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Eastern Shore Guitar Festival Returns with Headliner Benjamin Verdery

  • Benjamin Verdery headlines the 2015 Festival.
    Benjamin Verdery headlines the 2015 Festival.
  • Marina Alexandra and Teri Forscher-Milter of Duo de Vista.
    Marina Alexandra and Teri Forscher-Milter of Duo de Vista.
  • Guitarist Matt Palmer performs Friday and is organizer of the festival.
    Guitarist Matt Palmer performs Friday and is organizer of the festival.
    Arizona Daily Star

Location: Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts

October 23, 2015
The weekend of workshops and concerts runs October 23-25. A Saturday night concert  features Verdery accompanied by a stage full of fellow guitarists.

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The second-annual Eastern Shore Guitar Festival will take place Friday through Sunday, October 23, 24, and 25 at Washington College. Organized and hosted by the College’s Music Department and coordinated by guitarist Matt Palmer, director of Guitar Studies at Washington College, it will offer a series of professional performances and workshops open to the public at ticket prices ranging from $10 to $20 each. 

The headliner of this year’s event is Benjamin Verdery, an internationally recognized guitarist and composer who teaches at the Yale University School of Music.  As a recording artist, he has released more than 15 CDs, including Happy Here (2011), with William Coulter, and First You Build A Cloud (2007), a collaboration with Andy Summers of The Police. 

Verdery will perform on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Decker Theatre, Gibson Center for the Arts, accompanied by a guitar orchestra of festival attendees. Last year’s headliners, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, were accompanied by 63 guitarists, and festival organizers hope to beat that number this year and “put more guitarists on stage than ever before seen in Chestertown.” A wine reception with autumn harvest-themed hors d’oeuvres will be offered during intermission. 

Verdery’s master class will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday, and the public is invited to observe as he gives advice to advanced students. The three days of the festival will include several other performances by skilled guitarists as well as workshops on advanced fingerstyle technique, guitar ensemble, careers in music, and injury prevention classes for musicians.  

Friday evening will feature a concert by guitarist Palmer and Duo de Vista musicians Marina Alexandra on flute and Teri Forscher-Milter on guitar.  Palmer will premier Rafael Scarfullery’s “Sonata Sentimental.” 

Admission for the entire weekend is available at $45.  This includes admission to the full weekend of concerts and classes as well as a catered lunch on Saturday and the option to play in the guitar orchestra with Verdery.  Individual concerts and workshops are $10 each except Verdery’s performance, to which tickets are $20. 

The full list of concerts and workshops, ticket information, and more is available on the College Website at washcoll.edu/guitarfestival.


Last modified on Oct. 8th, 2015 at 11:09am by .