Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society

**New Season Announcement**

The Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society is happy to announce its new season, filled with a diverse array of fantastic performers. Make sure to mark your calendars and register on our website, PhillyGuitar.org.

Not a member? Join today! If you’re a professional classical guitarist, a student, or just love the instrument, we’d love to welcome you into our community!

As always, thank you for your patronage—together we can enjoy our favorite composers, hear new and familiar music and artists, and grow our community!

Have you seen the PCGS Guitar Ensemble’s performance of “Partial Eclipse” from our professional member’s concert, yet? It’s pretty “stellar!” Great job by conductor Lenny Ranallo and all the performers!

Look out for registration to join our ensemble for next season coming soon—all levels welcome to apply!

Partial Eclipse The Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society (PCGS) Guitar Ensemble performs Partial Eclipse by R. Charlton on 19 May 2024 at the First Presbyterian Church of P...

Thank you to this year’s annual guitar festival headliner, maestro David Russell (Classical Guitarist). A sold out crowd was treated to an array of masterful musings including works by Bach, Torroba, Tarrega, Marcello, and Kleynjans.

A fantastic way to close our annual festival: a very special performance by Gwenyth Aggeler

Congratulations to our youth and adult competition winners!

ADULT DIVISION

1st Prize/ Peter Segal Prize: David Manzanaers-Salguero

2nd prize: Sara d’Ippolito Reichert

3rd prize: Jiujiu Wu

YOUTH DIVISION

1st prize: Penelope Shvarts

2nd Prize: Kiran Lee

3rd Prize: Ethan Kim

Our fabulous vendors at today’s festival.

Special thanks to:
The Classical Guitar Store
Bruce Thompson guitars
Kathleen Mayes
Emiliano Pardo-Tristán
Todaro's Music
The Happiness Lab

A message from the PCGS President, Eric Zillmer:

I invite all guitar players and music aficionados to the 2024 PCGS Guitar Festival (April 13-14, 2024; https://www.phillyguitar.org/), the high-water mark of our annual calendar. Our exciting festival program includes performances by Grammy-award-winning guitarist David Russell and the Peter Segal winner from last year’s PSCG competition, Gwenyth Aggeler. In addition, we have a David Russell masterclass, guitar competitions, a vendor fair, student recitals, and two exciting workshops.



We had an exceptional year at PCGS, my first as President. Our musical programming has been colorful and of outstanding quality. We are fortunate to have excellent stakeholders, including the Settlement Music School, the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, and the German Society of Philadelphia. I also want to thank our hotel partners, The Study - University City’s boutique hotel, and the Aloft Downtown Philadelphia. The Classical Guitar Store has been our loyal PCGS “headquarters” for many years, and we thank them for their support and friendship.



I am also very excited that this year, via our Bill Viola fund, we started a community outreach program with Esperanza Academy Charter School. By providing classical guitars and PCGS-sponsored instruction, we serve under-resourced youth tuition-free and bring classical guitar music into the fabric of Philadelphia. We also applied and were awarded a grant from the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, which will assist with our concerts and educational programs going forward.



We rely heavily on your donations and generosity, and I want to thank each of you for supporting our programs. With your help, we can continue bringing the absolute beauty of the classical guitar to our wonderful city.



Everyone can appreciate music; no prerequisites are necessary. “We don’t understand music; music understands us,” said philosopher Adorno. He is correct. Music gives me great hope, provides a portal for creativity, and ultimately, a realization of the truth and a life worth living.



Please sit back and enjoy our festival, which includes many beautiful moments. As Franz Schubert famously said, “The moment is supreme!”



In gratitude, Eric Zillmer

Another fabulous concert in the books! The dynamic between and was almost telepathic—bravo to Ziggy and Miles! Pieces by , , , Rodrigo, and Gnattali were masterfully performed by the roaring duo.

Photo credit: Jordan Peterson

Join us on Sunday, November 12th as the 2022 Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) winner, Lovro Peretić, comes to perform Settlement Music School . Register today @ PHILLYGUITAR.org

How do you open another fabulous season at the Philly Guitar Society? With the , of course! Join us on October 22nd at 4pm at the First Presbyterian Church for a marvelous show! Register today at PHILLYGUITAR.org

With summer in the rear view mirror, it’s time to get excited for the upcoming concert season. Tickets available now at Phillyguitar.org Lovro Peretić David Russell (Classical Guitarist)Ziggy and MilesBeijing Guitar Duo

Here is a fun interview conducted by Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society member Jordan Peterson with Grammy award-winning classical guitarist, Jason Vieaux leading up to his performance, opening the classical guitar festival on Saturday, April 22nd at 7:30pm, the festival continuing on the 23rd, featuring Alan Liu! Tickets still available at PHILLYGUITAR.org

https://youtu.be/qRWtGAhyW8U

Interview with Jason Vieaux - 19 April 2023 The The Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society is proud to host Jason Vieaux at its annual Philadelphia classical guitar festival on April 22nd-23rd. Jason wi...

Come join us for our annual classical guitar festival, April 22nd-23rd! There will be recitals, workshops, competition finals, and concerts by 2021 PCGS competition winner Alan Liu, and don’t miss our opening concert and masterclass by Jason Vieaux! Register today .org

Join us on March 5th at 3pm as we welcome 2018 GFA winner, Raphaël Feuillâtre, to the stage at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. Register today @ PhillyGuitar.org

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