Classical guitarist Stephen Aron, described by the New York Times as “cultivated and musical,” performs regularly throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. An avid arranger, his work is published by Tuscany Editions, Mel Bay Publications, and Clear Note Publications. Mr. Aron’s original compositions have also been published by Clear Note. Aron’s recordings have been described as “stunning” (Guitar Review), “superbly produced” (Soundboard), “warmly recommended” (Fanfare) and “inspired” (Classical Guitar)...

German born guitarist Christoph Harlan is the founder of the undergraduate and graduate degree programs for Classical Guitar at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  Born into a family of musicians and artists, Harlan began his music education playing the recorder and singing in several choirs. Many years of cello studies and orchestra activities broadened his musical horizons. He began studying the guitar in his early teens and ultimately received his teaching and performance degrees with honors from the Akademie für Musik in Vienna Austria, where he studied with Luise Walker...

Born in Greece in 1980, Antonis Hatzinikolaou is considered today as one of the most distinguished guitarists of the younger generation. He has received distinctions in numerous international guitar competitions including the Hubert Käppel Competition, the Ivor Mairants Award and the prestigious Julian Bream Prize, adjudicated by the maestro himself. After receiving the Park Lane Group Young Artist Award he made his Purcell Room debut, which led to professional engagements that have taken him to Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Spain and the UK. Highlights include...

Romanian guitarist Dragos Ilie has delighted audiences across Europe, Asia, and the United States with his charismatic dynamic performances. His dedication to the art of guitar performance has led him to receive numerous grants for competing, performing, and studying in his home country and abroad. After receiving the prestigious Wooddruff Award Dragos Ilie went on to complete his Bachelor studies at Columbus State University's Schwob School of Music under composer and pedagogue Andrew Zohn...

Jonathan Leathwood is Teaching Professor at Denver University's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences' Lamont School of Music. He is one of the few guitarists to perform on six-string and ten-string guitars, mixing modern and traditional works in his innovative programs. His last London concert led Classical Guitar to call him “a genius,” the Musical Times of London has written of his “remarkable talent and singular artistry,” while Fabio Zanon wrote in Violão Intercambio that “he has to be seen to be believed”...

Award winning artist, John Marcel Williams, is establishing a reputation as both a virtuoso concert artist, and devoted teacher. By age 16 he had garnered over 20 prizes at competitions, including the first prize at the Boston Guitar Festival youth competition, Rosario Guitar Festival, Classical Minds Guitar Festival, and the second prize at the international Guitar Foundation of America young artist competition. In addition he was awarded first prize at the James Stroud competition and won the Pittsburgh Concert Society Audition...

Classical guitarist Lynn McGrath is being heralded as a phenom. Blending expressive musicianship with her passion for Spanish Language, literature, and theater, she has shared the poetry and music of “Platero y Yo” with audiences on four continents in the role of both guitarist and theatrical narrator. She has brought the poetry of Nobel laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez to life for diverse audiences that have included children in a Peruvian orphanage to classical guitar connoisseurs...

Classical guitarist Matteo Mela was born in 1971. Between 1991 and 1998 as a member of the Mela-Bandini Duo he won first prize in a number of prestigious chamber music competitions: Aram (Rome) 1992, F. Cilea Competition 1993, GMI 1994, Città di Gubbio, Città di Caltanissetta, and Perugia Classico Competitions 1995. In 2002 he formed with Lorenzo Micheli "SoloDuo," a guitar duo that has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, and Latin America...

Lorenzo Micheli has taken up a busy concert career throughout the world since winning first prize in some of the most prestigious international guitar competitions, including both the Alessandria and Guitar Foundation of America International Competitions. As a recitalist and orchestral soloist, he has performed in more than 600 concerts throughout Europe, in two hundred US and Canadian cities, and in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Latin America. In addition, since 2002 he has performed worldwide as one half of SoloDuo...

James Piorkowski’s live performances have been described as "expressive and stupendous" The Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), and his recitals have been heard in Spain, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Jamaica, Canada, and throughout the United States. From 1982-2000, he was a member of the internationally acclaimed Buffalo Guitar Quartet. James Piorkowski is a SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the State University of New York at Fredonia, where he served as head of the guitar program for forty-one years...

Since 2003 classical guitarist Petra Polácková has won three first prizes in Czech Republic national competitions (Opava, Ceske Budejovice, and Pardubice) and six first prizes in international competitions: Dolný Kubín (Slovakia), Kutna Hora (Czech Republic), Bratislava (Slovakia), Krzyzowa (Poland), Krynica (Poland), and most recently in 2011 first prize at the 36th International Guitar Competition Gargnano (Italy). As a result of her competition successes Ms. Polácková has been invited to perform at many prestigious European and also non-European guitar festivals...

Mexican guitarist Ricardo Saeb has performed in venues across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. His performances have been described as “perfectly balanced,” “of an exquisite subtlety,” and “simply spectacular.” His tours have taken him to cities as diverse as Querétaro, Beirut, New York, Ciudad Juárez, Boston, Dallas, and Córdoba...

Classical guitarist Marco Sartor is a top prize winner in numerous international competitions, including First Prizes at the JoAnn Falletta International Concerto Competition, the Schadt String Competition, and the Texas Guitar Competition. He has performed solo and chamber music recitals on three continents to critical and public acclaim, and appeared with orchestras such as the Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, Ann Arbor Symphony, Allentown Symphony, and SODRE in Uruguay...

Violinist Mari Sato has enjoyed a rich and varied career as a chamber musician based in Cleveland. Described as “a visceral and engaging storyteller,” by clevelandclassical.com, Mari was the second violinist of the award-winning Cavani String Quartet for twenty-four years. During her tenure with the Cavani Quartet, Mari gave concerts on major series, including Carnegie Hall, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Festival de L’Epau in France, and the Honolulu Chamber Music Society. Ms. Sato is honored to have collaborated with many distinguished artists including members of the Cleveland, Juilliard, Miami, Ying, Emerson, Borodin...

James Stroud is the Founder and Director of the James Stroud Classical Guitar Competition. He is graduate is a graduate of SUNY Fredonia where he studied Classical guitar with Joanne Castellani. He received his Masters degree in classical guitar performance from the University of Akron where he was a graduate assistant of Stephen Aron. During this time he performed in master classes with Manuel Barreuco, Oscar Ghiglia, and David Russell...

Mengya Tian is a Chinese guitarist and educator living and performing in the United States. She balances her passion as a music educator with her performing and recording output, always looking to artistically connect with others. Tian aims to cultivate students to become independent-thinking musicians in both theoretical and practical ways. Before joining the Orpheus Academy of Music, Tian was a Guitar Outreach Clinician for D’Addario Music, where she had the unique opportunity to educate students of all ages interested in classical guitar.,,

Grammy-winner Jason Vieaux, “among the elite of today's classical guitarists” (Gramophone), is described by NPR as “perhaps the most precise and soulful classical guitarist of his generation.” In appearances from New York’s Lincoln Center to Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and the Seoul Arts Center, Jason Vieaux has cemented his reputation as an artist of brilliance and uncompromised mastery. Cited for his “eloquent and vibrant performances” on disc (Gramophone Magazine) he is hailed as “virtuosic, flamboyant, dashing and, sometimes ineffably lyrical” (New York Times) on stage...

French guitarist Thomas Viloteau enjoys shaking things up. His approach to the instrument, its repertoire and its technique, has reshaped the term ‘classical’ guitar, into something new, alive and forward thinking. He is one of the few players to have won both the Guitar Foundation of America and the Francisco Tàrrega competitions. In 2013 he won the Northern Trust/Piper Enrichment Award; which allowed him to commission the Suite Brasileira 3 from composer Sergio Assad. He is the only guitarist to ever win the Arthur Foote Award from the Harvard Musical Association in 2016...

Concert classical guitarist Hao Yang has won top prizes in numerous competitions: including the 2024 Koblenz Guitar Competition, 54th Markneukirchen International Instrumental competition, the GFA International Youth Competition, CSU International Guitar Competition, and Andres Segovia 7th International Guitar Competition. She has appeared as soloist with the Chusachsische Philharmonie in Germany and has been invited to perform solo recitals at the Cleveland, Panama, and Beijing International Guitar Festivals...