Headlining the monthly “Third Friday” Andover Community Coffeehouse on Friday, February 17, will be Hiroya Tsukamoto, returning for his second Coffeehouse appearance.  The concert will begin at 7 PM in the Highland Lake Grange Hall on Route 11 in East Andover, midway between Andover Village and Franklin. The event is open to the public at no charge; donations to be shared with the featured act are gratefully accepted when the hat is passed.

Composer and guitarist Hiroya Tsukamoto is a unique musician. A native of Kyoto, Japan, he began playing the five-string banjo at age 13; he soon took up the guitar and never put it down. He came to the US when he received a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in 2000.  Since then, he has been performing internationally and has released six albums. In 2022, he won second place in the International Finger Style Guitar Championship.

The program will also feature appearances by up to five “open-mic” acts, two songs or ten minutes each. Doors to the Grange Hall open at 6 PM for supper food and beverage purchases and for open mic sign-ups on a first-come, first-served basis.

The sponsor of this month’s coffeehouse is Bluewater Lodge, an Andover lakeside wedding and event venue.  For more information about the featured performer and the Andover Coffeehouse, visit AndoverCoffeeHouse.org.  The Coffeehouse operates under the umbrella of the Andover Community Hub; more information about the Hub can be found at AndoverHub.org.