The fifteenth annual Southeastern Guitar Festival will start on March 20 and run through April 24 with a wide array of free concerts and recitals. The efforts continue this year as the Department of Fine and Performing Arts spreads the effect of classical guitar.
“The big intention beyond education for the guitar students is for the general public to be exposed to guitar music that they wouldn’t normally hear,” said guitar instructor Patrick Kerber.
To start off the festivities, Kerber will have his own faculty recital on March 20 at 7:30 p.m. and will perform a standard repertoire of English renaissance and Spanish contemporary music. On April 10 guitar instructor David Bryan will give his recital with a twist. Kerber will accompany him on guitar and Bryan’s wife will accompany them on vocals.
In past years, there has been a guitar symposium open to local high school students; however, due to low enrollment, it has discontinued. The sponsors for the festival include the Guitar Club, the Arts and Lectures Committee and Dr. Ted’s Musician Center. According to Kerber, 2013 marks another successful year for the Guitar Festival.  
“This year is just the continuation of the success of it,” Kerber said. “It just continues to be successful. It continues to be popular. The guitar ensemble always gets a crowd.”
Guest artist this year is Cain Budds, who is currently Assistant Professor of Guitar and Music Theory at Louisiana Tech University. Budds will perform on Wednesday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m.
One event, which has made Guitar Festival so popular, is the All Styles Night on the Circle. On April 27 at 7:30 p.m., music students, along with non-music faculty and community members, have the chance to play all styles of music.
“It’s a fun thing, and it’s getting bigger and more popular,” Kerber said. “They play jazz, classical, bluegrass, pop, etc.”
The festival will wrap up with the Guitar Ensemble inside Pottle Auditorium on April 24 at 7:30 p.m. This final performance will showcase a wide range of classical guitar.
“It will be all classical guitar, then one performance with a violin,” Kerber said. “Then there will be three guitars, four guitars and then a large group of 13 guitars all together with different combinations.”
Kerber and the rest of the department invite all students, faculty and staff to come and enjoy the shows while learning about something they may otherwise not know about. All shows are free admission.
“If it weren’t for this, the community and the university just wouldn’t know about it. So we try to expose people to a sophisticated level of guitar playing outside of pop music,” Kerber said.
Contact Patrick Kerber at [email protected] or call him at 549-2886 for any questions regarding Guitar Festival 2013.