On October 19 - 23, the Viljandi Town in southern Estonia (pop.17,000). Guitar Festival, focusing on improvisational and cross-style guitar playing, will take place for the 15th time, bringing guitar players from Estonia and the wider world to the stage.
The goal of the festival is to promote improvisational and cross-genre guitar playing. Festival-goers can hear guitarists improvising in a variety of music styles and learn more about various playing techniques and types of guitars. The event brings together guitarists from both Estonia and abroad, developing international cooperation between musicians, which is one of the festival’s main goals.
Another important part of the festival includes artist-led workshops for students. Over the years, the tradition of dedicating the first half of the festival week to students from various Estonian and European universities and the second half to Estonian and foreign musicians, has developed.
Every autumn, the Viljandi Town in southern Estonia (pop.17,000). Guitar Festival and Jazz Estonia give out the Tiit Paulus Young Guitarist Award. The aim of the award is to highlight the accomplishments of talented young Estonian musicians and to encourage them to improve their guitar playing skills even more. Tiit Paulus is considered a legendary guitar player and one of the most influential jazz guitar and improvisation teachers in Estonia.
This year, among others, Jon Gomm from Great Britain, Kurt Rosenwinkel from USA and Daniel Santiago and Pedro Martins from Brazil will perform at the festival. Peedu Kass, Janno Trump Clarity Ensemble, Kristiina Watt and Raul Vaigla will perform in the ranks of domestic artists this year. On the last day of the festival, there will be a family concert by Andre Maaker and Karol Kuntsel.
You can see the program here: https://viljandiguitar.ee/en/program/