100 Guitarists To Perform Rhys Chatham's 'A Secret Rose'

All strings and plectrums have been provided by Rotosound   22-May-14

The UK Premiere of Rhys Chatham's 'A Secret Rose for 100 Guitars' will see 100 guitarists take to the stage using the same plectrums, and the same style of strings.

Rotosound is providing the strings and picks for all one hundred guitars taking part in the performance of the mesmerising piece, by Manhattan-based composer Rhys Chatham.

The strings to be used are from Rotosound's RH10's Nickel on Steel range. They will be using a wide selection of gauges specifically requested by the composer for their ability to be tuned in a variety of different ways.

Rhys Chatham chose the strings for their consistency, tuning stability and durability, all of which will be needed to ensure this performance rocks. The guitarists taking part will also be using one hundred orange Rotosound PG2 Tortex Pro Grip 0.60mm teardrop guitar picks.

These Tortex picks are specially designed and manufactured to ensure the maximum memory and minimum wear that is so characteristic of the original tortoise shell ones.

Rhys Chatham is a composer and guitarist from Manhattan. He has been working for more than thirty years to make use of armies of electric guitars in special tunings to merge the music of the sixties and the seventies with serious hard rock. 'A Secret Rose' for 100 Guitars is Rhys Chatham's latest composition, premiered in San Francisco in November 2013.

Its UK premier will be performed as part of the Frontiers Festival in Birmingham. Joining him and the one hundred local electric guitarists will be David Daniell, Seth Olinsky and Toby Summerfield, plus Birmingham based rhythm section Laurence Hunt of Pram and bassist Sebastiano Dessaney. Visual projections, 'Pictures for Music' by Robert Longo will accompany the performance.

To find out more about Rotosound's Nickel on Steel string range go to Rotosound website, where you can see the gauge and string set sizes available, hear how they sound as Simon McBride puts them through their paces and find out which artists use them in their music.

To find out more about the UK Premiere of Rhys Chatham's A Secret Rose for 100 Guitars, on the 7th June 2014 at Birmingham's Town Hall go to the Frontiers Music website.