The Lehigh Valley High School for the Performing Arts and C. F. Martin & Co are proud to present “Guitarmania to Beatlemania: The Evolution of the Acoustic Guitar” featuring renowned Grammy Award-winning, guitar virtuoso Laurence Juber. The evening will showcase America’s oldest and most revered maker of acoustic guitars and will feature a concert performance by guitarist Laurence Juber. Dick Boak, archivist for Martin Guitar, will present an interactive history of the 178-year-old guitar company, showcase an array of historically significant guitars that trace the instrument’s evolution, and highlight the succession of famed guitarists that have contributed to American musical culture. In addition to his concert performance and period instrument demonstrations, Juber will discuss his work composing, recording, and performing as the lead guitarist with Paul McCartney’s band Wings, as well as his prolific work as a solo instrumentalist.

Laurence Juber

Fusing folk, jazz,and pop styles, two-time Grammy-winner Laurence Juber creates a multifaceted performance that belies the use of only one acoustic guitar. The lead guitarist for Paul McCartney’s Wings (with whom he earned a Grammy award), Juber is a world-renowned guitar virtuoso, composer and arranger.

He has released 20 solo albums of which the latest, Soul of Light, is a newly recorded retrospective collection of 30 years of his original compositions. Juber’s solo arrangement of The Pink Panther earned him a second Grammy. His album Pop Goes Guitar includes his arrangement of Stand By Me that was heard nationally in a ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ commercial. His LJ Plays The Beatles, was voted one of Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s’ all-time Top Ten albums.

As a studio musician, he can be heard on recent recordings from artists as diverse as Seal, Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks and Barry Manilow, plus he is featured on the soundtracks to hundreds of TV shows and movies including the academy award-winning Good Will Hunting and the current Muppet Movie. His playing can be heard on the score to ABC Family channel’s hit show The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

As a composer, Juber has contributed the soundtrack of the new Activision/Blizzard Entertainment video game Diablo III. His music is also featured in the Ken Burns documentary The Tenth Inning and his original soundtrack to the NBC documentary Children of the Harvest.

With his wife Hope Juber, he has composed the scores to the musical comedies Gilligan’s Island: The Musical, A Very Brady Musical and It’s The Housewives!

“Juber is a master of acoustic finger style, but with less of the trick-guitar mishmash that seems obligatory among the high-octane pickers. He has a fluid style that shifts gears through simultaneous jazzy chording, leads, and bass lines, while weaving in and out of musical thoughts faster than a Formula One racer.” – San Diego Reader

“He gloriously articulates the melodies and never succumbs to show-off playing. But the notes spin out of the songs with such finesse and musical agility, it’s hard to believe he has only 10 fingers and six strings. Juber has made a rare acoustic guitar record with bark and bite. His playing is just short of sleight of hand and, like all magicians, he makes it seem effortless.”

– San Francisco Chronicle

“Laurence Juber has redefined solo acoustic guitar playing”.- minor7th.com

Dick Boak

While Dick Boak’s official title these days is Director of the Museum and Archives, and “Special Projects,” he has been inextricably intertwined with the world renowned Martin Guitar Company in Nazareth, PA for more than 35 years. He established and managed Martin’s highly visible Artist Relations and Limited Edition guitar program which produced signature models for more than one hundred legendary artists including Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Jimmy Buffett, Dave Matthews, Joan Baez, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Tom Petty, John Mayer and Sting.

An employee since 1976, Dick has worn many hats at Martin. Originally hired as a design draftsman, he has been a builder of prototypes, manager of “The 1833 Shop,” founder of “A Woodworker’s Dream” (which evolved into “Guitarmaker’s Connection”), manager of Martin’s Sawmill and Wood Products Division, and director of Martin’s in house advertising department and print shop.

In addition to his varied responsibilities at Martin, he was instrumental in founding A.S.I.A. (The Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans). He edited and published A.S.I.A.’s “Guitarmaker Magazine” from 1989 to 1995 and organized A.S.I.A’s many bi-annual Symposiums. More recently, he served on the Board of Director’s of NAMM.

Dick is an accomplished and published illustrator, writer, designer, woodworker, guitarmaker, and occasional musician. He resides just north of Nazareth with his family.