Inaugural USU Guitar, Bass and Drum Festival Feb. 8-9

The Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University announces the 2018 USU Guitar, Bass and Drum Festival February 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. in the Caine Performance Hall on the USU campus. Featured artists of the festival include guitarists Gilad Hekselman, Steve Kovalcheck, Fareed Haque, Justin Cash, Austin Weyand and Corey Christiansen; bassists Marco Panascia and Braun Kahn; drummers Jim White and Steve Lyman.

Master classes daily at 11 a.m. and panel discussions at 1:30 p.m. are open to the public on both days of the festival.

Israeli-born, NYC based Gilad Hekselman, one of the prominent voices of modern jazz guitar, will share the stage with Marco Panascia and Steve Lyman on February 8. He’ll be hosting master classes during the day. French journalist Ludovic Florin says Hekselman is rhythmically the most gifted guitarist of this century.

“Gilad is one of the major voices in the new generation of guitar,” Corey Christiansen, festival director, said. “He has an original sound that is anchored in the tradition of jazz guitar but is representative of today’s sound in NYC.”

Steve Kovalcheck, an artist with a vast background in various styles who currently teaches at the University of Northern Colorado, will also perform on February 8 with Corey Christiansen and Braun Kahn.

February 9 features master of the jazz and classical traditions, Fareed Haque.

“Fareed is the consummate guitarist,” Christiansen said. “He is an expert at multiple genres in the way that most artists are experts at one genre. We are delighted to showcase such an incredible artist here at USU. Our audience members are in for a real treat getting to hear someone of this level perform.”

The Chicago Tribune writes “a finely honed classical technique and a deep well of experience in pop music makes Haque a singular figure in music.”

He will be joined onstage by Jim White and Marco Panascia.

Tickets are $10 general admission, $8 seniors and youth, $5 USU faculty and staff and free for USU students with ID. A separate ticket must be purchased for each night. For more information and tickets, visit the CCA Box Office located in room L-101 of the Chase Fine Arts Center on USU’s campus, call 435-797-8022 or go online at cca.usu.edu.

Writer and contact: Whitney Schulte, whitney.schulte@usu.edu, 435-797-9203