The AGM16 will take place inside the Firmafede Fortress, in the Theatre of Impavidi and in the streets and squares of the historical center of Sarzana (La Spezia). In this way more areas of the city will be involved in the event, offering all visitors the opportunity to live the ospitality and beauty of Sarzana.
The event is today considered one of the great international appointments of the acoustic guitar universe, not to be missed by luthiers, companies, artists and guitar lovers, able to bring the public closer to very high quality musical ideas.

The first 3 days of the AGM, Wednesday 22, Thursday 23, Friday 24 will be dedicated to the Lutherie and Guitar Didactics Courses. Morning and afternoon fulltime workshops for all those who wish to learn or improve guitar making techniques and playing techniques. The Courses will be held inside the beautiful ImpavidiTheatre, very close to the Firmafede Fortress.
The teachers will be Kevin Ryan, extraordinary luthier from California, Richard Hoover, founder and director of the Santa Cruz Guitar Company, who will lead lutherie course, and Tony McManus, Clive Carroll, coordinated by Davide Mastrangelo, who will lead the guitar didactics course, which will mostly focus on tecniques and arrangiaments in the celtic music.

Moreover, a full time Course of Ukulele will be held in the same 3 days, for beginners and advanced musicians, lead by the American renowned Ukulele master Bob Brozman, with the assistance of Lorenzo “Ukulollo”.

All program and subscription details will be published on the dedicated page of the website.

Friday May 24, Saturday May 25, Sunday May 26, from 11am to 7pm, will be dedicated to the Lutherie, Import, Vintage Guitars and Accessories Exhibition, which will fill all the rooms and spaces inside the Firmafede Fortress, with the best luthiers, guitar makers and companies coming from all over the world. (122 stands in 2012).
On display will be all the creations of the lutherie, the best guitar brands and the latest market news, with demonstrations, presentations and conferences. All the most important guitar organizations in Italy will be present and will organize events. The visitors will also find stands dedicated to guitar publications, magazines, collectors, CDs, Vinyls, DVDs and an area for private exchange market.
From the success of the last years,  the special area ”Ukulele Village” will be confirmed again,  with Ukulele exhibitors, performances and events.

Subscriptions to reserve the stands are now open. All the information on the dedicated page for exhibitors.
Visit also the accomodation list page of Hotels, B&B, etc. for staying in Sarzana.

Thursday May 23, the first part of the evening concert on the main stage, at 7pm, will be dedicated to the “NEW SOUNDS OF ACOUSTIC MUSIC” -Carisch 2013 Award “In memory of Stefano Rosso”, a young guitarists contest which every year discovers new talents in the guitar music. A jury of journalists, artists and experts in the field will choose the winners, both in the fingerstyle and songwriting field.
The second part of the concert, at 9pm, will present some of the best international guitar players.
The full program will be published soon.

Friday 24 and Saturday 25, starting at 9pm, the best international guitar players, both in solo and in ensemble, will perform on the main stage: usually unforgettable concerts!
The full concert program will be published soon.
Saturday 25, the central part of the concert will be dedicated to the City of Sarzana-Liguria Region Award “STRINGS & VOICES for DIALOGUE & CIVIL RIGHTS”, 5th edition.
 A celebration of the popular song as a prominent instrument of social commitment, for dialogue and civic progress, and its interpreters par excellence: the voice and the acoustic guitar. The Award will be presented to the winner artist by the Major of the City of Sarzana. (1st edition attribuited to the memory of Woody Guthrie, 2nd edition to Jackson Browne, 3rd edition to the memory of Victor Jara and Violeta Parra, 4th edition to Francesco Guccini).
Martin Guitars-Eko partners of the event.

Concerts and performances of the best guitarists on the main stage will go on  for all day Sunday 26  (free entrance).

There will be three very interesting conferences during the AGM, located inside the Firmafede Fortress and addressed to luthiers, guitar makers and interested public.
The first one will be lead by John Thomas (musician, writer and journalist of The Fretbourd Journal) with the title “Kalamazoo Gals: A Story of Extraordinary Women and Gibson’s “Banner” Guitars of WWII”. An interesting story of the women who saved the Gibson Guitar Company during the war.
The second one, “Top voicing and wood selection considerations for the vintage Martin”, will be lead by the American luthier John Slobod and will focus on Martin Guitars, modern and “Pre war”, about what role woods play in the voice, the top selection, bracing, scale length, neck shapes, glues and finishes, etc…
The third conference “Folk Revival and Guitars: as the traditional British music evolves from the second half of the 1900″ will be lead by Gianni Cunich and Fabio Lossani, who will speak about the stylistic evolution of the English, Scottish, Irish and all Celtic music, by the work of the most representative guitarists. There will be live music examples and video projections.

Seminars, workshops, events will fill all the rooms and corners of the Firmafede Fortress and also the historical center of the City of Sarzana will be a location  for concerts and jam sessions, involving all the City in the nice atmosphere of the AGM.

The entrance area of the Fortress, prepared by the traditional sponsor “Heineken”, will present concerts every morning and will welcome all the visitors. To visit the AGM in Sarzana is an opportunity for deepening guitar culture, a moment of business, but also a time of fun and joy, in a beautiful location and in a nice and welcoming town.

Thanks to all partners and sponsors that make this possible.
Have a good trip if you want to visit us in Sarzana on May 22-23-24-25-26!

As always, in the third week of January 2013, we will visit the NAMM Show in Anaheim, Los Angeles US and will be available to meet you there.

Stay tuned!