the Guitar Festival has played its last notes

There will be no International Guitar Festival in Béarn in 2025: the adventure ends, after 7 years full of emotions. How did it start?

When I moved to Lahontan for retirement in 2016, my friend Pierre Bibault, who is a guitar professor at the conservatory and an international artist, called me to check on me. He told me that the masterclass he led every summer in Cap Ferret could not be done that year. So I said to him: “Come to my house! We will accommodate the interns at home. » After the masterclass, Frédérique Luzy and Pierre Bibault gave a classical guitar concert in Lahontan: the village residents loved it! From there, Pierre told me: “We are going to create an international guitar festival!” »

What form did the event take?

From the first edition in 2017, we retained the format: 4 concerts, over 4 days, in 4 cities. In Salies, Sauveterre, Orthez and Lahontan. The philosophy of the association was to bring classical music to a territory where it is rarely present and to allow young musicians to be in contact with great artists. Here, everyone eats together, the menus are typical of the South-West and the atmosphere is very nice. Most of the artists stay with locals, this creates connections. The best compliment I received – it brought tears to my eyes – was from a lady who said to me: “I never thought I would go to a classical concert, and what’s more, I loved that! »

Very great artists have performed in Béarn over the years. If you had to name a few?

In 2023, Thibault Cauvin, the French number 1 guitar player, played in an archiplein Jean-Monnet hall in Salies. The same year, mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti performed with guitarist Gabriel Bianco at the Abet church. She’s an astonishing artist, who also sings metal and was an international rugby sevens player! She won a Victoire de la Musique Classique in the “lyrical artist” category in 2023 and sang at the opening ceremony of the Paris Games. And then in 2024, we got Yamadu Costa, nicknamed “the Brazilian god of the 7-string guitar.” This usually inaccessible artist came to Béarn thanks to Pierre Bibault. He showed himself to be very human by welcoming music school students to play with him on stage at the theater in Orthez. You would have seen the eyes of these kids shine playing with this star! These are the kinds of very intense moments that marked the festival.

At the end of November, the decision was made not to renew the festival. For what reasons?

The team is tired. I myself have passed 75 years. A year ago, we announced that we were looking for volunteers to continue but we did not find any successors. We are all sad but also very happy to have experienced this adventure which allowed for exceptional encounters! And I would like to thank all our patrons: without them, the festival could not exist.

“The philosophy of the association was to bring classical music to a territory where it is rarely present”

The festival in figures

Since 2016, the Béarn International Guitar Festival has had 7 summer editions, which gave rise to 33 concerts, and 4 from local music schools. On average, each festival will have attracted 1,100 spectators who came to applaud 35 artists from around the world: 17 French, 1 Italian, 2 Belgian, 2 Greek, 1 Polish, 2 Spanish, 1 American, 4 Brazilian, 2 Russian, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Thai . In total, 7 masterclasses brought together 53 participants.
Still in figures: 5 international competitions, 3 luthier fairs and 400 meals served on average per festival for trainees, competitors and artists. The Musicales de Lahontan association, support of the event, has around ten volunteers, 7 office members and around 120 members. Annual budget: nearly 100,000 euros, financed 15% by grants, 25% by ticketing and the rest through sponsorship.