VCU Hosts Guitars and Other Strings Series

Guitars and Other Strings, a concert series that has become an annual rite of summer in Richmond, will feature a diverse and lively lineup of shows in July. This is the 18th year of the series.

This year’s concerts include Quatro na Bossa, a Richmond bossa nova band; Al Petteway and Amy White, who play a blend of original, traditional, contemporary Celtic and Appalachian-influenced music; Harper Speagle-Price, a 12-year-old mandolin player, and Adam Larrabee, her instructor who also teaches classical and jazz guitar at VCU; and the VCU Community Guitar Ensemble, which is now in its 24th year of operation. All concerts take place in the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall in the Singleton Center for the Performing Arts, 922 Park Avenue. For tickets call the VCU Department of Music, (804) 828-1166.

John Patykula, associate professor and coordinator of the guitar program at VCU, said the lineup offers generally lighter fare than concerts during the academic year and “suits the summer months.”

Quatro na Bossa has become a regular part of the series, having performed six previous times. Its members include vocalist Laura Ann Boy, guitarist Kevin Harding, bassist Rusty Farmer and percussionist Robert Jospe. The group plays Brazilian bossa nova and samba and always draws a large crowd, Patykula said. (Friday, July 9, 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10)

“People love them and by the end usually you’ll see people dancing in the aisles,” Patykula said.

Petteway and White, who are Grammy winners, have been performing and recording together since 1995. Their music includes instrumental pieces as well as some vocal touches. Instruments played include the acoustic guitar, the mandolin, the Celtic harp, the banjo, the Irish bouzouki, the piano and some percussion. Their music was featured in the recent Ken Burns’ documentary, “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.” (Friday, July 16, 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10)

Speagle-Price started playing the mandolin at age 7 and has played at the Virginia State Fair, Ashland Coffee and Tea and the New Acoustic Festival, among other places. She is the 2009 Fiddler’s Grove Junior Mandolin Champion. She performs with a band that includes her father, Terry. Larrabee, who plays the guitar, banjo and mandolin, has appeared on Bruce Hornsby’s album, “Spirit Trail,” and been involved in projects involving a range of musical styles, such as neo-bluegrass, classical, chamber-jazz and French music. His composition, “Norwegian Slip,” won a 2006 Independent Music Award. He teaches classical and jazz guitar at VCU and banjo at the University of Virginia. (Friday, July 23, 7:30 p.m., tickets are $10)

The VCU Community Guitar Ensemble, which Patykula has directed since 1986, is a collection of approximately 35 non-professional classical guitarists from Central Virginia. The ensemble is the resident ensemble for the Guitar and Other Strings Series. (Sunday, July 25, 4 p.m., free admission)