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International Guitar Night returns to New Westminster's Massey Theatre

Lulo Reinhardt, Luca Stricagnoli, Thu Le and Jim "Kimo" West are featured in the Friday, Jan. 28 performance
Julie MacLellan
Julie MacLellan
IGN guitarists 2022
Clockwise from top left: Lulo Reinhardt (photo by Elke and Norbert Schikowski), Luca Stricagnoli (photo by Meg Pfeiffer), Jim "Kimo" West (photo by Allan Alabastro) and Thu Le (photo by Jody Peck) are featured in this year's International Guitar Night tour, onstage at Massey Theatre Jan. 28.contributed

Four guitar virtuosos from around the world are coming to the stage at Massey Theatre.

International Guitar Night is returning to New Westminster on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

The annual touring show marks its return following a COVID-19-related hiatus in 2021. This year's show features a new lineup of world-class international guitarists.

Local audiences will be able to enjoy acoustic rock sensation Luca Stricagnoli of Italy, progressive classical guitarist Thu Le from Vietnam, slack key master Jim Kimo West of Hawaii and Latin swing pioneer Lulo Reinhardt of Germany.

“For 22 years we have slowly built a loyal and ever-growing audience for International Guitar Night (IGN),” said founder Brian Gore in a press release. “Each tour offers an enthralling view of the burgeoning acoustic guitar renaissance. Sell-outs and encore requests are the norm for IGN, and each tour is its own unique musical experience. Every year is the best year yet, and this year is even better!”

Stricagnoli, who’s touring for his third time with IGN, may well already be well-known to local audiences. He has a huge online following, with more than 200 million views of his music videos featuring his unique style of rearranging rock classics for acoustic guitar, playing on self-invented instruments including the “reversed triple neck” and the “reversed slide neck.”

Le, who was the youngest-ever student admitted to the prestigious National Conservatory of Music in Hanoi, makes her IGN debut on this tour. She’s performed around the world as a soloist and in collaboration with orchestras and string quartets and in duets with violinists and flutists.

West is one of the world’s foremost players of Hawaii’s iconic guitar style, “ki ho’alu” or “slack key guitar.”  West is a 2021 Grammy winner for his CD More Guitar Stories and a 2019 Grammy nominee for his album Moku Maluhia. This is his second time on the IGN tour.

Reinhardt is the grand-nephew of legendary guitarist Django Reinhardt. He has carried on the family tradition while incorporating new Latin rhythms in a style he calls “Latin swing.” He has appeared with four previous IGN lineups and also hosts this year’s edition.

The popular show always sells out, so tickets ($35 to $45) should be bought in advance.

Follow Julie MacLellan on Twitter @juliemaclellan.
Email Julie, [email protected].