The Guitar in America

The First Congregational Church of Madison’s Music at the Meetinghouse will kick off its 2015-2016 concert season featuring internationally-known guitarist and composer Peter Griggs in a concert, “The Guitar In America,” on Saturday, September 19 at 7 p.m. In this program, Mr. Griggs traces the history of the guitar in the USA, performing American country dances, early classical works, spirituals, blues, ragtime, jazz, and original compositions on both classical and electric guitar. Click here for tickets.  A vocalist as well as an expert finger-style guitarist, Griggs will perform several songs by composers such as Mississippi John Hurt, Robert Johnson and Duke Ellington.  He also tells the story of the guitar from its origins as a folk instrument through its gradual acceptance in the concert hall and recording studio, to its position today as an essential voice in American music. There is something for listeners of all tastes on this wide-ranging program.

Peter Griggs is a guitarist and composer from New York City.  He has performed at many venues in the USA, including Carnegie Recital Hall, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Smithsonian Institution’s Air & Space Museum.  Since 2002, he has presented more than 500 concerts in the USA, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, the Low Countries, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic and Croatia – at art centers, museums, libraries, churches, festivals and jazz clubs.  Mr. Griggs has recorded on Folkways Records, Music Of The World and Treecastle Music.

 

Critics in the United Kingdom and Germany have been particularly enthusiastic about Griggs’ performances. Gary Frager praised his “sizzling guitar playing” in the Dundee Courier, while Gordon Calder of the Caithness Courier noted that “his talent and technical ability was there for all to see.” In the Hi-Arts Online Journal, Alexander Smith wrote that Griggs’ approach to programming is “sophisticated and highly enjoyable.” Elke Sprunkel, in Cologne’s Stadt-Anzeiger, described “a master of soft and expressive sounds.” Sigrid Hedderich in the Bergische Morgen Post was even more emphatic: “An almost unbelievable talent! Peter Griggs performs magic!”