Welcome to the Greater Houston Guitar Guild!
Valerie Hartzell, Director
Aquiles Torres, Claudio Zangirolami, and Jon Erickson, Co-Directors
We are a not for profit club on our 4th season. Our mission is to support up-and-coming classical guitarists (and the occasional flamenco performers), local and state guitarists, and of course, whenever a famous guitarist comes to Texas, we are proud to have them come through our small club. We are invoking the 19th C Salon Concert atmosphere where the listener can hear and see everything up close and personal. This guild was created FOR the community. Not only do we have concerts but we also have free meetings where guild members can play for each other in a safe environment. We will also have local guest teachers lead the meetings with warm ups/techniques. In the fall of 2012 we will add a Guitar Ensemble to our monthly meetings.
The Guild is about education. Along with our guest artists' master classes, we will invite professors from the surrounding universities to give one or two day classes each semester.
Our spring season started in January with Steve Kostelnik who performed a fantastic program. February will had a meeting at Margaret Proctor's home and in April we had Isaac Bustos, professor at A&M give a master class. In May we had a successful Classical Minds fundraiser at UH and in June we will have a Salon Concert at the Taylor's home featuring Jordan Taylor. Byron Goble, and Valerie Hartzell.
Many students who would like to perform for our guest artists in master classes or lessons cannot afford the fees. Also, our guest artists often fly in to Houston and concert ticket fees barely cover the cost of travel. If you would like to sponsor one of these young aspiring students or guest artists, please contact Valerie Hartzell at 907-231-1109 or at valeriehartzell@yahoo.com We will mention your name in the next newsletter as a Young Artist Sponsor or Guest Artist Sponsor unless anonymity is preferred.
PERFORMING ARTISTS and MANAGERS: Please do NOT contact me regarding hiring you for a concert. We are not accepting any new artists. I will be temporarily living in Anchorage, Alaska and our guild will only have one guest artist in the fall and spring. Currently, our roster is booked for the next few years. Thank you for your cooperation.
