Kingston Chapter: Helen Avakian

Helen Avakian and Dave Irwin perform an exciting array of acoustic guitar-based music, ranging from captivating original songs and instrumentals to arrangements of classics by J.S. Bach and George Gershwin.

Helen is the 2014 International Fingerstyle Guitar Champion, and the first female to win this prestigious competition. She has opened for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Stanley Jordan and Tom Chapin, among many others, and her CDs have received much acclaim and radio airplay. Elmore Magazine called I Love the Moon “new and exciting…indelible songs centered around a girl and her guitar, singing what matters most.”

Dave Irwin is a longtime well-known guitarist in Madison, WI. He specializes in fingerstyle, Brazilian and jazz guitar. Dave was the house guitarist at Samba Brazilian Grill in Madison for a number of years, is regularly featured in the Brazilian Carnaval festival at Madison’s Majestic Theatre, and has performed his solo guitar arrangement of The National Anthem on ESPN, and at the World Olympic Style Wrestling Competition – Team USA.

Together, Helen and Dave weave a musical tapestry of prodigious technique, informed with the heart and soul and humanity that is at the core of all great music.

For more information visit www.HelenAvakian.com.