Hi everyone,
these are times of forced stop because of the coronavirus, but it’s also time for some important reflections, as well as for planning and preparation of the next events that, sooner or later, will start again.
With due caution and realism we stay ready for alternative plans, but we have confidence and hope that that in September, from 25th to 27th, we will be able to give life to a new edition of the Acoustic Guitar Village in Cremona Musica…..

As previously said, these are very peculiar times, in which we can all reflect and stop, looking both back and ahead. Indeed, preparing future plans is of extraordinary value, perhaps even more than chasing presences on social networks – still important to keep music and its interpreters in full swing-.
It does not often happen to have the time to properly recollect memories, order and relive experiences of past activities. Therefore, in these two months in our office we worked on the archive, arranging testimonies of the many events we organized in the past thirty years, from the beginning in 1991 in the live music club “Armadillo Club”, to the establishment of the “Armadillo” Cultural Association in 1999. Among them concerts, plenty of music festivals, and the Sarzana Acoustic Guitar Meeting, that we proudly brought forward for 18 years. How many memories! We are really thankful to see how this event has remained in the hearts of so many fans, acoustic guitar makers and musicians!

You can imagine our emotions thinking of those amazing days and concerts inside the Firmafede Fortress, result of a tiring teamwork that was indeed able to fill us with satisfaction. Unfortunately, it is useless to explain again the impossibility of continuing that event in such an architectural facility, beautiful but with no guarantee of safety and regulatory compliance.
We know that many of you, like us, have been “orphaned” by such a splendid event, but we will always hold onto the beauty and the emotions experienced together in those historic rooms, admiring the instruments displayed, and in front of the central square stage listening to unforgettable concerts and performances.
That’s what we are doing these days: listening to the recordings of concerts, and feeling those strong emotions over again! Given the wealth of documentation we have, it is a must to continue the anthological work of the event. With many of the artists involved we have already produced 2 CDs, that many of you probably already have, but we only got up to 2007 …. The time has come to prepare a third CD, as well as a DVD. It was certainly not because of laziness that we did not produce other audio and video documents, but because of the enormous amount of work that was required over the years to organize the event, and the later commitment for its continuation within Cremona Musica.

We promise that for September the CD, certainly double, and possibly also the DVD will be ready, on sale at a “political” price. Who already owns the two previous CDs can expand their collection and relive those beautiful atmospheres!
Click on the following link to find the two compilations and some more information on the new products
https://acousticguitarvillage.net/gadgets

Even luthiers, manufacturers and shopkeepers of musical instruments are going through a period of great difficulty; the hope is that they will find the strength to resist, as well as and the ability to show and promote their products in alternative ways. On our part, we will study projects to support them and help them in every way. To this end, in collaboration with Cremona Musica, soon we will present some innovative proposals – still not giving up on the hope to be able to host everyone in Cremona in September. In this context, in these days the organizers of the Holy Grail Guitar Show in Berlin have launched a beautiful initiative on social medias: their event had to be cancelled, so they have offered online sales and opportunities to the luthiers who had booked!

Finally let’s talk about the Acoustic Guitar Village in Cremona Musica and the preparatory works for September. The whole program of the didactic masterclasses with the luthiers John Monteleone, Enrico Bottelli, Lorenzo Lippi and the master guitarists Ed Gerhard and Francesco Buzzurro, is confirmed. All the detailed programs and registration forms are available at the link
https://acousticguitarvillage.net/en/cremona-2020/2013-editiondidactic-courses/

The masters Carlo Aonzo, Lorenzo Frignani and Leonardo Petrucci are working on a very rich edition of “Cremona Mandolini in Mostra”, an event totally dedicated to the mandolin. It will include seminars, conferences, an historical exhibition and live performances of ensembles and plucked orchestras: it is going to be an unmissable show!
The other collaborators, Danilo Cartia for the 8^th Italian Bluegrass Meeting and Andrea Tarquini for “Corde & Voci d’Autore”, are also finalising the programs and initiatives that will animate the two events, as well as other proposals which are constantly arriving, making up a program that promises to be very rich.

We fervently hope that in September, from 25^th to 27^th, we will be able to host everybody at the AGV in Cremona Musica, offering an event full of opportunities and enthusiasm. We carefully follow the evolution of the national situation but, in any case, we will not be caught unprepared to adapt to the contingent situation and to find the proper solutions.
Everything will always be published and updated on our website www.acousticguitarvillage.net as well as on our social medias:

https://www.facebook.com/acousticguitarvillagecremona/
https://instagram.com/acousticguitarvillage_cremona/

We cross our fingers and send a hug to everyone, trying to infuse energy and positivity to overcome this difficult moment and prepare for a revival of our sector!

Staff at Armadillo Club – Sarzana
Acoustic Guitar Village
Cremona Musica International Exhibitions and Festival