Guitar Foundation of America

Guitar Foundation of America is an American classical guitar organization that was founded in 1973 at the National Guitar Convention sponsored by the American String Teachers Association.[1] The foundation offers various services ranging from guitar lessons, to a guitar shop, competitions, and events. The foundation is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations, events, and advertising on its web site.[2]

Guitar Foundation of America
AbbreviationGFA
Formation1973 (1973)
Type501(c)(3)
Purpose"The Guitar Foundation of America inspires artistry, builds community, and promotes the classical guitar internationally through excellence in performance, literature, education and research."
Location
  • Palos Verdes Peninsula, California
ServicesGuitar lessons, guitar shop, competitions, concerts
Key people
Martha Masters (president)
Brian Head (artistic director)
Sherwin Servande (vice president)
Pam Gerken (vice president, treasurer)
Robert Lane (vice president, secretary)
Websiteguitarfoundation.org

History

In 1973, Thomas Heck wrote the foundations articles of incorporation.[3][4] He has been the editor of Soundboard, the foundation's magazine.[3] The foundation publishes Soundboard Scholar, a peer-reviewed journal, and Prodigies, a magazine for children.

In 1968, Heck was living in Vienna, Austria, and collecting rare sheet music for guitar, including first editions by Mauro Giuliani. In 1973, he wrote the Articles of Incorporation in Santa Barbara, California, to create a non-profit foundation to which he could give his archive of sheet music. He created the archive in 1977 in Milwaukee while teaching at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. A catalog of the inventory was assembled and mailed to interested buyers, who could receive photocopies of sheet music on request. A second edition of catalog was published four years later. During the 1980s, while Heck taught at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, the archive grew to include more sheet music, periodicals, and other materials related to classical guitar. In the 1990s, Heck was too busy to oversee the archive, so he sought someone to catalog it correctly, which turned out to be the University of Akron. Some of the GFA Archive was entered online at Akron.[5]

International Concert Artist Competition

The foundation holds an International Convention and Competition. The International Concert Artist Competition gives the following prizes to the winner: a recording contract with Naxos,[6] publishing contract, cash, and an international tour.[7]

The first competition took was held in 1982. Twenty-three guitarists entered the contest, and these were reduced to four finalists. To become finalists, guitarists were required to play three pieces selected by the jurors. Michael Chapdelaine won the first contest, while Adam Holzman won in 1983. Holzman's repertoire included the Fourth Lute Suite by J. S. Bach and Sevilla by Albeniz.[8]

Winners

Source Official webpage

Year Winner Country Location
1982 Michael Chapdelaine USA Denver, Colorado, USA
1983 Adam Holzman USA Quebec, Canada
1985 Mary Akerman USA Fullerton, California, USA
1986 Peter Clemente USA Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
1987 Ricardo Cobo Columbia Tempe, Arizona, USA
1988 Olivier Chassain France Akron, Ohio, USA
1989 Marc Teicholz USA Lubbock, Texas, USA
1990 Joseph Hagedorn USA Pasadena, California, USA
1991 Alexei Zimakov Russia Miami, Florida, USA
1992 Jason Vieaux USA New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
1993 Kevin Gallagher USA Buffalo, New York, USA
1994 Margarita Escarpa Spain Quebec, Canada
1995 Antigoni Goni Greece Northridge, California, USA
1996 Fabio Zanon Brazil St. Louis, Missouri, USA
1997 Judicael Perroy France La Jolla, California, USA
1998 Denis Azabagic Bosnia Montreal, Canada
1999 Lorenzo Micheli Italy Charleston, South Carolina, USA
2000 Martha Masters USA San Antonio, Texas, USA
2001 Johan Fostier Belgium La Jolla, California, USA
2002 Dimitri Illarionov Russia Miami, Florida, USA
2003 Jérémy Jouve France Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico
2004 Goran Krivokapić Montenegro Montreal, Canada
2005 Jerome Ducharme Canada Oberlin, Ohio, USA
2006 Thomas Viloteau France Columbus, Georgia, USA
2007 Marcin Dylla Poland Los Angeles, California, USA
2008 Gabriel Bianco France San Francisco, California, USA
2009 Florian Larousse France Ithaca, New York, USA
2010 Johannes Möller Sweden Austin, Texas, USA
2011 Vladimir Gorbach Russia Columbus, Georgia, USA
2012 Rovshan Mamedkuliev Russia Charleston, South Carolina, USA
2013 Anton Baranov Russia Louisville, Kentucky, USA
2014 Ekachai Jearakul Thailand Fullerton, California, USA
2015 Thibaut Garcia France Oklahoma City, OK, USA
2016 Xavier Jara USA Denver, CO, USA
2017 Tengyue Zhang China Fullerton, CA, USA
2018 Raphaël Feuillâtre France Louisville, Kentucky, USA
2019 Johan Smith Switzerland Miami, Florida, USA

References
  1. Purcell, Ronald C (February 1, 1974). "Report on the National Guitar Convention". Guitar Forum.
  2. "Guitar Foundation of America: Guidestar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  3. Summerfield, Maurice J. (1 January 2003). The Classical Guitar: Its Evolution, Players and Personalities Since 1800. Ashley Mark Publishing Company. pp. 412–. ISBN 978-1-4768-5165-5. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  4. "GFA Staff - Guitar Foundation of America". Guitar Foundation. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  5. "GFA Archive: History". www3.uakron.edu. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  6. "The Guitar Foundation of America meets the Naxos Guitar Laureate Series". Naxos Records.
  7. "Guitar Foundation of America International Convention & Competitions 2018". Classical Guitar. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  8. Gomez-Ramirez, Andrew (28 November 2017). "The Guitar Foundation of America's International Concert Artist Competition | Oviatt Library". library.csun.edu. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.