Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel takes stage at Elmhurst College

Grammy-nominated guitarist, composer and performer Tommy Emmanuel will perform a concert this month at Elmhurst College to benefit a scholarship fund named for his family.

The Emmanuel Family Guitar Endowed Scholarship was established last fall in memory of Emmanuel's sister, Virginia, and brother, Phil, through the generosity of Fred and Dinah Gretsch and the Gretsch Company, to benefit Elmhurst guitar students.

All proceeds from the concert will be donated to the scholarship. The first recipients will be selected this spring.

The concert is at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel, 190 Prospect Ave. Tickets are $50 and on sale at elmhurst.edu/guitarbenefit. For details, call (630) 617-3330.

"We're overwhelmed by the generosity of Tommy Emmanuel and the Gretsch family," said Peter Griffin, chairman of the Department of Music. "It's an honor for us to house this scholarship, which will support guitar students at Elmhurst College well into the future."

The Elmhurst College Gretsch Guitar Ensemble will open the concert.

Renowned for a diverse musical range that extends from country-blues to rock 'n' roll, Emmanuel plays hundreds of sold-out shows every year from Nashville to Sydney to London.

At 44, he became one of only five people to be named a Certified Guitar Player by his idol, music icon Chet Atkins.

Emmanuel's latest album is "Accomplice One," which features collaborations with performers such as Jason Isbell, Mark Knopfler, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Amanda Shires, Ricky Skaggs, Bryan Sutton, Suzy Bogguss and others.