Autumn concerts: Some on a Torres guitar

30 septiembre 2017 – Bicentenario del nacimiento de Antonio de Torres
Recital de Alejandro Aparicio con Guitarra Torres de la colección del CDMA
7 octubre 2017 – Música arábigo-andalusí
Mel El M’rabet Ensemble
14 octubre 2017 – Bicentenario del nacimiento de Antonio de Torres
Recital de Patrocinio Blanco con guitarras Aguado y Torres (CDMA)
21 octubre 2016 – Concierto de órgano y voz
Órgano: Francisco Javier Jiménez Martínez
Canto llano: Álvaro Flores Coleto
28 octubre 2016 – Concierto de órgano
Órgano: Soledad Ramírez Aguilar
4 noviembre 2017 – Bicentenario del nacimiento de Antonio de Torres
Recital de José Alberto Amador con Guitarra Torres de la colección del CDMA

Yesterday, the guitar-makers of Granada all received official notification of the exhibition “Honores a la Casa Ferrer” to be held at the Fundación Rodríguez Acosta. The exhibition runs from October 11th to the 29th and is part of the Festival de la Guitarra de Granada. As far as I know the different generations of the family Ferrer will be represented as will those who worked directly with the owners. Most of the guitar-makers in Granada have learned from someone who in turn learned from someone who worked with Eduardo Ferrer but obviously those who had a more direct contact are fewer.  As I have written on other occasions there are many reasons why the standard of guitar-making is so high in Granada but certainly the great number of makers in Granada is due largely to the fact that Benito Ferrer, Eduardo Ferrer and Antonio Durán (owners of the Casa Ferrer over the years) hired so many makers.

Yesterday Aarón García Ruiz received a Ph.D. in History and Science of Music from the Universtiy of Granada. His doctoral thesis, entitled “La escuela granadina antigua de construcción de guitarras: Propuesta de un protocolo para el estudio de cordófonos” is a neccesary reference for musicologists and guitar-makers everywhere. I have not yet had access to the thesis but I hope to soon. I did attend the defense and was impressed with the amount of original material and the fierce support of the Granada school.

This thesis makes it very clear who is the true expert on the Granada school of guitar-makers and bridges the gap between musicologists and luthiers.

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1st INTERNATIONAL GUITAR MAKING COMPETITION ‘ANTONIO MARIN MONTERO’. GRANADA, 26-29 October 2017

September 30 is the last day for registration for participation in this competition. I personally am counting on this competition becoming an annual event just as the organizers are hoping. Given the prizes, this year’s offer seems to be intended for the younger makers and those wishing to get some more exposure to the market. However, there is no reason why in coming years could not follow the lines of the great instrument making competitions (Paris, Cremona) and become the international reference for great guitar making. Why shouldn’t Granada attract the biggest international names in guitar-making once a year? In the meantime, I have heard that quite a few makers have signed up already but as the limit is 50 participants there is still room for you to register.

We have all heard of the Pegheds mechanical pegs and some of us have tried them. My experience has been mostly good and clients are fine with them once they get used to them. Defective pegs were replaced free of charge when I had a problem.

I know the Wittner pegs have been available more recently but I had not seen them until now. They look good and don’t need to be screwed in which might be an advantage. Also no right or left pegs. I look forward to trying this set out but I don’t yet have a project to use them on.  I do like the feel of a flamenco with pegs mostly because of the lighter headstock.