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.
Festival 2006
The fourteenth annual Long Island Guitar Festival was held March 23 to 26, 2006 on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University. Performers included LAGQ (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet), The Robert Cray Band (a Tilles Center event), Adam Holzman, the Appassionata Guitar Trio, Jorge Caballero (in conjunction with the Long Island Classical Guitar Society) and Emerging Artists Arc Duo and 1 East GQ (with special guest soprano Yeonjune Suh).
View the 2006 Festival Program (1.66MB PDF file).
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.
A Special Festival Event
In 2002 the Long Island Guitar Festival celebrated its tenth anniversary. As part of the celebration, Guitar x 2 (Festival Director Harris Becker and Pasquale Bianculli) premiered Long Island Suite, a guitar duo written for them by Carlo Domeniconi to mark the anniversary.
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 2007 — Celebrating 15 years!
The March 2007 festival will mark the 15th annual event. Scheduled performers include William Kanengiser (from LAGQ), Raphaella Smits, Hayley Savage, Frank Vignola, Guitar x 2 (Harris Becker and Pat Bianculli), Joshua Bavaro, The McDonald-Bianculli Duo, Guitar Trilogy and C.W. Post Department of Music Guitar Alumni. Also planned are master classes by William Kanengiser and Raphaella Smits and workshops by Mark Marino (Jazz Improvisation), Dale Stuckenbruck (The Music of J.S. Bach), Pasquale Bianculli (High School Ensembles) and John Meschi (Technology).
In celebration of the 15th Festival, the 3 p.m. concert on Saturday, March 31st will feature premieres and new works for guitar, including the world premieres of Jorge Morel's Guitar Concerto Rapsodia Del Plata and Hayley Savage's Dodecaphonica (Throwing the Dice) written for Guitar x 2, the American premiere of Ms. Savage's English Fantasy for Guitar and Strings, and works by Howard Rovics and others.
Visit these pages often for updates on the upcoming Long Island Guitar Festival. More to come!