IGF at 30: Tom Kerstens Q&A
Q&A
To celebrate 30 years of the International Guitar Foundation and Festivals (IGF) and its fruitful history with Kings Place, we’ve been reminiscing with CEO and Artistic Director Tom Kerstens about the last three decades of IGF.
‘For us, Kings Place is the Home of the Guitar.’
Can you tell us about IGF’s mission, and how it’s evolved over the last 30 years?
‘To be the outstanding and distinctive organisation dedicated to the promotion, education and enjoyment of the guitar, its players and its music.
‘Over the years we include other plucked instruments including the Arabic oud, African kora, mandolin, sitar, ukelele) celebrating a range of genres and cultures, enabling us to reach much more diverse audiences and participants.
‘The guitar is the world’s most popular instrument capable of playing every style of music and reaching people from all cultures and economic backgrounds, it is truly the instrument of the people.
‘Young artist development, the creating new music and outreach work in schools and the wider community are key objectives.’
What’s special about IGF's relationship with Kings Place?
‘I met Kings Place founder Peter Millican 3 years before Kings Place opened, and I saw every stage from it being a big hole in the ground to the opening. I played a few notes on my guitar in Hall One when it was just a concrete shell. We promoted London Guitar Festival in the first week of Kings Place opening. Together with Kings Place and The Sixteen we commissioned a piece from Gabriel Jackson for electric guitar and choir for the opening of Kings Place which I performed with The Sixteen.
‘For us, Kings Place is the Home of the Guitar.’
What have been some of IGF’s biggest achievements over the past 30 years?
‘Our Young Artist and Music Creator programme: so far, we have commissioned over 130 new works for guitar in a variety of styles and helped the careers of over 300 young musicians some of which have gone on to major international careers like Ana Vidovic, Laura Snowden and others.
‘I am also extremely proud of our outreach work in schools: our IGF Guitar Circus reaches 1000s of children in underserved areas all over the UK.’
Do you have a top three most memorable IGF performances from the last 30 years?
‘Too many to fit in here! But just a few: Ana Vidovic won her first major international competition at IGF 27 years ago, aged 14. Her return to IGF was at Kings Place a few years ago, it was a magical moment to hear her! Another memorable performance was jazz phenomenon Bireli Lagrene who is possibly the best guitarist I have ever heard in any style.’
Can you tell us a bit about your new collaboration with Flamenco Festival?
‘Flamenco Festival is a company that organises festivals in London and New York, they celebrate their 20th anniversary this month. We have been working with them for many years, I visit them in Spain and we attend show cases together, this is really useful for us because it enables us to find talent that we otherwise would not know about. The three concerts we present at Kings Place are a case in point because they feature 3 amazingly virtuoso guitarists of the new generation, each concert also features a spectacular dancer, it is an extraordinary series which will change your perception of flamenco and open new horizons for audiences.’
What other events do you have coming up with Kings Place in 2025?
‘We have the IGF Guitar Summit coming up in July with the great classical guitar David Russell, legendary jazz guitarist Stochelo Rosenberg, two Young Artist Platform concerts, workshops and the premieres of 2 new works by talented young composers Leila Arafah and Ashkan Layegh for both classical and electric guitars. The Big Summer Night of the Guitar features a mass performance by young guitarists from our outreach work with the North London Music Hub followed by performances by Holly Carter and Antra Lante from our La Leona, celebrating women music creators project. In October we have London Guitar Festival which features the wonderful Ana Vidovic.’
What are your hopes for IGF’s next three decades?
‘We are continuing our La Leona, celebrating women music creators and performers project. We celebrate both established composers such as Errollyn Wallen (Master of the King’s Music) as well as many young music creators in a variety of styles such as singer songwriters, roots and blues, rock, jazz and featuring a range of different plucked instruments, also including bands and ensemble of any kind.
‘Young Artistic development and new music remain hugely important for IGF in the years to come. We also will roll our IGF’s Guitar Circus schools and community programme in Wales and Scotland for the first time.
‘Come to all our concerts and workshops and be amazed! And bring your guitar to our workshops! We love to see you!’