The international Guitar Festival Seckau took place for the 15th time. A peak of this anniversary edition was, like always, the sold out final matinee of the festivals participants on July 25th. From elementary students up to Guitar teachers and professionals the impressive variety of the classical Guitars repertoire was presented. From Johann Sebastian Bach to Astor Piazzolla, John Dowland to folkloristic Brazilian music - in different line ups – works were presented.

	A big hit for the audience was a performance of the song „Somebody that I used to know" by Gotye – played by five players on one guitar. Youtube
	The final climax of the concert was an interpretation of Antonio Vivaldi's Concerto in D major, RV 93 including nine different soloists and guitar orchestra, conducted by Johann Palier. Youtube
One week before, on July 18th, the festival was kicked off with the opening concert.
	For the start the guitar quartet "1 to 3", winner of the first price at the Prima la Musica competition, played a few rather nice pieces. The quartet consists of four young guitarists from the Murtal region - Georg Pickl, Anja Bärnthaler, Anna Maier and Patrizia Guggenberger. They played music from different epochs.
After a short break the Duo Violarra took over. The Duo consists of Helfried Fister on violin and Johann Palier, the artistic director of the festival, on guitar.
	The duo presented their new CD – "Violarra goes Barock". Besides Baroque music from the new CD they also played contemporary Styrian composers like Sir Karl Haidmayer and Franz Zebinger. One peak of the concert was an arrangement of the famous folia theme made by the duo. Based on Arcangelo Corelli's variations the duo played breathtakingly virtuous variations arranged by the duo. The meaning of "la folie" – in French it means "craziness" – was clearly understood by the audience. The sold-out concert was a big success. http://www.violarra.at/
The concert on Thursday evening consisted of two parts: one classical and one jazz part.
	At first the world famous Canadian-German Amadeus Guitar Duo played a fantastic concert including works from Bach to Rodrigo. From the first to the last note the two world-class guitarists exited the audience. After more than 1300 concerts the two virtuosos still play fresh and spontaneously. And perfect of course.
	After the intermission the Swiss-Argentinian duo Carlos und Lucas Dorado presented their fusion of Argentinian folkloric music and Jazz. The rare combination of vibraphone and guitar was an amazing experience to the audience. They performed their own compositions but also interpreted other composers like George Gershwin.

The wonderful atmosphere of the Huldigungssaal in the monastery of Seckau combined with true masters on their instruments left the audience with great memories.

For the participants, the young and the young at heart, it was not just a week of hard work on the instrument but also a lot of leisure activities and fun. Besides the serious practicing, the daily lessons with the word class teachers and the stage training the participants had a lot of fun with playing volleyball, soccer and badminton. A campfire, a nightly expedition and many other great experiences will stay unforgettable to the guitarists.

Some videos and pictures of the guitar festival Seckau 2015:

Antonio Vivaldi, RV 93 in D-Dur at the final matinee

Somebody that I used to know