Two world-renowned guitar trios, The California Guitar Trio and the Montreal Guitare Trio, perform as one ensemble on Thursday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m. at the O'Shaughnessy Center for a Whitefish Theatre Co. production.

Featuring six virtuoso guitarists from four countries including Japan, Canada, Belgium, and the U.S., California Guitar Trio  and Montreal Guitare Trio fuse over 40 years of combined performing experience into one unique guitar sextet. Together, their technical wizardry is breathtaking, as is the wide range of instrumental music the groups create — everything from distinctive originals to dazzling, cleverly-arranged interpretations of jazz, progressive rock, classical music and even surf rock. 

California Guitar Trio’s steel stringed-guitars blend naturally with Montreal Guitare Trio's nylon-stringed guitars, as each trio chases the other along the fret boards.  

When it comes to bridging diverse genres of music, Montreal Guitare Trio, which the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation described as “the hottest guitar ensemble in Canada,” has quickly established itself as a force to be reckoned with. 

For more than 14 years, the group’s virtuosity, rigor, creativity, and dynamic stage presence have been winning applause and awards around the world, most recently the winner of the 2011 Opus Prize for concert of the year in the jazz/world music category. Noted for the wit and warmth of their interactions with audiences, the members include Glenn Lévesque, Marc Morin and Sébastien Dufour.  

Equally established, California Guitar Trio’s fearless multi-genre guitar explorations have driven 14 albums in their 22-year career.  Including members Bert Lams, Hideyo Moriya, and Paul Richards, the group crisscrosses the universes of rock, jazz, classical, world, and surf music in its performances and recordings. The Los Angeles Times has called them “winning, energetic and highly accessible.”

Inspired in 2009 by an impromptu studio session together in Montreal, the two groups have been touring together and released a live recording in 2011.  They have performed together throughout North America; from the Iridium in New York City to the Montreal Jazz Festival and ever-increasing points in between.  

You can preview several of their songs on iTunes or on YouTube. Visit www.cgtrio.com and www.mg3.ca for more information.

Tickets are $27 with reserved seating.  Tickets can be purchased at the O’Shaughnessy Center box office, 1 Central Ave., Whitefish, or by calling 862-5371.  Box office hours are from 10 a.m.to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before a performance.  Tickets can also be purchased online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org.