Sunday 13th September - 7:30pm
Belfast Guitar Festival & Moving On Music presents Marisa Anderson
with support from Natural Elements Trio
Marisa Anderson
Marisa Anderson is one of the most eminent guitarists working today. Her lucid, eloquent approach has established her as an unparalleled artist and a coveted collaborator.
Throughout her career, Anderson has channelled the history of the guitar and stretched the boundaries of tradition. Her deeply original approach applies elements of minimalism, electronic, drone and 20th century classical music to compositions based on blues, jazz, gospel and country music. To surmise, Marisa has re-imagined the landscape of American music.
Natural Elements Trio
Few musical collisions have proven as seismic as John McLaughlin's meeting with the masters of Indian classical music that produced Shakti. Fusing the searing improvisation of jazz with the rhythmic complexity and spiritual depth of South Asian tradition, Shakti created something that belonged entirely to itself and has lost none of its power in the decades since.
Long time friends of the festival, Matthew Dowie (electric guitar), Niall Lynch (violin) and Phil Smyth (Kanijira) bring that visionary music to life in a performance that draws on exactly the kind of cross-genre fluency Shakti demanded. Dowie's fusion vocabulary and McLaughlin-rooted influences, Lynch's command of melody and improvisation across classical and gypsy jazz traditions, and Smyth's deep roots in world music and jazz fusion this is a trio whose individual journeys have been quietly converging on this music for years.
Fringe Events
Ossia Music School Rockschool
Saturday 12th September - 2pm
FREE EVENT
Cresent Arts Centre
2-4 University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NH
Every year, the Belfast Guitar Festival opens its stage to the students from Ossia Music School, who never fail to make everything worthwhile. This is that moment.
The Rockschool performances puts the next generation of Belfast guitarists in the spotlight. Young musicians who’ve spent the year building their chops, finding their voice, and learning what it means to play with other people. No backing tracks. No safety net. Just guitars, amplifiers, and the kind of nervous energy that turns into something electric the moment the first chord lands.
Workshop: Modes & Scales with Paul McMordie
FREE EVENT
5a Sandown Road, BT5 6RT
Saturday 12th September - 2pm
Modes and scales have a reputation for being the dry, theoretical end of guitar learning. Paul McMordie's workshop will change that.
Drawing on four decades of teaching experience at Ossia Music School, Paul cuts through the confusion and gets straight to what matters not just what modes and scales are, but where they live in real music and how to actually use them when you're playing.
Whether you've been avoiding this territory for years or just want to finally make sense of it, this is a workshop built around the way guitarists actually think and learn. Expect clarity, practicality, and more than a few moments where things that seemed complicated suddenly aren't.
Ossia Music School presents Sunday Service
Saturday 13th September - 2pm
FREE EVENT
Cresent Arts Centre
2-4 University Rd, Belfast BT7 1NH
Some congregations meet on Sunday mornings. This one meets on Sunday afternoons and it's louder.
Sunday Service is the adult student ensemble from Ossia Music School and they bring the kind of energy that reminds you why you picked up a guitar in the first place. Classic rock, played live, played loud, played with everything they've got.