The Ouray County Performing Arts Guild is delighted to welcome Joe Scott and Hannah Alkire of Acoustic Eidolon to the Wright Opera House in Ouray on Saturday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. Scott and Alkire will feature the melodic intermingling of an acoustic guitar, Scott’s one-of-a-kind designed double neck guitjo and cello as these masterful artists will engage the audience with their “new acoustic” sound blending Celtic, Americana, World and Flamenco musical influences. This is the first concert of the 2021 Dave and Mary Wood Classical Concert series.

     Alkire started playing the piano at the age of four, then begged to learn to play the cello when she was eight years old. She grew up surrounded by music as her father played the piano, her mother was a music instructor and her sister played the violin. Alkire classically trained on the cello with Gabriel Magyar of the Hungarian String Quartet. She continued to play and seriously study the cello while she earned a degree to teach French, English and Spanish from the University of Illinois. She moved to Boulder in 1992 and performed in the Boulder Bach Festival, Colorado MahlerFest and area symphony orchestras. Alkire began to stretch her musical range and moved away from only performing in the classical realm and began playing rock, funk and alternative groups, performing at various local venues and national events like the South by Southwest Festival in Texas. She was also a founding member if the Anasazi String Quartet, whose repertoire included everything from Dvorak to Zepplin, baroque to The Grateful Dead.

     A Colorado native, Scott grew up near Boulder and was surrounded by a vibrant acoustic-based music scene. He began playing the acoustic guitar at the age of 12, and by 14 he took up the 5-string banjo. He excelled at the banjo and won many regional bluegrass festival contests by the age of 16. In the following years, Scott was involved in various folk, bluegrass and rock groups based in Colorado. He attended the Guitar Institute of Technology in Hollywood, CA and studied all styles of acoustic and electric guitars. During that time, he also started experimenting with different ways to string an acoustic guitar, which eventually led to the creation of the Guitjo. After graduation from GIT, he toured the country playing guitar, banjo, mandolin and vocals with the popular 1960’s folk group, the New Christry Minstrels. In 1985 he returned to Colorado to start the group Wind Machine with Steve Mesple.

     Alkire and Scott came together because Scott wanted to hear what the warmth of the cello and harp-like sound of the guitjo would sound like together. On a snowy February day in 1998, they found that it produced a remarkable sound, and Acoustic Eidolon was formed. The duo has recorded 13 CD’s together, the most recent “Remembering the Sun” was released in November 2020. It is a solo CD featuring Alkire on the cello, expressive vocals and inspired by travels to the Faroe Islands, Europe and Alaska.

For more information about Acoustic Eidolon, visit: acousticeidolon.com

The Ouray County Performing Arts Guild is a nonprofit organization, bringing high-quality events in music, dance, theater and other genres to Ouray and Ridgway since 1983. OCPAG sponsors a year-round calendar featuring concerts and performances for the enjoyment of Ouray County's residents, visitors and youth.

OCPAG is thrilled to be partnering with the Friends of the historic Wright Opera House to co-sponsor events on their stage for all in Ouray County to enjoy. 

OCPAG is sustained by generous memberships and grants from supporters all over the United States. OCPAG also provides scholarships to local youth to nurture performing arts skills and help them develop a life-long interest in the performing arts

For more information about the Ouray County Performing Arts Guild, to include support with an OCPAG membership, visit ocpag.org.