Dear friends, with 130 events in 3 days, 215 exhibitors from 23 countries (42% foreign) over 300 artists and personalities involved in concerts, masterclasses and presentations, Cremona Musica International Exhibitions and Festival confirms a 2021 edition with results far beyond the best expectations.
L’Acoustic Guitar Village was one of the most vital sections of the fair, uncontested protagonist of all the events on the live stages, both daily ar the Fair and in the historic center of Cremona.
Taking a cue from some comments, we can say that this year AGV Cremona was far beyond a simple fair…it was an opportunity to launch a message of positivity and a newfound normality to our sector and our country … it was important to be there, even if there were many uncertainties and difficulties … it was nice to meet musicians and retailers again, finally being able to embrace them again!
Despite some defections due to the lack of tools for the production and the distribution because of the pandemic, the exhibition area of the stands and the “Vicolo dei Liutai” were dynamic, with many presentations and meetings, even with international presences that were not at all obvious. Many thanks to those who were present, and also to those who, absent due to force majeure, still sent their message of closeness as well as some materials and gadgets: Martin Guitars sponsored the Italian Bluegrass Meeting as always, donating ropes and accessories to the participants, while Taylor Guitars awarded the winner of the songwriters section of the New Sounds of Acoustic Music competition with a beautiful GS Mini. Both these historic American companies have thus reaffirmed their collaboration, promising to come back at full force next year alongside many other international producers. We are therefore preparing for an extraordinary edition in September 2022!

The cultural and live music part of the event was rich and full of enthusiasm: both the conferences in the special Events Area and the performances on the three live stages were very successful and followed by a large and participatory audience. It was not at all obvious to see so many presences, and in some moments of the days it seemed to be in one of the classic editions of the pre-pandemic years!
The lutherie masterclass, with the master luthiers Enrico Bottelli and Lorenzo Lippi had highly attentive and motivated participants, who also had the chance to follow a remote workshop of two great masters from overseas: John Monteleone from the United States and Steve Gilchrist from Australia. As always, the intervention of the two international luthiers was of great interest and full of ideas for the apprentice builders present, all coordinated very well by the mandolinist Massimo Gatti. We are waiting for the master John Monteleone in attendance for 2022, with the presentation of the film on his history and Italian roots!
This introduces one of the important themes of this edition: in addition to classical and modern acoustic guitars, the mandolin was the undisputed protagonist of AGV 2021. Exhibition of historical instruments, insights into history and construction methods with the best experts and performances on the live stages of musical groups have consecrated this small-large stringed instrument. It was a wonderful to experience the emotions created by the 13 plectrum ensembles / orchestras from many Italian cities, some composed of more than 20 elements, with arrangements that ranged from music by Ennio Moricone to Astor Piazzolla.
Thanks go to all the protagonists, from Lorenzo Frignani to Ugo Orlandi, Lorenzo Lippi, Leonardo Petrucci, Martina Gozzini, and in particular to maestro Carlo Aonzo, artistic director of the whole event, with the certainty that the mandolin will be a permanent presence in the future of AGV in Cremona.

All the other activities organized on these the three days, from the 8th Italian Bluegrass Meeting to the competition New Sounds of Acoustic Music, to “Corde & Voci d’Autore“, were very popular and confirmed the great desire and enthusiasm of the musicians to meet and finally talk live in front of the public. We have printed more than 300 artist passes!
Thanks to Danilo Cartia and Andrea Tarquini for their collaboration and masterful coordination of the events, as well as to the many musicians that participated.

This edition proposed other novelties, that turned out to be a great success! We’re talking about Cremona Musica Downtown, the evening concert on Saturday in the Federico II ° courtyard in front of Piazza Duomo, and Cremona Musica Downtown Giovani, where on Sunday groups of young musicians performed in the courtyard of the building Affaitati. They were both were followed by an attentive and participatory public, even with problems of too much turnout for the contingent admissions on Saturday evening….
They are events that will definetly become permanent part of the calendar in the years to come.

At this point, thanking all the actors of the Acoustic Guitar Village 2021 in Cremona Musica, we’ll start working to prepare next year edition. We’ll wait for you in 2022, September 23-24-25th!!

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For further information please contact us: 0187- 626993 or write to info@armadilloclub.org

Best regards,
Staff at Ass. Cult. Armadillo Club – Sarzana