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International Guitar Night 2019

2019 North American Tour

Each year, International Guitar Night's founder Brian Gore invites a new cast of guitar luminaries from around the world for special concert tours of North America highlighting the diversity of the acoustic guitar.

For International Guitar Night's 19th year of touring, Brian has assembled another incredible, dynamic quartet: Guest host Luca
Stricagnoli,
Italy's explosive contemporary showman, returns by popular demand, joined by two of France's acclaimed young prodigies, Swing guitarist Antoine Boyer and Flamenco guitarist Samuelito, and the ground-breaking Turkish fretless guitarist Cenk Erdogan.

LUCA STRICANOLI

Luca Stricagnoli was born in 1991 in Varese, Italy. Since he was a young boy he showed a great natural talent with the guitar. He began playing classical guitar at the age of 10 but not long after decided to quit for 3 long years. After rekindling his passion he taught himself new and original playing styles, which included performances with different instruments.  He also developed non-conventional ways to play the guitar that enabled him to win many talent shows.

At 22 years old, Luca was signed by US label “Candyrat Records”. His debut videos for the label gave him great internet success (14 million views on Facebook and 7 on YouTube).  In addition to public acclaim, he began attracting major attention from famous guitar players all around the world. Now at 23, Luca is requested to perform all over the world.

“Every so often, a musician emerges who, in terms of depth of expression, advances a style so much that the way we listen changes forever. In rock, Derek Trucks comes to mind as an example. Italian guitarist Luca Stricagnoli embodies such a shift. He employs right-hand fretting, altered tunings, and partial capos in the spirit of Preston Reed and Kaki King, yet, like Trucks, he’s playing at a higher level.”-MINOR 7TH

“Luca Stricagnoli is one of the most exciting new players on the acoustic guitar scene. He bypasses the normal limits of the acoustic guitar and adapts it to any musical genre: from pop to rock, from soundtracks to original pieces.”-CANDYRAT RECORDS

ANTOINE BOYER

AntoineAntoine Boyer was a Gypsy Jazz prodigy as a teenager.  He was a disciple of such masters as Mandino Reinhardt and Francis-Alfred Moerman, with whom he recorded his first CD-DVD in 2009, acclaimed by French and American critics (Jazzman, Vintage Guitars). Antoine also performed Francis-Alfred Moerman's works in tribute concerts at the Angers Gypsy Swing festival in2010, as well as the Django Reinhardt festival (Samois) in 2011.

Antoine Boyer's 2nd CD, Leské (“for him”, in the Sinti language) received several awards, among which was Trad'Mag's 'Bravo'.  In 2011, following the nuclear accid ent in Fukushima, Japan, Antoine Boyer organized a concert in Brussels to raise money for Act for Japan. Following the release of his 3rd CD, Sita, which earned a 'Revelation' award from Jazzman magazine, Antoine Boyer was chosen as the 'Revelation 2012' by Guitarist Acoustic magazine. He is the first gypsy jazz guitarist to receive this much sought-after distinction.

Antoine Boyer has been a headliner at most of the major Gypsy Jazz festivals in Europe and the United States and has shared the stage with such renowned musicians as Philip Catherine, Angelo Debarre, Stochelo Rosenberg, Christian Escoudé, Raphael Faÿs, Tim Kliphuis, Jon Larsen, Adrien Moignard, Robin Nolan, and Paulus Schäfer.  Antoine performs regularly in duet with Flamenco guitarist Samuelito and with the Gustav Lundgren Trio, and is regularly invited to play with many different artists.

More recently, Antoine studied classical guitar with Gérard Abiton in Paris. He is the winner of the 2015 Montigny Classical Guitar Contest. Antoine has been nominated "Révélation Guitare Classique 2016" by the French magazine Guitare Classique.

Antoine Boyer & Samuelito won the "4th European Guitar Award" in Dresden, Germany in 2017.  In January/February 2019, Antoine and Samuelito will both be joining the troupe of International Guitar Night for a tour of the United States and Canada.

SAMUELITO

SamuelitoSamuel Rouesnel, aka “Samuelito,” born in 1993, started classical guitar at the age of seven at the Conservatoire de Caen (Normandy, France). He was soon fascinated by world music, and particularly flamenco, which he discovered through the powerful singing and guitar playing. Samuelito followed a dual classical and flamenco guitar path, which led him to meet many great performers (Paco de Lucía, Ramón Sanchez, Roland Dyens, Gérard Abiton, Arnaud Dumond, Ibrahim Maalouf and many others) and made him a very eclectic musician.

His first concert took place on the day of his 16th birthday on the national stage of Caen, broadcast by France Télévisions. It was the beginning of an international career (France, Spain, Germany, Croatia, United States...).

Deeply attached to the flamenco tradition, both as an interpreter and composer, Samuelito already has developed a very personal musical style. In addition to his concerts, he has also been sought after for other kinds of projects including film music, master classes, magazine tutorials, etc…  He has also collaborated on a recording with French swing guitarist Antoine Boyer.  He and Antoine will be a part of the International  Guitar Night troupe touring North America in early 2019.

CENK ERDOGAN

Cenk Erdogan was born in Istanbul in 1979.  In 1997 he won a four-year scholarship at Istanbul Bilgi University in the Music (Composition) Department.  In 2001 he graduated with First Class Honors.

Eenk ErdoganIn October 2004, at the invitation of David "FUZE" Fiuczynski, he held a workshop at the Berklee College of Music in Boston MA on fretless guitar and modes in Turkish music. In 2008 Cenk recorded his first album "WITH", which was produced by Sinan Sakizli for Baykus Music. The same year, with the "Aria" soundtrack company, he composed and arranged the soundtrack for the movie "Issiz Adam", which was written and directed by Çagan Irmak, and won the Yesilçam "Soundtrack of the Year 2009" prize.

In 2009 the Cenk Erdogan Trio featuring Tineke Postma played in the 16th Istanbul Jazz Festival and 19th Akbank Jazz Festival. Cenk also played with the Yinon Muallem ensemble in the "Karawane 2009" festival, organized in Bochum.  Cenk recorded the album "The Chark" in 2009 with his Trio, including Nihan Devecioglu and Adam Matta, and performed at the Zaltsburg Music Fest, Bayreuth Young Artists Fest, and Bonn Summer Fest.

In 2010 Cenk played in the "Turkophony All Star" band with Trilok Gurtu and Doninique di Piazza.  In 2011 he played in the "Turkophony All Star" band with Dave Weckl, Kai Eckhardt and Eric Levy.  Cenk recorded his second album "Kavis" (Arc) in 2011 in San Francisco with his legendary bass player Kai Eckhardth and Jason Lewis, and this album was released and sponsored by Berkelee Jazz School Records. 

In 2014 Cenk made the first educational website for fretless guitar playing, www.fretlessguitarlessons.com , and started to teach the  techniques of the Turkish way of playing fretless guitar.  In 2014 Cenk also released his last record "KaraKutu," on which he played solo with all acoustic guitars (fretless and fretted). 

In 2016 Cenk conducted and arranged for the Orchestra of "Sezen Aksu," which is the diva of Turkish popular music.  His composition "Sezenli Yillar" has been performed at 6 concerts with a 35 piece orchestra and visual and dance shows. Cenk still works as a producer, composer and arranger for television and gives concerts as a solo guitarist and with the Cenk Erdogan Trio.