Guitar festival starts June 25

(June 13, 2001)   —   East Carolina University’s Summer Guitar Festival will offer four nights of public concerts in the A. J. Fletcher Recital Hall June 25 – 28.

The festival is held in conjunction with ECU’s Summer Guitar Workshop that provides classical guitar players of all skill levels with a week of intensive guitar instruction. Dr. Elliot Frank, director of the ECU guitar program, is the director of the workshop. Several guest performers and teachers will offer instruction.

Frank will appear in the Monday, June 25, opening concert with Mary Akerman at 7:30 p.m. Akerman is an award-winning guitarist and director of classical guitar programs at Kennesaw State University and the State University of West Georgia.

Competition semifinals will be held at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 26. This event will showcase the talents of outstanding young players.

Guitarists Frank Koonce and Matthew Dunne will perform on Wednesday, June 27, at 7:30 p.m. Koonce has performed in England, Austria, Korea, Taiwan, Costa Rico, Mexico, Spain and United States. He has directed the guitar program at Arizona State University since 1978. Dunne plays jazz and classical guitar and directs the guitar program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His latest CD is “Forget the Alamo.”

The festival concerts will conclude with the finals of the guitar competition on Thursday June 28, at 7:30 p.m.

Individual concert tickets are $5 each or $15 for all the performances.

Contact: ECU News Bureau | 252-328-6481