Four incomparable guitarists showcase the diversity of the acoustic guitar as International Guitar Night’s 2024 North American Tour makes its exclusive Chicago-area stop at the McAninch Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 10. Innovative acoustic rock interpreter Luca Stricagnoli (Italy), Vietnamese classical guitarist Thu Le, blues slide guitarist and singer Minnie Marks (Australia), and – on his farewell tour – veteran Latin jazz aficionado Marco Pereira share the stage for a night of solos, duos and quartets. A free MAC chat will begin directly after the performance. WDCB 90.9 FM is Media Sponsor for this concert.
International Guitar Night brings together the world’s foremost guitarists to perform their latest original compositions and exchange musical ideas in a public concert setting. Each tour, IGN founder Brian Gore invites a new cast of guitar luminaries to join him for special evenings of solos, duets and quartets that highlight the virtuosity and diversity within the world of guitar. The line-up for this tour includes three International Guitar Night favorites – Luca Stricagnoli, Thu Le and Marco Pereira – and an exciting newcomer, Minnie Marks.
Musicians of International Guitar Night Tour 2024. Top: Luca Stricagnoli and Minnie Marks;; Bottom: Marco Pereira and Thu Le
Stricagnoli is a world-renowned guitarist known for his innovative fingerstyle techniques and genre-blending musical arrangements. Hailing from Italy, but now based in Nashville, Tenn., Stricagnoli’s mesmerizing performances have earned him a massive social media following and critical acclaim from fellow musicians and critics alike worldwide. He performs songs from contemporary rock, film scores and mind-bending originals with double and triple neck guitars he has personally designed.
Thu is an international award-winning classical guitarist and certified guitar teacher from Vietnam whose wide-ranging repertoire includes Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern and Latin American music. At the age of seven, she became the youngest student ever admitted to the National Conservatory of Music, Hanoi. Thu’s passion for the guitar has taken her around the world, hosting successful master classes and performing solo. Regularly featured in prestigious festivals, she remains close to her cultural roots, performing regularly in her native Vietnam.
Pereira, an internationally renowned Brazilian composer, is a brilliant solo guitarist who has collaborated with top Brazilian singers and composers. Influenced by jazz, Latin-American, and Brazilian music, Pereira’s compositions have won international acclaim. His compositions, published globally, have been played and recorded by countless guitarists, including Yamandu Costa and the Assad Brothers. Pereira is a professor emeritus at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. This will be his last tour with International Guitar Night.
Marks, an Australian Blues slide guitarist, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, recently joined International Guitar Night. Armed with an old Goldtop and a revolutionary Farmer Foot Drum, Marks consistently pushes musical limits with her guitar wizardry and powerful voice. Marks’ honors and awards include winning the world-renowned Bluesfest Busking Competition, the People’s Choice Award at both Blues at Bridgetown and Nannup Music Festival, plus earning the winning place of “Best Guitarist” at the Open Arms Festival competition.
Tickets
The McAninch Arts Center, located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage, presents International Guitar Night, 7:30 p.m., Sunday, March 10. Tickets are $48-$58. For tickets or more information visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Bank of America, Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, the DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville, Anonymous, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, The DuPage Foundation, Ball Horticultural, Clayco, Enjoy Illinois, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; JCS Arts, Health and Education Fund of the DuPage Foundation; Wight & Company, WDCB 90.9 FM and College of DuPage Foundation.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.