CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Guitarists from around the world will showcase a wide range of musical traditions at this year’s ELLNORA: The Guitar Festival. And in a nod to the University of Illinois’ sesquicentennial, ELLNORA will feature several native Illinois artists.
The biennial festival will be held Sept. 14-16 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
“What excites me the most is the exceptionally broad range of genres and traditions we present. It’s an unbelievably diverse look at this instrument and how it’s played a role in so many traditions around the world, from blues to bluegrass to gypsy jazz,” said David Spellman, who works with the Krannert Center staff as the artistic director for ELLNORA and is the founder and artistic director of the New York Guitar Festival.
Canadian guitarist Kevin Breit will be the Ambassador Artist for the 2017 ELLNORA. Breit has played at previous ELLNORA festivals with his bands Sisters Euclid and FolkAlarm, and he’s played with artists such as Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Rosanne Cash, k.d. lang and Natalie McMaster. He’s received the JUNO Award, a National Jazz Award and a Gemini Award, and he’s played on 10 Grammy Award-winning albums.
Breit will host and play in a special late-evening, limited-ticket performance called “Spontaneous Combustion” in Krannert’s Studio Theatre on opening night, which will feature an unrehearsed jam session of several ELLNORA artists. He’ll also perform with The Upper York Mandolin Quartet in a free show and will close out the festival as part of the ELLNORA Last Call! Concert.
The artists at this year’s ELLNORA include Grammy Award winner Jeff Tweedy, best known as the singer and guitarist for Wilco; folk guitar legend Janis Ian; Chicago bluesman Ronnie Baker Brooks; Spanish flamenco guitarist Vicente Amigo; the duo of jazz guitarist Julian Lage and Chris Eldridge, a guitarist with The Punch Brothers, featured at ELLNORA in 2015; gypsy jazz guitarist Lulo Reinhardt, a great-nephew of Django Reinhardt, playing with German jazz guitarist Daniel Stelter; and young blues guitarist Jontavious Willis.
ELLNORA will offer at least seven free shows featuring Spanish folk guitarist German Lopez; bluegrass band Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen; mandolinist Sierra Hull; and Hawaiian slack-key guitarist Makana.
The festival will include performances of two commissioned pieces. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will play new music written by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny when they perform with Alberta Khoury, an Australian guitarist studying at Juilliard School with 2015 ELLNORA artist-in-residence Sharon Isbin.
The Rez Abbasi Quartet will perform the other commissioned piece as a live accompaniment to the silent film “A Throw of Dice,” which is described as a visual masterpiece.
The Opening Night Party – an official part of the U. of I.’s sesquicentennial celebration – will feature Illinois native James Jones as the festival’s first performer, playing traditional blues with the James Jones Trio. The event also includes blues-rock artist Samantha Fish and the funk band Soulive.
Other Illinois artists include Tweedy; Chicago-based fingerstyle guitarist Ryley Walker; local musician Jack Brighton, who will be joined by others to offer a tribute to classic Bob Dylan tunes; and local musician Andy Baylor and the 217 All-Stars, playing at ELLNORA Last Call!
Other female performers at the festival include Cary Ann Hearst, playing in the folk rock duo Shovels & Rope with her husband Michael Trent; and blues and folk artist Ruthie Foster.
The family music band Recess Monkey will play a Saturday morning show Sept. 16.
All ELLNORA performances will be at one of four theaters at Krannert Center, as well as two lobby stages.
Tickets go on sale July 8. Ticket prices vary. For the complete schedule and more detailed information, go to http://ellnoraguitarfestival.com/.