Amazingly however, our sadness was almost immediately banished as fellow Canadian super-guitarist and composer Dale Kavanagh has stepped into the breach and made room in her busy schedule to be a very special WGF10 guest artist.

Dale is “a true poet of the guitar”. As a multi-prize-winning guitarist and one of the most active performers on the international concert scene, Dale has made over 16 recordings and is highly sought after both as a soloist and also as one half of the Amadeus Guitar Duo, together with Thomas Kirchhoff  (WGF05 Guest Artists).

In addition to her performing career, Dale is also Professor of Guitar at the Musikhochschule in Detmold, and on the faculty at the Koblenz International Guitar Academy which is great news for our WGF10 course students as Dale will be giving a masterclass over the weekend.

Dale will be performing at the Milner Hall on Saturday 25 July at 8pm. Her programme will surely feature some of her own unique compositions so please book early.

“A true poet of the guitar” Die Kulture

“… fast, clean, powerful, musical … an incredible concert” Soundboard Magazine

WGF is very proud to announce that this year’s WGF recital series is promoted in association with our friends from Southampton Classical Guitar Society. SCGS are also generously donating a WGF bursary and membership of SCGS for this year to a worthy recipient ….. THANK YOU SCGS!

SCGS is one of the UK’s most active and indeed, thriving societies devoted to the classical guitar, with an enviable programme of fortnightly meetings, ensemble-extra and a fabulous recital series of their own featuring some of the finest homegrown and international performers. We are hugely grateful for their support of WGF and looking forward to working closely with them on our events.

SCGS members will be able to take advantage of this partnership with discounted ticket prices for all our WGF concerts.The WGF concert series will take place at Milner Hall in Winchester. Our very special guest artists are Laura Young (Canada): winner of the Andres Segovia Competition and a dazzling guitarist combining “…explosive virtuosity with profound lyricism” [Gitarre und Laute], and Mark Ashford is a former BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year and international prize-winner, who is “a truly remarkable guitarist” [Classical Guitar Magazine]. Don’t miss out on these stunning concerts in one of the finest natural acoustics in the South. The WGF recital series is often sold out in advance and seating is strictly limited, so please book early to reserve your place.

Our other exciting news is that SCGS have created a special SCGS Bursary to assist a local guitarist of any age who would like to attend this year’s WGF, but who needs financial support to enable them to do so. The society are also very generously donating membership of SCGS for this year, so that the recipient can take full advantage of all the marvellous events going on at SCGS and also benefit from discounted tickets for their own concert season. SCGS are firmly committed to supporting fellow guitarists wherever possible and we have no doubt that this award of £100 will make all the difference to a worthy student. Applicants must live within a 30 mile radius of Chandlers Ford but full details regarding eligiblity and an application form can be requested by contacting the Festival Office.

Places on our 3 day festival are filling up quickly, so don’t miss out and book online NOW to reserve your place.

With all the talk of economic downturn and the upcoming election it might be hard for some of you guitarists to feel as enthusiastic or as flush as you’d normally would. Well don’t worry! WGF10 has the feel-good-factor and a price-tag to match!

This year we are welcoming Canadian guitarist Laura Young and Mark Ashford from the UK as our very special guest artists: both will be giving recitals at Milner Hall and classes during the festival. Mark Eden, Chris Stell and Helen Sanderson complete the line-up and will be leading workshops and putting the WGF guitar orchestra through its paces.

Course fees are £210 Adult, £180 Student, plus there’s a bursary scheme for anyone in full-time education with financial need (please contact WGF for further details)!

Accommodation can be sourced from a number of local options in and around Winchester so participants can either choose from some well priced local B&B’s or live it up at the Winchester Royal.

There is no other Guitar Festival that works as hard to give you a jam-packed weekend that would make even the most seasoned strummer’s fingers ache!! What are you waiting for? Book up on-line and send a deposit of £60.00 to WGF to secure your place. WGF10 is the perfect way to get your guitar fix.

Internationally acclaimed guitarists Laura Young (Canada) and Mark Ashford (UK) will be this year’s very special guest artists at WGF. You can catch them in concert at Milner Hall on Friday and 23 and Saturday 24 July as part of the WGF recital series, and they will also be giving masterclasses for the WGF students during the festival weekend.

Laura is a well known performer, internationally recognised for her powerfully vivid and charismatic performances. Born in Canada, she has made her home in Barcelona and currently teaches at the Escuela Superior de Musica en Catalunya.

Acclaimed for his ‘inspirational interpretations’ Mark is an international prize-winning guitarist and a former BBC Radio 2 Young Musician of the Year. In addition to his solo and concerto performances, Mark is also a member of the VIDA Guitar Quartet and Head of Guitar at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

The intimate setting of Milner Hall provides some of the finest acoustics for the classical guitar, but it does have limited seating and most concerts are a sell-out so please book early to avoid disapointment.

Friday 23 July 8pm – Mark Ashford
Saturday 24 July 8pm – Laura Young

To reserve tickets please call 01962 860192 or email request form below.

Welcome to the WGF10 homepage! This year’s Festival will be the fifth Winchester Guitar Festival and will run from Friday 23 July through to Sunday 25 July 2010. Our regulars might well notice a couple of changes from the format of our previous festivals. Firstly, we have moved venues for the WGF course and will be situated right in the heart of the City at Holy Trinity Church Hall, Upper Brook Street.

The other change is that this year we will be returning to the beautiful Milner Hall for our evening concerts. The acoustics here are particularly special and suit the intimate sound of the guitar perfectly.

Over the next few days and weeks the WGF team will be putting the finer details together and updating them on the website. This includes the exciting announcement of the WGF10 guest artists and tutors! If you want to be the first to know then please subscribe to our free news letter either by RSS or email – this way you won’t miss a thing!