FOLIO
Two-time GRAMMY winner Laurence Juber, best known as the lead guitarist for Paul McCartney & Wings, is headlining the Great Guitar Gathering, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts’ guitar department’s biggest annual fundraiser at the Florida Theatre on Feb. 26. The students perform on the same stage each year with internationally-renowned musicians, who also do workshops with the kids earlier in the day.
Juber was voted the number one guitarist by readers of Fingerstyle Guitar magazine and will be joined by the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Guitar Orchestra and classical guitarist Lily Afshar, winner of numerous international awards and competitions. She has been called “one of the world’s foremost classical guitarists” by Public Radio International, while The Washington Post described her onstage performances as “remarkable, impeccable.” The event will also feature the Douglas Anderson Guitar Orchestra.
“I don’t think most people recognize the level of the talent we have performing at this event each year. I talk to musicians from around the globe who are amazed at the performers we have been able to lure to our Great Guitar Gathering,” said Don Casper, director of the school’s guitar department and the event’s organizer. “They are even more amazed when I share our low ticket prices. It is rare to see such world-renowned musicians performing on the same stage in such an intimate setting.”
In the 1970s, Laurence Juber got a life-changing break when Paul McCartney selected him to become Wings’ lead guitarist. He spent three years recording and touring with the band, winning a Best Rock Instrumental GRAMMY for the track “Rockestra” from the Wings album, “Back to the Egg.” After Wings folded in 1981, he embarked on a career as a solo artist, composer and arranger, quickly developing a reputation as a world-class guitar virtuoso and releasing 14 critically-acclaimed solo albums.
Lily Afshar has performed at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, the Grand Teton Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, Banff School of Fine Arts, the Menton Music Festival in the South of France, the American Academy in Rome, and Salle Cortot in Paris. Her four recordings have attracted international critical acclaim and she has been featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered.
Fifty high school students make up the Douglas Anderson guitar orchestra. The Great Guitar Gathering was created in 1994 as a networking vehicle for the local guitar community and to raise funds for Douglas Anderson’s guitar department. Previous performers include international recording artists Tommy Emmanuel, Pierre Bensusan, Ben Verdery, Andrew York, Dusan Bogadanovic, Roland Dyens, Michael Chapdelaine, Doyle Dykes, Gene Bertoncini, Murial Anderson, Alex DeGrassi, William Kanengiser and Pete Huttlinger.
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