanding of our art form.”

--David Tanenbaum
Chair, Guitar Department
San Francisco Conservatory of Music