Guitar Program
Private Study
A core component of the program is the individualized instruction each participant will receive from the three guitar faculty. Whether it be polishing works already in progress, improving technique or starting new repertoire, this one-on-one time with outstanding teachers will help you refine your individual playing skills.
Classes & Seminars
The EMF Classical Guitar Summit will feature multiple classes and seminars focusing on a variety of topics. Led by faculty, these can cover performance development, fingerboard harmony and theory, technique fundamentals, fingering technique for natural hand structure, guitar literature and history, sightreading, memorization techniques, transcriptions, score interpretation, sound response and sound capture, career options, as well as open discussions about current guitar topics and trends.
Chamber Music
All participants will rehearse and perform with the Festival Guitar Orchestra. In addition, there will be opportunities to work in small chamber ensembles with other instrumentalists as well as guitar duos, trios and quartets.
Master Classes & Guest Artists
Each week, guitar participants attend studio master classes led by EMF guitar faculty and visiting guest artists (to be announced). Several Young Artists will be invited to perform in master classes, which are open to the public.
Concerts & Recitals
At EMF, you will have the opportunity to attend numerous guitar concerts and recitals featuring the guitar faculty and fellow program participants. You will also have access to all of the Festival's world-class orchestra and chamber music performances.
Sample Daily Schedule
| 7:30-8:30 | Breakfast |
| 9:00-10:00 | Performance Development Class |
| 12:00-1:00 | Lunch |
| 1:00-2:00 | Faculty Chamber Coaching |
| 2:00-4:00 | Practice/Lessons |
| 4:00-5:00 | Master Class |
| 5:30-6:30 | Dinner/Free Time |
| 6:30-7:30 | Guitar Orchestra Rehearsal |
| 8:00 | Recital or Concert |
Guitar Faculty
JASON VIEAUX
Jason Vieaux, "among the elite of today's classical guitarists" (Gramophone), is the classical guitarist that goes beyond the classical. He has earned a reputation for putting his expressiveness and virtuosity at the service of a remarkably wide range of music, and his schedule of performing, teaching, and recording commitments is distinguished throughout the U.S. and abroad. He has performed as concerto soloist with over 50 orchestras, including Cleveland, Houston, Toronto, and San Diego. Vieaux continues to bring important repertoire alive in the recording studio as well. He has released twelve commercial albums, which regularly broadcast around the world. In 2012, the Jason Vieaux School of Classical Guitar was launched with ArtistWorks Inc., an interface that provides online study with Vieaux for guitar students around the world. In 2011, he co-founded the guitar department at The Curtis Institute of Music, and he has taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music since 2001. Vieaux is a member of the Advisory Board of the Guitar Foundation of America. In 1992 he was the youngest ever winner of the prestigious GFA International Guitar Competition First Prize. He is also honored with a Naumburg Foundation top prize and a Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant.
Julian Gray
Recognized as one of the most gifted and eminent performers, recording artists and teachers in the guitar world, Julian Gray's career over three decades has included critically acclaimed recordings on the Dorian-Sono Luminus label and concert appearances and master classes throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. His work in helping to establish the guitar duo repertoire include his many arrangements for duo with partners Ronald Pearl and Serap Bastepe-Gray and the commissioning and premieres of works by many prominent composers. His students are frequent top prize winners at major national and international solo guitar, guitar concerto, and chamber ensemble competitions, and his many former students are members of University, College, and Conservatory faculties in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He is the Chair of the Guitar Department at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, and is Professor of Music and Director of the Guitar Studies Program at the Shenandoah Conservatory of the Shenandoah University.
Kami Rowan
A well-known guitar teacher throughout the U.S., DR. KAMI ROWAN is Associate Professor of Music at Guilford College, in Greensboro, NC. She built a thriving guitar program, whose graduates have attended some of the most prestigious graduate music programs. Kami completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees in performance at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University under the tutelage of Dr. Glenn Caluda. Dr. Rowan also studied with the renowned Aaron Shearer, at North Carolina School of the Arts, in Winston-Salem, NC, where she received her Bachelor of Music in performance. She was part of the team that designed and put into operation the Weaver High School for Performing & Visual Arts where she created and implemented a complete guitar curriculum for the high school level. She is president of two non-profit music organizations, The Piedmont Classic Guitar Society, and Music for a Great Space. Kami is also VP of Outreach on the Aaron Shearer Foundation Board of Directors.
EMF GUITAR COMPETITION
Division I
Division I
COLLEGE / PRE-PROFESSIONAL
Undergraduate & graduate/pre-professional - no age limit
- Semi-finals: 10-minute limit
- Finals: 15-minute limit
PRIZES:
- 1st Place - $250
- 2nd Place - $150
- 3rd Place - Honorable Mention
Division II
Division II
High School (Grades 9-12)
Must be currently in 9-12 grades, or have graduated in May of 2020 and not yet attending college
- Semi-finals: 7-minute limit
- Finals: 10-minute limit
Prizes:
- 1st Place - $150
- 2nd Place - $100
- 3rd Place - Honorable Mention
Competition Guidelines
Music/literature is free choice for all competitors. The same music can be repeated in multiple rounds. Three finalists will be chosen from each division. The semi-final round is closed to the public, but the final round will take place as an open concert featuring all Division I & II finalists. The winners will be announced directly following the final round and adjudicator's deliberations. All participants in the Guitar Competition must be full-participants for the duration of the EMF Guitar Program (July 18-August 1).
2021 TUITION, ROOM, BOARD, FEES
$1,010
Tuition
$796
Room & Board
$155
Fees (health, Activity, Cleaning, ID Card, Key And Security)
A $500 non-refundable reservation deposit (applied toward tuition) will be due 2 weeks after acceptance notification is received to reserve a place at EMF. The remaining balance is due May 14, 2021.
Housing/Meals
Participants who are between the ages of 14 and 23 may opt to live in the residence halls on the Guilford College campus. Residents are housed in traditional dormitory style buildings with two people per room. Meals are served in the Guilford College dining hall.
Guitar participants who choose to live off campus, or are over the age of 23, will be responsible for their own housing and meals.
How to Apply
- Complete the Guitar Program Application. All applicants must complete the Guitar Program Application (available online at www.getacceptd.com/emfestival). The deadline for receipt of completed applications and video recordings is February 21, 2021.
- Upload your Audition Materials. All applicants must submit a short biography (250 words or less) which includes public master classes, competitions and ensemble experience, a repertoire list and the required music files which must be uploaded through our Acceptd portal. The fee for submitting your application and audition via Acceptd will be $35 prior to January 1, 2021, and $75 thereafter. Call (336) 333-7450 x 227 for additional details.
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