The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is an American classical guitar nonprofit organization that was founded in 1973 at the National Guitar Convention sponsored by the American String Teachers Association.[1][2][3] The foundation offers various services ranging from guitar lessons to a guitar shop, competitions, and events. The foundation relies on donations, events, and advertising on its web site for funding.[4] The foundation publishes Soundboard Scholar, a peer-reviewed journal, and Prodigies, a magazine for children.
| Abbreviation | GFA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1973 |
| Type | 501(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 |
|
| Services | Guitar 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) |
| Website | guitarfoundation |
History
editIn 1968 the foundation's founder, Thomas Heck, was living in Vienna, Austria, collecting rare sheet music for guitar. His collection included first editions by Mauro Giuliani. In 1973, Heck wrote the foundations' articles of incorporation in Santa Barbara, California, creating a non-profit foundation to which he could give his archive of sheet music.[5][6] Along with Heck, others were interested in forming the first national classical guitar association in the United States, including Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, who served on the first GFA Board of Directors.[2][3] Heck created the GFA 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 the catalog was published four years later. During the 1980s, while Heck taught at Ohio State University in Columbus, the archive grew to include more sheet music, periodicals, and other materials related to classical guitar. In the 1990s the archive moved to the University of Akron, and in 2015 it was transferred to California State University, Northridge.[7][8]
International Concert Artist Competition
editThe foundation holds an International Convention and Competition. The International Concert Artist Competition gives the following prizes to the winner: a recording contract with Naxos,[9] publishing contract, cash, and an international tour.[10]
The first competition was held in 1982. Twenty-three guitarists entered the contest, and there were four finalists. To qualify as 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.[11]
Winners
edit| 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 | Colombia | 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 |
| 2021 | Bokyung Byun | South Korea | Los Angeles, USA |
| 2022 | Lovro Peretić | Croatia | Indianapolis, IN, USA |
| 2023 | Marko Topchii | Ukraine | New York, NY, USA |
| 2024 | Leonela Alejandro | Puerto Rico | Fullerton, CA, USA |
References
edit- ^ Purcell, Ronald C (February 1, 1974). "Report on the National Guitar Convention". Guitar Forum. Vol. 24. pp. 26–37. doi:10.1177/000313137402400116.
- ^ a b Paz, Ricardo (July 16, 2019). "History of the Guitar in the United States". National Association for Music Education. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Paz, Ricardo (2020). "Sharing Global Musics: Guitar Study in the United States—A Brief Overview". Music Educators Journal. 106 (3): 16–18. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ "Guitar Foundation of America: Guidestar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "GFA Staff - Guitar Foundation of America". Guitar Foundation. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
- ^ "About Us". Guitar Foundation of America. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
- ^ Young, Erin (March 23, 2016). "The growing International Guitar Research Archive makes over 1000 scores available to the public". Guitar Foundation of America. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
- ^ "The Guitar Foundation of America meets the Naxos Guitar Laureate Series". Naxos Records.
- ^ "Guitar Foundation of America International Convention & Competitions 2018". Classical Guitar. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ 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.
External links
edit- Official website
- The Guitar Foundation of America Archive Archived 2018-05-02 at the Wayback Machine at the University of Akron