You very likely recognize the nostalgic arpeggios at the beginning of Amor de temporada (Seasonal Love) by Héctor Zúñiga or the playful waltz Pasión (Passion) by Roberto Arce and Pasión Acevedo. The guitar is an indispensable instrument in Guanacaste’s music and that’s what the Guanacaste International Guitar Festival seeks to honor: to make known the sonorous universe of the instrument within and beyond popular melodies.
The seventh edition of the festival will bring together the Costa Rica Guitar Quartet, Spanish guitarist Elena Ortega and the Orishas Quartet from Mexico during activities taking place from Wednesday, October 16 to Sunday, October 19 in the cantons of Liberia, Abangares and Tilarán.
This year, the organization added three activities at the University of Costa Rica’s campus in San Pedro de Montes de Oca and in San Ramón.
In addition to honoring the importance of the guitar in the province’s popular music, according to the festival’s artistic director, Kenneth Porras, the activity also aims to “be a window to other types of possibilities and music.”
“These musicians have played on extremely important stages around the world and we have the opportunity to see them in Guanacaste. So, I think we shouldn’t miss the opportunity to attend, to listen to them, to learn from them,” said Porras.
The schedule of activities also includes master classes and discussions.
According to Porras, the intention is that the festival not only serves to delight people listening to speakers talk about the guitar, but also to sow a little educational seed in the communities.
“It’s not only the fact that the artist comes, plays and it’s nice to see him on stage; but it’s the seed and the contribution that they leave in the students or musicians here in the country. They come with innovations, with a new repertoire…. They come with many visions of the world and I think that contribution is the most enriching thing that the festivals have,” added the educator.
All of the festival activities will be free and open to the public.
Seven Intermittent Editions
The festival started out as an idea in 2010 and the first one took place in 2011. Since then, due to a lack of financial resources, it has been held intermittently six times.
The 2024 edition is the first one in which the organization has support from the Specific Development Association for the Projection of Art in Liberia. “This has allowed us to open many more doors and receive more financial support, which is almost always the biggest obstacle we always have.”
To Porras, this forum gives the guitar the place it deserves within Guanacaste’s musical history.
“In the 2010s, the province of Guanacaste was in a context in which folk music and traditional festivities were the main cultural manifestations. Despite this rich tradition, the guitar as an instrument didn’t have a prominent place in the local cultural panorama,” says the festival program.
Download the festival program here.
Schedule
Wednesday, October 16
-Activity: Master class by Elena Ortega. Time: 4 p.m. Place: Conservatory of the Western Campus, UCR in San Ramón.
-Activity: Concert by Elena Ortega. Time: 7 p.m. Place: Conservatory of the Western Campus, UCR in San Ramón.
Thursday, October 17
-Activity: Concert by the Orishas Quartet. Time: 6 p.m. Place: Municipal Auditorium in Tilarán.
Friday, October 18
-Activity: Master class by the Costa Rica Guitar Quartet. Time: 10 a.m. Place: Abangares Music School.
-Activity: Concert by the Costa Rica Guitar Quartet. Time: 7 p.m. Place: The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) Auditorium in Abangares.
-Activity: Concert by Elena Ortega. Time: 7 p.m. Place: Ermita de la Agonía (Hermitage of Our Lord of Agony) in Liberia.
Saturday, October 19
-Activity: Discussion with the Costa Rica Guitar Quartet and Orishas Quartet. Time: 10 a.m. Place: Liberia Museum.
-Activity: Closing concert by the Costa Rica Guitar Quartet, Elena Ortega and the Orishas Quartet. Time: 7 p.m. Place: Ermita de la Agonía in Liberia.
Sunday, October 21
-Activity: Master class by Elena Ortega. Time: 5 p.m. Place: UCR School of Musical Arts in San Pedro Montes de Oca.
-Activity: Concert by Elena Ortega. Time: 7 p.m. Place: UCR School of Musical Arts in San Pedro Montes de Oca.
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