The Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra performs their annual
Spring Concerts
presented by the Northampton Center for the Arts
Friday May 31st and Saturday June 1st at 8 pm
The Happy Valley Guitar Orchestra puts on their signature event of the season; two concerts over two nights at Northampton’s premiere venue for the arts, the newly opened 33 Hawley St. Presented by the Northampton Center for the Arts, the Valley’s finest avant-garde community music ensemble will perform music by James Brown, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Bela Bartok, Felix Mendelssohn, Heitor Villa-Lobos and surf guitar classics such as “Pipeline.”
HVGO is an ensemble of 15 all-amplified electric, acoustic, classical and bass guitars (plus drums) made up of all locally based players from a wide variety of stylistic backgrounds, creating a unique sound that can only come from such an unusual combination.
HVGO’s program is centered around the music of James Brown and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Using as the starting point his own meticulous transcriptions of classic recordings from the 1960’s and 70’s (James Brown’s “Cold Sweat”, “Funky Drummer”, and “Ain’t it Funky Now” and four cuts from Antonio Carlos Jobim’s LP masterpiece Stone Flower), Artistic Director Joseph Ricker has created arrangements for the HVGO which highlight the work of Brown and Jobim as composers, a less well acknowledged aspect of the legacy of these music icons. The orchestra will also perform Ricker’s arrangements of selections from Gyermekeknek by Bela Bartok, Songs without Words Felix Mendelssohn, Suite Populaire Brasilienne by Heitor Villa Lobos as well as surf guitar classics such as “Pipeline.”
“The Spring Concerts are where we really get to strut our stuff,” says Ricker .“We’re excited to present this fun, fascinating and beautiful repertoire and show off all the hard work we’ve been up to this season. Don’t miss it!”
Tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4221116 $18 (adv.) $20 (door, cash or check only), $10 (under 18 and students with valid i.d)
Performances: May 31st 2019 and June 1st 2019 at 8:00 PM, 33 Hawley St. Northampton, MA
More info: hvgo.org