Thursday was the last day of California State University’s “La Guitarra Española” course in Granada. Part of the Summer Arts programme, it brought 16 students of the guitar and eight great guitar players to teach the students. The idea to do this here in Granada was the brainchild of Dr. Scott Morris, chair of music at CSU Dominguez Hills. His leadership here helped the guitar students to feel at home and to meet many of the makers in Granada. and to get the most out of the experience. The important thing is that the students really benefitted from the three weeks of classes because they played very well last night; I especially enjoyed Sarajevo nights for guitar quartet.

Another brilliant idea, this time thanks to guitarist Vicente Coves was to organize the 1st Granada Guitar Festival to coincide with these masterclasses and concerts. The collaboration between the Granada Town Hall, CSU and Vicente meant that we got to see some excellent guitarists play in Granada (Luis Mariano, Pepe Romero, Margarita Escarpa, Rafael Aguirre) as well as screening some musical film and performances by lesser known concert artists. The festival included a tribute to guitar-maker Antonio Marín Montero and in October will bring us an exhibition dedicated to the figure of Eduardo Ferrer and a guitar-making competition  (registrations still open). In short, the most important guitar-related thing to happen to in Granada since Antonio de Torres came here to learn the craft.