The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase 2011

Announcing the 2011 Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase, to be held October 22 & 23, 2011, at the Bearsville Theater, 291 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 12498. The Woodstock Invitational is an alternative guitar show, featuring fine, contemporary, handmade acoustic guitars and stringed musical instruments, exhibited by their makers.

Entering it’s third year as a public event, the Woodstock Invitational has attained a reputation as a “small but prestigious” national guitar festival with an international reach. Promoting the art of lutherie, The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase is a low-key, laid-back event for the community of acoustic stringed-instrument builders, players, collectors and aficionados. Fine, handmade acoustic instruments such as these are not usually available in music stores or other retail environments. This is a rare opportunity for the public to see, hear, play, buy or commission custom-made instruments - the finest examples of the luthiers’ art - gathered together in one place. Meet the builders, discuss custom instruments, and hear some fine music. Classical and flamenco and steel-string guitars - flattops, archtops, manouche, resonators, hybrids - plus mandolins, lutes, ouds, ukuleles, banjos, violins and bows will be on display in the Bearsville Theater. Vendors Annex right next door to the Bearsville Theater in Todd Rundgren’s old Utopia Soundstage, including fine wood dealers, parts and tool suppliers, string and accessories manufacturers, decorative inlay and custom finish artists, publications and instructional materials, and our Sponsors, plus a Special Exhibit of rare and significant historic, vintage and contemporary instruments loaned by major collectors.

There will be live music, including Luthier Mini-Concerts, Demonstrations and Special Appearances throughout both days, by some of the region’s finest musicians, in the Bearsville Theater Lounge, included in the price of admission. There are also a series of instructional clinics and workshops for players, plus seminars and colloquia for builders, by separate admission. There are associated concerts of acoustic music featuring internationally known artists.  Performers at previous Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcases include Frank Vignola & Vinny Raniolo, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, Vicki Genfan, Vic Juris, John Sebastian, Happy Traum, Ara Dinkjian Trio, Julian Lage, Bill Keith & Mark Patton, Kinloch Nelson, Paul Asbell, Frederick Hand, and more.

The Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase is nationally advertised in the guitar press, locally promoted in regional journals and papers, and draws attendees from the populous heart of the northeastern seaboard. The 2010 Woodstock Invitational featured some 50 exhibitors, and drew nearly 1500 attendees over two days.

Woodstock, New York is an internationally known art and music community with a deep pool of notable local talent. Only a two-hour drive from New York City, convenient to Upstate New York and the New England region, there will be peak autumn foliage in the heart of the Catskill Mountains. The Bearsville Theater www.bearsvilletheater.com is an historic venue built by music-impresario Albert Grossman as a part of his Bearsville Sound & Utopia studio complex. The two-day show is open to the public by admission. A portion of any proceeds will benefit The John Herald Fund, Family of Woodstock, regional food banks and local soup kitchens, and The Direct Grace Project (www.directgrace.org).

Sponsors include ACOUSTIC GUITAR Magazine; the Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans/GUITARMAKER Magazine; D’ADDARIO STRINGS/PLANET WAVES Music Accessories/D’Addario & Company, Inc.; FINGERSTYLE GUITAR Magazine; FISHMAN Acoustic Amplification; The FRETBOARD JOURNAL; Hudson Valley Homes & Land; LA BELLA STRINGS/E. & O. Mari, Inc.; PREMIER GUITAR Magazine; and the Woodstock, NY Chamber of Commerce and Arts.

Exhibitors will be listed on our website as they are confirmed. For more information, exhibitor applications, history, links, updates, directions, lodging, etc., please visit www.woodstockinvitational.com