HÀ NỘI — Five international guitarists will perform at the 4th Việt Nam International Finger-Style Guitar Festival at Việt Nam Youth Theatre on August 25.

The musicians are Andres Godoy; Ryohei Shimoyama; Tom Lumen; Claus Boesser-Ferrari and Huang Chia-Wei, who are regarded as among the most talented guitarists in the world. The 4th edition of the festival is co-hosted by the Wind String Music and Vietnam Fingerstyle Guitar Organisation (VNFS).

"This year’s festival will host amazing artists coming from many different countries," said Đỗ Dương Tùng, chairman of VNFS.

"The concert will be an extraordinary event for local music lovers to enjoy guitar finger-styles from all over the world.”

From Chile, Godoy will demonstrate the Tatap technique, which involves playing the guitar with just one hand. At age 14, he lost his right arm in an accident, and out of this adversity he developed a unique technique which allows him to play guitar.

Tatap consists of drumming the guitar strings with the fingertips, using the instrument in a percussive fashion combined with finger-plucking in order to produce chords, melody and rhythm simultaneously.

The physicality of the scraping, plucking and beating which Godoy deploys in his performances is enriched by the added textures of voice (including beatboxing), keyboards and synth.

Godoy’s devotion for Tatap inspires young guitarists to explore the wonderful sound of the guitar, according to Tùng.

"He transformed a disadvantage into his strength. The Tatap, besides being a tool of musical expression, is a contribution to the development of a new guitar technique that stimulates new generations of musicians to find ways, mental and emotional, for the exploration of new possibilities of interpretation, composition and sound.”

This is the first time Vietnamese audiences have the chance to enjoy Godoy’s performance at the finger-style festival. In additional, Japan’s Shimoyama; Hungary’s Lumen and Germany’s Ferrari will attend the festival.

Taiwanese guitarist Huang Chia-Wei performed at the Việt Nam International Finger-Style Festival in 2016. He began to play guitar at 16 and began teaching the instrument at 19 years old. Wei and his friends opened the Guitar Music College in Tainan, Taiwan, as well as guitar clubs at colleges all over Taiwan.

He has made several albums such as Happy Lang, Cirlec, Journey, Fall in Love and Discoloured Age. He is the founder of festivals involving finger-style guitar performances, including the event in Việt Nam.

This year the Việt Nam International Finger-Style Guitar Festival will include a guitar contest. Five finalists will perform in the afternoon on August 25, while the winner will share the stage with international guitarists during a concert in the evening.

Tickets are priced from VNĐ500,000-700,000-900,000-1,200,000 (US$21 to 50). Call 0943227513 for further information. — VNS