The Swedish guitarist and composer Johannes Möller has captivated audiences throughout the world with charismatic and soulful performances. He played his first public concerts when he was 13 years old. Since then he has found time for more than 500 appearances in Europe, Asia, South and North America. In 2010 he was awarded first prize in the GFA Concert Artist Competition, which is often considered the most prestigious guitar competition in the world, resulting in a 65-concert tour and a recording with the Naxos label.

 

As a performer, Johannes’s artistry has reached well beyond the usual guitar circles. This fact was confirmed in March 2008 when he won the Dutch Vriendenkrans Concours where he was competing against performers in all of the instrumental categories. As a part of this award his name has been engraved on a metal plate that can be seen in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He also became the first guitarist ever to win the Ljunggrenska Competition (Sweden) in 2007, and the conclusion issued by the jury was: “With the help of a breathtaking technique and all the colors of the rainbow he opens a door to a world of subtle expressions which with great power and intensity strikes us.” In 2005, he became the first guitarist to win The Bromsgrove Festival International Young Musicians Platform (England). Critics have also noted his special qualities, writing of his playing "Guitarist Johannes Moller achieved miracles with his lucid, spacious playing" (Stephen Pettitt, London Evening Standard).

Born in Marseilles (France) in 1978, Gaëlle Solal began the guitar at age of 6 with René Bartoli. With 14, she won three gold medals at the Conservatoire de Marseilles and as the best student of all instruments, was awarded the Prix de la Ville de Marseille. Afterward she studied with Alberto Ponce at Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, Roberto Aussel at Musikhochscule Köln (Germany) and Alvaro Pierri at Université du Québec à Montréal (Canada). She participated in many masterclasses with legendary guitarist such as: Pepe Romero, Antigoni Goni, Roland Dyens, Oscar Ghiglia, Leo Brouwer, Alvaro Pierri and Joaquin Clerch.She played big amount of concerts, and also got many prizes on international competitions. Some of them are: 1st Grand Prix at Alessandria Competition, 1st Prize in Locquémeau, 1st Prize in Savona, 1st Prize in Sernancehle, Finalist at Concert Artists Guild New York, Honor Diplom at Accademia Chigiana and 2nd Prize at Guitar Foundation of America. She has performed in Festival dIle de France, Noches en los Reales Alcázares in Sevilla, Festival dAvignon, Festival Montpellier-Radio France and at Salle Cortot (Paris), Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley), Tsuda Hall, Nikkei Hall, Oji Hall in Tokyo, Merkin Concert Hall (NY). She recorded for NHK, France Musiques, RFI, and RAI.Gaëlle played with the Berkeley Symphony, the Garde Républicaine Orchestra and the Philharmonic Turin Orchestra. She toured in more than 30 countries including Germany, Myanmar, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, Israel, Spain, France, Gabon, India, Iceland, Italy, Laos, Malaysia, Morocco, Mexico, Palestine, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, US.

A native of East-Berlin, Eva Beneke first wanted to be a pianist - but her family could not afford the instrument and she picked up one her father´s and grandfathers many classical guitars.

Eva Beneke is an exciting and versatile musician. She is an internationally acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, teacher and arranger, known for “refinement of tone, and a palpable energy” (Scott Tennant, L.A.G.Q.).

 

In addition to numerous prizes at international guitar festivals Eva Beneke is an unstoppable performer. Highlights of her career include appearances with the German Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano, invitations to international festivals in Perú, Germany, Lithuania, the U.S. and Canada and a live performance with Carrie Underwood at the 2010 American Country Music Awards.

 

Eva Beneke’s debut CD, Coming Home, was released to wide critical acclaim in 2010. Her performances have been broadcasted internationally. Beneke’s arrangements for guitar ensemble are gaining international recognition. The American publishing-house Clearnote Music published two of her guitar compositions in 2009.

 

Eva Beneke began her studies at the Berlin University of Arts with Martin Rennert. She then received the prestigious solo artist diploma at the Franz Liszt Hochschule in Weimar where she trained extensively with Thomas Müller-Pering, one of Germany’s most influential guitarists. In 2012, Beneke received a doctorate with honors from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, after having studied with Grammy® winning guitarist Scott Tennant and jazz-guitar legend Bruce Forman.

 

Starting September 2012, Eva is honored to join the renowned faculty at McNallySmith College of Music in St. Paul, MS. Here she will be the only full-time classical guitar faculty.

“Among the finest guitarists of all time”, according to American Record Guide, David Leisner's career began auspiciously with top prizes in both the 1975 Toronto and 1981 Geneva International Guitar Competitions.  His recent seasons have taken him around  the US, including his solo debut with the Atlanta Symphony, a major tour of Australia and New Zealand, and debuts and reappearances in Japan, the Philippines, Germany,  Hungary, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, the U.K., Italy, Czech  Republic, Greece, Puerto Rico and Mexico.  An innovative three-concert series at  Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall included the first all-Bach guitar recital in New  York’s history, and currently he is the Artistic Director of Guitar Plus, a New York  series devoted to chamber music with the guitar.  He has also performed chamber  music at the Santa Fe, Vail Valley, Rockport, Cape and Islands, Bargemusic, Bay  Chamber and Angel Fire Festivals, with Eugenia Zukerman, Kurt Ollmann, Lucy  Shelton, Ida Kavafian, the St. Lawrence and Vermeer Quartets and many others.   Celebrated for expanding the guitar repertoire, David Leisner has premiered works by  many important composers, including David Del Tredici, Virgil Thomson, Ned Rorem,  Philip Glass, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Sculthorpe and Osvaldo Golijov, while  championing the works of neglected 19th-century guitar composers J.K. Mertz and  Wenzeslaus Matiegka.  

Jeffrey McFadden has been acknowledged as one of the finest guitarists of his generation. Over the past years, concert engagements have taken him throughout Canada and the United States and into Europe. He has given World Premieres of works by numerous composers and has been a featured performer at several international music festivals, including "Guitar '87" and GuitarFest '91 in Toronto , Gitarren-Symposium Iserlohn, Lachine International Guitar Festival, the Columbus State Guitar Symposium, The Niagara International Chambre Music Festival, the National Flute Association (USA) Convention, the Festival Mediterraneo della Chitarra, the Acadia Guitar Festival and others.    

 

 In 1992, Jeffery McFadden was awarded a Silver Medal in the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America Competition and was also a prize-winner in the 1993 Great Lakes Guitar Competition. His debut recording was the first in the "Laureate Series" on the Naxos label and was released world-wide. Since it's release, this recording has sold in the thousands of copies. His playing has received enthusiastic critical acclaim; the "Daily Telegraph" of London (UK) exclaimed "McFadden's ability to make the guitar sing is second to none", and "Classic CD" has described his playing as "major artistry". His latest solo release features the complete didactic works by the 19th century composer Napoleon Coste. "ClassicsToday.com" raved about this disc saying, "Jeffrey McFadden is not only an extraordinary guitarist -- he's also an inspired musician." his latest disc, soon to be released is volume three of the complete works of Agustin Barrios on Naxos.

Kevin Manderville is active as a solo recitalist, chamber musician, teacher and scholar. He has appeared in major cities and festivalsthroughout North America and Europe including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, the Guitar Foundation of America International Convention, the Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium, the 2nd Acadia International Guitar Festival, the Hamilton International Guitar Festival, the Columbus State University Guitar Symposium, and the New York Guitar Seminar, among others. He has won prizesin several international competitions, including first prize at the Concours International de Guitare de Lachine,second prize at the Rantucci International

Guitar Competition and consecutive top prizes at the Columbus Guitar Symposium Competition. His debutCD, titled Through theCenturies, wasreleased in the fall of 2010 on Clear Note.

 

Kevin Manderville began his classical guitarstudies at the age of eighteen with James Chandler. He holds degreesfrom Stetson University, where he studied with Stephen Robinson and Florida State University, where he completed the Doctor of Music degree under the tutelage ofBruce Holzman. In addition, he hasstudied in master classes with some oftoday’s most prominent guitarists, including Sergio and Odair Assad, Manuel Barrueco, Eliot Fisk, Roland Dyens, and Oscar Ghiglia. A dedicated teacher, Dr. Manderville hastaught in many diverse settings from universitiesto community programs. He currently residesin Montgomery, AL, where he directsthe classical guitar program at Carver Elementary Arts Magnet School and is on the faculty at Huntingdon College.

Will Douglas has performed for some of the top names in guitar including; Tom Sheeley, Virginia Luque, Thomas Kirchhoff, Dale Kavanagh, Johannes Moller, Eduado Fernandez, Eliot Fisk and Oscar Ghiglia among many others. Will held the department chair at Lake Country Christian School for three years and is continuing his teaching career at The Guitar Studio in Fort Worth and as an Adjunct Professor of Instrumental Studies at Tarrant County College Northwest. He made his concert debut in Guitar Fort Worth’s Atrium Series in 2004. He is well-known at many international guitar festivals including the Acadia Guitar Festival in Nova Scotia, Canada and the Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium in Iserlohn, Germany. Will has also given solo baroque guitar performances and played continuo in The University of North Texas’ Collegium Musicum Baroque Orchestra, which performs operas, concerti and chambers works by the leading composers of the baroque. In December of 2008, Will took the presidential reins of Guitar Fort Worth and has continued to help provide performances and educational opportunities to the Fort Worth community. In 2011 Will was invited as a guest lecturer and master class teacher at the 2011 Hamilton International Guitar Festival and The Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. After completing a Masters in Music Performance degree at UNT, Will attended the Graduate Diploma program in Eliot Fisk's studio at prestigious The New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. Will maintains an active performance schedule in the North Texas area.

Tim Phelan is a Canadian guitarist, conductor, composer and arranger based in Niagara. He made his CBC recording debut at the age of eighteen as concerto soloist with Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, and he has since been heard in solo, concerto and chamber music performances over CBC Radio and Television, Radio France, Radio Caribbean, and Cuban National Television and Radio. He has performed at four of the Toronto international guitar festivals, at Leo Brouwer’s festivals in Havana and Martinique, and he has given world-premiere performances of chamber works by Alan Hirsh, Michael Pepa and Alan Torok. Tim is a graduate of The University of Toronto, where he studied with renowned guitar pedagogue Eli Kassner; he has also studied with Alice Artzt, Leo Brouwer, John Mills, David Russell and George Sakellariou.

Emma Rush is based Hamilton where she maintains a busy teaching studio in additional to faculty appointments at Redeemer University and Mohawk College. She performs throughout North America and Europe and appears regularly at international guitar festivals (Iserlohn, Acadia, Sauble Beach). Emma Rush is the founder and artistic director of the successful Guitar Hamilton concert series and the Hamilton International Guitar Festival. In 2011 she was a top prize winner at the International Guitar Competition in Columbus, Georgia and the Great Lakes Guitar Competition in Rochester, NY, and the winner of the 2011 City of Hamilton Arts Award for Music. Recent engagements include the 20th International Guitar Festival in Iserlohn, Germany, the Guitar Fort Worth Masters Series, Texas, the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Sociaety, and a tour of the eastern provinces of Canada. Upcoming appearances include concerts in Canada, the United States, Germany, Spain, Mexico and Turkey.