Internationally acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto will lead an informal masterclass for players of all levels of ability and accomplishment at 11:00 AM on December 17, 2023, at Stage 33 Live, 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont, in advance of his 2:00 concert. Limited to ten participants. Fingerstyle techniques, chords and theory, tone and rhythm, scales, thumb placement, tunings, improvisation, practice routines, and more presented with kindness, patience, and easy laughter by one of the best fingerstyle players in the world. Questions will be warmly received. Read the press release.
• Advance registration will shut down at midnight the day before the masterclass even if capacity hasn’t been reached.
• Advance registration guarantees that you’ll get in if the class sells out.
• You can change the number of registrations after you click through.
• The transaction fee is rolled into the registration price.
• A Paypal account is not required. There will be a link to proceed without one, but they make it small and tricksy.
• After completing, a “success” page should pop up and you should get an email from Paypal. You should also get a confirmation email from us, but that one may take a day or two.
• The name you give will be on a list at the door. All you have to do is show up. There are no physical tickets.
• We won’t sell your info to anybody. We won’t even add you to our secret email newsletter coterie unless you ask.
• There are no brick-and-mortar outlets for advance registration. If you don’t have a credit or debit card or don’t do online transactions, that’s cool. Drop us a line at stage33@stage33live.com and we’ll work it out.
• If the workshop hasn’t reached capacity, walk-ups will be welcome. The cost will be $30. If the concert hasn’t sold out, a workshop / concert bundle will be $40. We can’t process plastic at the door, cash is best.
• Questions? Drop us a line at stage33@stage33live.com or text/voicemail 802-289-0148. (Text is generally better. Protip: We don’t have actual staff to answer the phone.)
Fingerstyle Guitar Masterclass with Hiroya Tsukamoto
BELLOWS FALLS — Internationally acclaimed fingerstyle guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto will lead a comfortable, informal masterclass for players of all levels of ability and accomplishment at 11:00 AM on December 17, 2023, at Stage 33 Live, 33 Bridge Street in Bellows Falls, Vermont, in advance of his 2:00 concert. This workshop is strictly limited to ten participants, so advance registration through the stage33live.com website is strongly recommended. Walk-ups will only be accepted if there’s still room.
Wisdom on scales, thumb placement, tunings, improvisation, and more to help players improve and expand their talents will presented with kindness and patience and easy laughter by one of the best fingerstyle players in the world. Hiroya will demonstrate fingerstyle techniques, including chords and basic theory, breaking down elements such as tone and rhythm, explaining how to apply them to a practice routine. Questions will be warmly received.
The workshop starts at 11:00 AM on Sunday, December 17, and the cost is $30. A discounted class-plus-concert bundle is $40. This workshop is strictly limited to ten participants, so advance registration through the stage33live.com website is strongly recommended. Walk-ups will only be accepted if there’s still room.
Feel free to bring a lunch to eat after the class, or to pop out to a local restaurant before the concert.
Born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, Hiroya Tsukamoto received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and came to the US. Since then he has been performing internationally including at the United Nations, the Blue Note in New York, and on Japanese National Television. He has released seven albums. In 2022, he won second place in the International Finger Style Guitar Championship. He is a dizzyingly agile fingerpicker who always chooses beauty over bombast. His concert performances are an eclectic, immersive, and mesmerizing impressionistic journey filled with earthy, organic soundscapes rich in subtle detail.
“Delicate, fluid, and beautifully detailed.” — Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Stage 33 Live is a casual and intimate industrial-rustic listening room in a former factory hosting local, regional, and national performances and presentations of original material. No bar or kitchen, the stage is the mission; coffee / soda / juice / water and weird snacks available by donation. More info about the nonprofit, all-volunteer project, and this and other upcoming events, online at stage33live.com
Stage 33 Live gratefully acknowledges the help of so many individuals without whom none of this would be happening, and institutional support this season from The Island Corporation, the Vermont Arts Council, the Bellows Falls Opera House, the Rockingham Arts & Museum Project, and WOOL-FM that helped fund improvements and maintenance, and generally smooth out a lot of the rough edges. Stage 33 Live is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, and all donations are deductible to the fullest extent. Volunteers run the thing from stem to stern.
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