Month: November 2011

Organizers of the Healdsburg Guitar Festival and the Montreal Guitar Show have announced an alliance they believe will better promote the guitar, the craft/art of lutherie, and the creative talents of the people behind it. As a result, the two events will be held alternately: as of 2012, the Montreal Guitar Show will be held every second year in Montreal, while the Healdsburg Guitar Festival, in Santa Rosa, California, will be held in odd-numbered years.

The idea was conceived to allow luthiers to present in turns rather than divide their time and costs between the two events. Each of the shows will promote the other.

The 6th edition of the Montreal Show will be held June 29 to July 1. The next Healdsburg show is slated for August of 2013. For more, go to equipespectra.ca and festivalofguitars.com.

All proceeds from the sale of Takamine’s Tsunami Relief Guitar (TR340S) will go to the Earthquake Reconstruction and Support Activities Fund’s School Music Revival program, which has been key to the effort of replacing musical instruments and the restoration of grammar-school music education following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The limited-edition acoustic dreadnought has a spruce top and mahogany back and sides, with the Japanese flag at the 12 fret, along with the inscription, “Play for You, Play for All.” Learn more at takamine.com.

The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund hosted its first Awards Gala November 1 in Los Angeles. The event aimed to raise funds for its commitment to cancer prevention, research and education.

Founded in memory of Ronnie James Dio, singer and front man of Dio, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell who died of gastric cancer last year, the Fund is a privately funded 501C3 charity that  has raised more than $500,000. For more, visit diocancerfund.org.