RAY CHESNA

Atlanta’s Creative Loafing calls Ray Chesna a “local treasure who sings with the teddy-bear softness of Leon Redbone while playing some of the gentlest, most appealing guitar you’re likely to hear.” He has performed with Hazel Dickens, Kenny Baker, Josh Graves, and Bela Fleck. A private music teacher since 1971, Ray has taught at camps and festivals including the Augusta Heritage Center, the Kerrville Folk Festival, Guitar Intensives Bar Harbor, Club Passim, and the Swannanoa Gathering. Currently he performs in Western North Carolina with the acoustic trio Bones Creak and the jug band Moonshine, Stills & Mash.

CORY SEZNEC

A French-American in Paris, Cory Seznec is an artist who traces the through-line across musical cultures and whose songs let the past reverberate in the present. His guitar playing is cross-pollinated and idiosyncratic. He also sings, plays banjo, and wades in the deep river of American song. Travels to Africa—including a three-year stint in Ethiopia—cracked everything open. In Addis Ababa, while holding down a gig in Mulatu Astatke’s jazz club, he recorded two albums and embarked on rugged field recording trips across the Ethiopian highlands. He tours regularly with the group Touki and is involved in research celebrating East African guitar music

CESAR GARABINI
Originally from Minas Gerais, Brazil, Cesar Garabini is in-demand internationally as a virtuoso 7-string guitarist. While equally at home with samba, bossa nova, jazz, and Portuguese fado, he especially loves choro. He has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Jazz Standard, Birdland, and the Herbst Theater and has shared the stage with Leny Andrade, Badi Assad, Anat Cohen, Olli Soikkeli, and Douglas Lora and has been featured on NPR, NBC, and Global TV in Brazil. Cesar hosts a monthly Roda with the choro group Regional de New York and is on the faculty at Choro Camp New England.

MAMIE MINCH

Mamie Minch is a longtime staple of New York’s acoustic blues scene. Her singing and playing is like unpacking a time capsule of American music that’s been stored in her 1930s National steel guitar and then filtered through a modern femme sensitivity. You can find her playing shows around NYC and the world. Mamie is also half of Brooklyn Lutherie, NYC’s only woman owned and run instrument repair and restoration shop. When she’s not busy with lutherie work or performing, she teaches guitar at camps, classrooms, and kitchen tables including the Ukulele Building Camp for girls at Jalopy Brooklyn.

ALBANIE FALLETTA

Albanie Falletta has been performing early jazz, swing, acoustic blues, and folk music for twenty years in Austin, New Orleans, New York, and the world. They have been teaching guitar for over a decade and are passionate about sharing great music with new friends, as well as imparting tricks of the trade to help folks become a better forever student.

GREG RUBY

Based in New York City, Guitar Week coordinator Greg Ruby is an acoustic and electric guitarist specializing in instrumental guitar music from the 20th century. From acoustic swing to jazz Manouche to surf guitar, Ruby inhabits many musical forms and brings his voice to each of them. Greg has authored Chord Melody Made Easy(ish), The Oscar Alemán Play-Along Book, The Pearl Django Play-Along Book, and co-authored Frank D. Waldron: Seattle’s Syncopated Classic, and he is also a regular contributor to Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Greg performs throughout the NYC area and teaches online music classes and private guitar lessons at www.gregrubymusic.com.

SAM FARTHING

Sam Farthing, a 22-year-old guitarist and songwriter from Baltimore, is a rising star in the genre of jazz Manouche. Mentored by Fapy Lafertin and Paulus Schäfer, his artistry has been shaped by their guidance. Sam has performed with legends like Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Samson Schmitt, Aurore Voilique, and Stéphane Wrembel, appearing at events such as the Festival Django Reinhardt in France and Djangofest Northwest. Committed to authentic musicianship and mentoring, he continues to inspire audiences and students worldwide.

HOWARD ALDEN

Howard Alden is considered a “Modern Maestro” and one of the “75 Great Guitarists of all time” by Downbeat Magazine. Originally from California, Alden moved east in 1979 with vibraphone legend Red Norvo. In New York, Alden’s skills were sought out by a glittering array of jazz stars, including Joe Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, and Woody Herman, as well as pop/rock icons Steve Miller and J. Geils. Howard’s playing for Woody Allen’s movie Sweet and Lowdown helped spark a world-wide revival of Django Reinhardt’s music. Leo Kottke calls Howard’s most recent release, “the best recording of the seven-string guitar I've ever heard!”