From upper left, clockwise: Lulo Reinhardt, Alexandra Whittingham, Sönke Meinen, Niwel Tsumbu

An international touring guitar festival will touch down in Socorro Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, aiming to delight the Macey Center audience with a celebration of the world’s most innovative and diverse guitar talents. The 25^th Annual North American Tour of International Guitar Night, which runs from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., will feature a diverse cast of musicians in a program of solos, duets and quartet performances, highlighting their musical depth and breadth. The performance is presented by the NMT Performing Arts Series.

Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors age 65 and older, $8 for youth under age 18, and free of charge for NMT students who show a Tech ID. Ticket information and a full schedule of NMTPAS 2024-2025 events is available online at: nmt.edu/pas. NMTPAS 2024-2025 season tickets are available, and subscribers save 25% off tickets for the entire year.

The lineup features Sinti Gypsy Jazz guitarist Lulo Reinhardt (the grand-nephew of legendary Django Reinhardt); Niwel Tsumbu, a Congolese guitarist and composer known for blending African rhythms with jazz, classical, and contemporary styles; the United Kingdom’s “young 21st-century virtuoso,” Alexandra Whittingham, with a repertoire including contemporary and classic works; and Sönke Meinen, a European fingerstyle guitarist who combines jaw-dropping virtuosity with incredible sensitivity.

Brian Gore, International Guitar Night founder and curator, said this group has never performed at New Mexico Tech. Gore said the guitarists are eagerly anticipating delighting the audience at the STEM-based (science, technology, engineering, math) university.

“We are looking forward to the Socorro concert,” Brian Gore said. “We hear it’s gorgeous and the audiences there are fantastic. For those who love music, not just guitar, this show is a ‘must see.’”

Gore said his group loves interacting with students, faculty, staff at universities while on tour. Gore founded the festival in 1995 as a forum for the world’s finest guitarists/composers to play their latest original songs and share musical ideas and talent with their peers.

“We love opening minds to the potential of the acoustic guitar, and to the transformative power of music,” he said.

Although the evening should appeal to music lovers of all kinds, audience members with STEM backgrounds will especially be engaged by the performances, Gore said.

“In terms of STEM, guitar music offers a chance to take an in-depth look at the physiology of practice,” he said.

“Solo guitar is a physical sport, and requires training. Also, brain mechanics. The cognitive science of memorization is at play. Both physiology and neuroscience are working together in a display of technical fireworks on guitar.”

Dana Chavez-Baca, NMTPAS director, said New Mexico Tech is very fortunate to host the touring International Guitar Night XXV.

“This is the world’s premier touring guitar festival,” she said. “I encourage members of the NMT and Socorro community to attend to hear some creative and inventive guitar music. It will no doubt be both fun and inspirational for music lovers of all types.”

Sponsors of International Guitar Night XXV include: New Mexico Tech Student Government Association, Penny and Jim Lommen, John Bertand Memorial, New Mexico Arts--a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs—the National Endowment for the Arts, KUNM-FM and Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC).