About the Festival

The Long Island Guitar Festival is an annual international festival presented by the Department of Music of the School of Visual and Performing Arts at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. The Festival represents the continuing commitment of Long Island University to reach out to the artistic community and continue an established tradition of excellence in guitar performance and pedagogy.

The Long Island Guitar Festival presents master classes, concerts and workshops by the world's most outstanding guitarists and teachers. Workshops have included Computer Music Notation for Guitarists, Composers and Arrangers, High School Guitar Ensemble Workshops, Fingerboard Harmony and Chamber Music Workshops. Special concerts have included the "Legacy of Segovia" with Segovia protegé Michael Lorimer, the U.S. debut of renowned guitarist composer Carlo Domeniconi, C.W. Post alumni concerts and new music concerts including world premieres. The festival has established partnerships with high schools including Greenwich High School and the United Nations International School, as well as local community colleges.

In the past the Long Island Guitar Festival has proudly presented such distinguished guitarists as Carlo Domeniconi (U.S. Debut), Manuel Barrueco, Michael Lorimer, Eduardo Fernández, Howard Alden, David Leisner, Jorge Caballero, Olav Chris Henriksen, Amanda Cook, Dušan Bogdanović, Arthur Kampela, Mark Elf, Eliot Fisk, Ben Moran, Frank Vignola, Chieli Minucci, Jerry Willard, Gene Bertoncini, Howard Morgen, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Jack Wilkins, Pat O'Brien, Dennis Koster, Harris Becker, Ernesto Tamayo, Kevin Dolen, Pasquale Bianculli, Mark Marino, Curtis High School Guitar Ensemble, Dennis Cinelli, Winslow Browning, Cecilia Siqueira, John Zaccari, David Starobin and Benjamin Verdery.

Festival 2004

The twelfth annual Long Island Guitar Festival was held from March 31 to April 4, 2004. It opened with "New and Old Works for Guitar" featuring the New York Premiere of "Maurits and Stella (A Love Story through Letters and Poems)" by David Gilbert. Performers included Rosana Marreco, soprano; Trey Cassels, tenor; Raymond Ayers, baritone; Mark Longo, flute; Maureen Hynes, cello; Harris Becker, guitar; Pasquale Bianculli, guitar and David Gilbert, conductor.

As Festival 2004 continued through the week, featured concerts and master classes were given by David Leisner, guitar; Ronn McFarlane, lute and Cem Duruöz, guitar (in conjunction with the Long Island Classical Guitar Society). Saturday afternoon, jazz guitarist Frank Vignola, drummer Joe Ascione and their group performed in "The Frank and Joe Show".

The Festival closed Sunday night, April 4, with the "Flamenco Café — A Taste of Spain", a special event in conjunction with the Long Island Classical Guitar Society. The "Café" featured singer, dancer La Conja; dancer, singer Barbara Martinez and guitarist, composer Pedro Cortes.

Other Festival events included: "Arranging for Guitar" with Michael Belajonas, "An Introduction to Notation Software for Guitarists" and "Recording and Editing Software for Guitarists" with John Meschi, a Luthier lecture by Tom Bazzolo, several Emerging Artist Showcases, and a Long Island Classical Guitar Society meeting.

For more about the last Festival, take a look at the Festival 2004 program (1 MB Acrobat PDF File).

More Festival History

• Past Festival Web sites: 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997 and 1996
• Festival Poster/Flyers from: 1995, 1994 and 1993
• Reprint of New York Times Review of Guitar Festival 2001
• Friends of the Festival

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Last update: October 9, 2016