From the Promoter

For the January/February 2015 North American tour, IGN founder Brian Gore will be joined by classical innovator and fellow Californian Andrew York; Brazilian jazz master Diego Figueiredo and contemporary Iranian-Canadian steel string prodigy Maneli Jamal. Andrew is a Grammy winner both for his work with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet and for his own brilliant compositions. Diego is one of the most sought-after jazz artists in the United States and around the world, and Maneli has won guitar competitions around the world. We are looking forward to a particularly inventive evening of contemporary guitar music.

Diego Figueiredo (pronounced fig-a-reed-o) is considered one of the most talented guitar players in the world today. He is the winner of several important competitions including the Montreux Jazz Competition and the VISA Prize. Diego has released over nineteen albums to date, three DVD’s, and several instructional books. His music is a fusion between Jazz, Bossa Nova and Classical. Diego’s unique interpretations, his phenomenal technique and emotion has created an explosion of adoring fans and concert goers. Diego has performed in over forty countries around the world.

Besides being a guitar player, Diego is a producer, arranger, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist and has recently produced and arranged the double album “As várias caras de Drummond” for which Belchior wrote the music for Drummond´s poems, and which was released in CARAS magazine.

With a variety of works already released, Diego is doing shows on the most important stages around the world - enchanting and charming the public wherever he goes with his unique touch.

Andrew York is one of today's most visible and innovative classical guitar composers, winning a GRAMMY with the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet during their sixteen-year partnership. Andrew’s discography includes “California Breeze,” a recording for Sony Japan, three solo CDs for the GSP label, ten CDs with the LAGQ on Delos, Sony and Telarc labels, as well as inclusion on Rhino Records “Legends of Guitar” and numerous other compilations.

Besides his classical performance and compositional accomplishments, Andrew also has an extensive background as a jazz guitarist, studying with jazz legends Joe Diorio and Lenny Breau. As a classical musician, Andrew received a grant from the Del Amo Foundation for Study in Spain. Andrew received his Master of Music degree from the University of Southern California and is the only USC graduate in the school’s history to twice receive the Outstanding Alumni of the Year Award – in 1997 as a member of LAGQ and in 2003 as the sole recipient.

Acoustic guitarist and composer Maneli Jamal has lived in five different countries (Iran, Belarus, Germany, USA, Canada) and had moved twenty times by the time he was 18. The young artist gained a sense of musical maturity rarely seen among his peers especially when he transformed his nomadic life experiences into musical movements using extended guitar techniques. There aren't many players in his style that have Jamal's balance of power and sensitivity, nor his breadth of ideas. His rhythmic concepts can be alternately short and dense, or explored carefully through several movements. He has won countless music competitions around the world including placing in the top 3 at Guitar Idol, a worldwide guitar competition held in London, UK. Having been brought up in a purely artistic and musical family has contributed to shape his unique story-telling approach. He has performed all over the world, including tours in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Europe and Africa.

San Francisco guitar poet Brian Gore is gaining a reputation as one of the most interesting and influential performers of "the next generation" in finger style guitar. A musical romantic, his compositions draw inspiration from myth and modern literature. Hailed as having "...one of the most unique new acoustic guitar styles on the scene today (News and Review)," his lyrical, understated compositions integrate classical and percussive techniques that display what the Los Angeles Times calls "a characterful bounce and spaciousness all his own."

Gore's recent CD + postcard release is called “Santa Cruz in Song and Image.” He is currently expanding upon his work with illustrator Bill Russell on an online series of videos and original songs plus multimedia show called “Wine Country: A Pairing of Music and Art.” He has two additional solo releases, including “Legacy” and “Path of Least Resistance.”

Brian founded The International Guitar Night in 1995 as a forum for the world's finest guitarists/composers to play their latest original songs and share musical ideas with their peers in public concert. This has evolved into critically acclaimed annual tours in the US (starting in 2000), Canada (starting in 2006) and the UK (starting in 2007), a CD on Favored Nations Records released in 2004, a guitar instruction book published in 2005, and IGN releases on Warner Music Canada.