Wikipedia

Guitar Foundation of America

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.

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

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In 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

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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,[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

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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 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

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  1. ^ Purcell, Ronald C (February 1, 1974). "Report on the National Guitar Convention". Guitar Forum. Vol. 24. pp. 26–37. doi:10.1177/000313137402400116.
  2. ^ a b Paz, Ricardo (July 16, 2019). "History of the Guitar in the United States". National Association for Music Education. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Guitar Foundation of America: Guidestar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "GFA Staff - Guitar Foundation of America". Guitar Foundation. Retrieved 3 November 2017.
  7. ^ "About Us". Guitar Foundation of America. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "The Guitar Foundation of America meets the Naxos Guitar Laureate Series". Naxos Records.
  10. ^ "Guitar Foundation of America International Convention & Competitions 2018". Classical Guitar. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  11. ^ 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.
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