The Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra is an avant-garde community music ensemble made up of 16 electric, acoustic, classical and bass guitars led by Artistic Director Joseph Ricker who creates the innovative arrangements which form their repertoire–a body of music that is as unusual and revelatory as the ensemble itself. The orchestra is populated by both amateur and professional musicians from the local community brought together by their passion for the guitar and for exploring an array of music which no other single ensemble can encompass. For this performance, the HVGO will be joined by NYC based Jazz and Afro-Latin drummer Richie Barshay.

In a typically varied program, the HVGO will perform music ranging from G.F Handel’s Sarabande in d minor to a selection from Stereolab’s 1997 art-pop masterpiece “Dots and Loops” along with a generous helping of music with ties to Spain. As a classical guitarist, HVGO Artistic Director Joseph Ricker has formed a deep love for the music of Spain which is–after all–the birthplace of the guitar. Speaking of Spain and the guitar, Ricker notes “Whether it is the intimate piano compositions of my favorite composer, the Catalan modernist Federico Mompou, the “Danzas Españolas” of the Romantic nationalist Enrique Granados or the “Canciones Antiguas Españolas” collected and arranged by none other than Federico Garcia Lorca, the music of Spain always has a home on the guitar.”
“What is really interesting about the HVGO” says Joseph Ricker who was appointed HVGO’s Artistic Director in 2018 “is not so much that it is an orchestra of guitars, but that it is an orchestra of guitarists. This room full of all different kinds of guitarists is kind of like the island of misfit toys. We come together from so many different beautiful musical traditions and I never know how it’s going to work out, but it somehow always does.”
Part garage band, part formal large ensemble, the Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra was founded in 2009 by arch-guitarist Peter Blanchette whose innovative spirit and uncompromising artistry was an inspiration to their current director. Since that time the HVGO has been thrilling and surprising audiences with annual performances at the Northampton Center for the Arts, First Night Northampton, and many other regional venues and as far afield as Jordan Hall in Boston.

Doors: 6pm EST
Show: 7pm EST
Tickets: $15 GA, $25 Premier, $30 Door
 https://bit.ly/34QA1X4

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COVID PROTOCOL
We are committed to keeping everyone safe and feeling comfortable. We will be following the latest local, state, and CDC guidelines. All attendees will be required to show proof of vaccination or negative covid test result within 72 hours of the talk and wear a face covering for the duration of the event. Please review our current covid policies before you arrive.
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