MARCH
1-8
2025
1-8
2025
Born in Mexico City, she has an important international career as a concert artist, performing in several cities around the world such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, Lucca, Parma, Córdoba, Maastricht, Heerlen, Kerkrade, Antwerp and Brussels. She has participated in important classical guitar gatherings such as the II Radio UNAM Guitar Festival, the International Guitar Festival in Sonora, the Open 2018 Guitar Festival Tribute to Leo Brouwer Lucca, the XXXII International Guitar Festival in Peru, and the 2022 Meeting of Women Guitarists in the city of Córdoba in Spain. Alejandra joined the Mexican Guitar Association and is the organizer and artistic director of the 1st Spring Guitar Festival in Mexico City 2024.
Big Russ Wilkins y Lightnin’ Holling "Royal rock 'n' roll couples don't come any more eloquent, suave or beat than this mighty duo." –Shindig Magazine.
El Javi is a gifted North American guitarist who fearlessly explores instrumental music, transcending the confines of traditional music genres. His mussic is a remarkable blend of various styles and techniques that come together to create an eclectic spanish guitar experience that is truly unique.
Beyond his exceptional musicianship, El Javi’s celebration of cultural diversity through music underscores the power of music to transcend language and culture, forging connections and understanding between people of all backgrounds.
The Denver based composer, producer and performer incorporates elements of flamenco, progressive rock, classical, folk and world music to shape his compositions. Highlights of his career include; supporting act for Ziggy Marley and today’s biggest voice of flamenco Diego El Cigala. He was a featured artist in Coors Light’s national campaign My Climb, My Music and a featured artist at the Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. He participated in the International Guitar Festival in Zihuatanejo, Mexico.
Encordando Duo formed by Alex and Lau, a couple who have always lived for, by and for the Guitar... Focused on creating an audience with a taste for classical guitar, always playing a repertoire based on traditional music and folklore from different parts of the world.
As a duo they have played in different Guitar Festivals and Concert Halls in Mexico, the USA, Costa Rica and Argentina.
Founders of Encordando, a cultural company dedicated to the promotion, management and artistic dissemination; distribution of products for guitarists; production of content on networks; academic promotion and promoting the guitar in Mexico and the world.
Before joining forces, the duo behind Sgt. Splendor were already formidable solo artists, Kate Vargas chalking up acclaim at outlets like NPR, HuffPost and Vice (including praise from the “Dean of American Rock Critics” Robert Christgau); and Eric McFadden amassing an impressive resume including stints on guitar with George Clinton & the P-Funk All Stars, Anders Osbourne, Fishbone’s Angelo Moore, and Eric Burdon & The Animals, plus a slew of solo albums, and session work with everyone from Jackson Browne to The Clash’s Joe Strummer.
"One of the most unique bands to come out of the new millennium is the contrasting duo of Sgt. Splendor. The group consists of singer/songwriter/guitarist/flautist Kate Vargas, and her partner in crime, guitarist/vocalist Eric McFadden (George Clinton & P-Funk, Eric Burdon, Les Claypool, etc)...is this an album for the masses?... yes. Yet it is even more so an album for the music aficionados who understand and appreciate in-depth, heavy songwriting, wrapped in a blanket of heavy Blues and Rock music that holds its own against anything you can throw at it. "
– Tone Scott / GOLDMINE Magazine 2024.
FauxMenco, featuring Catherine Capozzi and Rafi Sofer, translates their loud, adventurous electric guitar worlds to nylon string guitars. Drawing from rock, classical, flamenco, surf, gypsy, and ambient influences, they create propulsive and timeless guitar dreamscapes. Catherine, selected by Brian May to win his “Red Special” electric guitar, is a genre-bending, award-winning film composer and producer. Israeli-born Rafi, a sound and visual artist, serves as head engineer at Boston's legendary Q Division Studios and is a street and macro photographer by night.
Janet Noguera is a Mexican-American Modern Fingerstyle guitarist and composer, with an approach that incorporates a wide variety of styles and techniques, creating an innovative, imaginative, and unexpected soundscape on the acoustic guitar. At age 19, she was featured in the May 2014 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine as one of the “30 Great Acoustic Guitarists Under 30.” That same year, she won the international Lowden Young Guitarist of the Year competition. In 2017, Noguera graduated from UCSC with a Bachelor of Music. She subsequently won the Fretmonkey International Solo Guitar Competition. She has participated in events such as the first “Women of Fingerstyle” Concert. Janet toured with IGN, in 2022. That same year, Janet released her debut album. In 2023, Janet toured in six European countries. In March 2024, she collaborated with Kaki King.
Javier is a self-taught Mexican guitarist and composer. His guitar playing has taken him to the most diverse places in Mexico, the American continent and Europe, performing in hotels, TV and radio programs, universities, festivals, cultural centers, concert halls, schools, exhibitions, weddings, restaurants and bars. He has recorded 8 albums with his compositions: Bruma (1993), Camino de tierra (1996), El Tianguis (2000), Luz Marina (2005), Poco a poco (2008), Andante en Sol (2012), Navegando (2017) and Olas (2020). He lives in Cancun. In his own words: “I will continue to delve deeper into the guitar as long as life allows me.”
Jimmy Robinson has been recording and touring for over 40 years. He has received critical and audience praise for his unique virtuoso approach to the guitar, and his rich compositional skill.
He has toured the world,and has opened concerts for: John McLaughlin’s Mahavishnu Orchestra, Chick Corea, Jeff Beck, Bela Fleck And The Flecktones, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Johnny Winter
He is a founding member of The New Orleans Guitar Masters, Woodenhead and Twangorama.
Jorge Lechuga is a young Mexican musician who has mastered the art of playing the acoustic and steel string guitar. He studied at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City.
He pursues a career as a soloist performing concerts, chamber music and album recordings with a program that includes Mexican and international composers.
The poet of Zihuatanejo and the ambassador of the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival. A local legend who has recorded and performed in the United States, Canada, Europe and Mexico, but prefers entertaining his faithful followers in his legendary bar, El Canto de las Sirenas in Zihuatanejo, named after his hit song.
Jossy Gallegos began her career in music with traditional songs from Guerrero, such as “Por los Caminos del Sur.” After this she embraced the genres of trova, rock, opera and pop, where she interpreted pieces as a performer on her first album Al natural. She soon made her debut as a singer-songwriter on her second album, Pajarillo, and at the 47th Cervantino International Festival she reaffirmed her authorship with her most recent album, Hormonía, an album titled so by fusing the words “hormonas” and “armonía,” as she seeks for music to recreate in the listener changing moods from one moment to the next. Throughout the concert, she repeats the combinatorial game of genres, in addition to including folklore and medley, a variety that allows her to jump from upbeat songs to sad ones.
Juanito Zihua: With a career of more than 30 years in music, his experience, his voice and his charisma have placed him in the taste and preference of his audience. His versatile music has allowed him to adapt to different musical tastes. Now with 8 years teaming up with Rudy Catalán, playing in the best restaurants in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo.
Rudy Catalán: Musician from Petatlán, Guerrero, with more than 30 years of experience dedicated to music, as a child began his musical career. The perseverance and dedication in what he is most passionate about, made him a multi-instrumentalist. Handling various musical styles such as flamenco rumba, Mexican bolero and many more. His knowledge allowed him to work for a long time in different musical bands also as a pianist. His career has led him to know and work abroad and in several states of our country. Now with more than 8 years in Zihuatanejo teaming up with Juanito Zihua, playing in the best restaurants in Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo.
Kai Kurosawa's primary axe is Kūbo, a custom 15-string instrument which he co-developed with renowned luthiers Michael & Daniel Tobias (MTD). Widely considered as truly one of a kind player, he is frequently invited to teach seminars and clinics in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He is consistently busy working with various bands and creative projects; genres include jazz, progressive metal, rock, pop, and electronic music.
Jazz Manouche is the first jazz style born outside the United States, originating in France with the Quintette Du Hot Club de France led by Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli. It is characterized by being a style of jazz adapted to string instruments.
From Mexico City and the State of Mexico, the ensemble 'Les Enfants Terribles' was formed on the occasion of a musical meeting, this project of the Jazz Manouche style arose, paying tribute to the legacy of Django Reinhardt. Made up of David Rojas and Saúl Martínez on the manouche guitars, we will share with the public traditional standards of the style, original compositions as well as more modern proposals from contemporary musicians, and a little of the history of Jazz Manouche and its impact on new generations.
Lipbone is a one-man orchestra who turns story into song and songs into birds. He has humble roots in North Carolina, and after several years in New York City, he began busking in the Manhattan subways and parks. He used these very public places to work on his original material. Uncompromisingly true to his own voice, Lipbone tells his life-story through his unique music. Vocals, guitar and…other stuff, Lipbone has a style that adheres to no style at all. Musical, upbeat and imaginative, sometimes soft and soulful, his story is peppered with vocal trombones and throat-singing birds, fantastic animals and a host of poignant characters. Lipbone engages the audience as if they are additional band members, and invites them to employ their voices, claps and dance moves for the greater good. When not on the road making music and friends, Lipbone is artist-in-residence at Oak Grove Retreat in Tarboro, North Carolina.
Lavinia Negrete is a Mexican cultural manager, guitarist and singer-songwriter. She has performed on national and international stages (Scotland, UK, Argentina, United States, France, Holland, Italy, Puerto Rico and Romania). She has collaborated musically in short films and composed jingles for some Mexican and international companies such as Swiss International Cooperation.
Andrea Esquitín, guitarist and singer-songwriter with more than 10 years of experience. It was at the age of 12 that she decided to take an interest in the guitar and sought to expand her knowledge by studying the Jazz Instrumental Technician course at the Conservatory of Music of the State of Mexico. Throughout her career, she has ventured into musical projects of all kinds, always seeking to expand her musical language and connect with different artistic expressions.
Morgan Szymanski was a scholar at the Royal College of Music. Since then won the National Guitar Competition in Mexico, the Young Classical Artist Trust in London and has performed in over 20 different countries. Highlights include the Wigmore Hall in London, Queens Hall Edinburgh, Konzerthaus in Vienna, Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre and Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
He is an alumni of Live Music Now! the scheme started by Lord Yehudi Menuhin to reach audiences that would otherwise have no access to live music. In 2016 he founded PRISMA, an artistic outreach programe aimed at taking workshops in the performing arts to socially disadvantaged areas in Mexico. This project has benefitted over 18,000 Mexican children.
“Omar Torrez’s lysergic Latin guitar fluttered like a Bossa Nova hummingbird, a neon Andres Segovia, runs punctuated with Bill Frissel sustains and Hendrix air-raid siren chords.” ~ Flagstaff Live
Omar Torrez’s musical recipe is equal parts post-modern rock, Mexican and Cuban Son, gutbucket blues, spiced with stunning guitar wizardry and soulful songwriting.
Torrez first gained notoriety as a finalist at the Jimi Hendrix Guitar Competition at the Bumbershoot Festival, using a borrowed guitar.
He is best known as Tom Waits’ guitarist on the Glitter & Doom world tour.
He most recently began collaborating with legendary Russian songwriter/singer Boris Grebenshikov, playing in Montenegro, Israel and Hollywood.
Omar recorded a duo record with Eric McFadden in Cholula, Mexico . His new record Before We’re Dead will be released in February 2025.
Since then, Torrez has won fans worldwide through international festivals and humanitarian work. In addition to Tom Waits and Boris Grebenshchikov, Torrez has shared the stage with Buena Vista Social Club, Jethro Tull, Tony Levin, Bill Laswell, Kinky, Sidestepper, Pancho Sanchez and many more. He is an adjunct faculty professor at Cal Arts.
Mexican guitarist, with a complete repertoire on two guitars simultaneously with the tapping technique that consists of hitting with the tips of the fingers of both hands on the arm of the guitar thus obtaining sounds independently as if it were a piano, notes in the magazines Soundchek, Guitarworld, participation in radio and TV programs, festivals and recitals in Mexico Colombia and Poland, Recognition from guitarist Steve Vai when in June 23 he recorded my arrangement of "For the love of god" and published it on all his social networks, the entire repertoire is of his own adaptations and arrangements.