The Board of Trustees is voted in by the membership, six positions are up for election each year. The Board of Trustees maintains final authority over any decisions of the Executive Committee and staff.
Mary Akerman performs to critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad. A performer at the 2000 Guitar Foundation of America festival in San Antonio, Ms. Akerman has given masterclasses at the Festival de Guitarra Paracho in Paracho, Mexico, the Festival Intrenacional de Guitarra del Noreste in Saltillo, Mexico, the Southwestern Guitar Festival, and at the Eastern Carolina University Summer Music Workshop. In addition to frequent solo recitals, her appearances include performances with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, The Atlanta Festival Singers, and on National Public Radio's Performance Today.
A judge for numerous guitar competitions, including the 2001 Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Ms. Akerman is the first prize winner in the Casa de Espana of Puerto Rico Competition and the Guitar Foundation of America Competition. Additionally, she was a medal winner in the Concours International Radio France. She received BM and MM degrees from the University of Georgia and pursued postgraduate studies at Florida State University.
Michael Andriaccio is a member of the Castellani-Andriaccio Duo, regarded as one of the elite chamber ensembles on the music scene today. After being invited to perform on scholarship to the master classes of Andres Segovia in Spain, they were featured in concert in London, Madrid, Budapest, Rome and Rio De Janeiro. They have also been featured in some of the most prestigious concert halls such as the Smithsonian Institution, the JFK Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Recital Hall, the Chautauqua Festival and a special invitation by President Clinton to perform at the White House. The Duo is frequently scheduled at music festivals throughout North America, Europe and Latin America where the two served as artistic envoys of the U.S. State Department.
Jordan Charnofsky holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music. He has served as principal guitarist/mandolinist for the Los Angeles Opera Orchestra. With his groups, he has been featured in the Playboy Jazz Festival, and the World Festival of Sacred Music. He has performed in Japan, Russia, and in L.A. at the Academy Awards. Jordan served as Musical Artist-in-Residence at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute for nine years. He is a published guitar composer/arranger with the Columbia Music Co. and Sony Music. Jordan joined the Board of Directors in January 2006.
Jeff Cogan studied guitar at California State University, Northridge with Ronald C. Purcell. He has performed in concerts in many American cities and in European cities such as Rust, Austria, Perigueux, France, Lanuvio, Italy, Aranda De Duero, Spain, and Belgrade, Serbia. Jeff's teaching career began in 1982 at Chapman University where he remains director of guitar studies and music technology. He is a board member and program chairman of the Orange County Guitar Circle. Jeff has directed the GFA International Guitar Competition since 1987.
Brian Head enjoys a vibrant, frequently frenetic career as a guitarist, teacher, and composer, performing as a soloist and collaboratively with many groups including the Los Angeles Philharmonic and their New Music Group, the New World Symphony, Le Rossignol, inauthentica, Jacaranda and Xtet. Brian's own compositions have been performed for many years throughout the U.S. in premier venues in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., and abroad in such cities as Tokyo, Berlin, Madrid, Mexico City, Montreal, Sao Paulo, and Dubai. Since 2001, Brian has held a dual appointment on the Classical Guitar and Composition faculties as a senior lecturer at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California where he maintains an active guitar studio, lectures on a wide range of subjects, and directs the undergraduate music theory program. Since 2004 Brian has led the Guitar Foundation of America, as its president.
Dr. Matthew Hinsley's primary instructors were Steve Aron and Adam Holzman. Matthew won the 2000 MTNA Guitar Competition and was a three-time finalist in the ASTA solo competition. Matthew's private studio has produced students who win major competitions. One of only a few teachers worldwide who has had two students advance to the final round of the youth division of the GFA Competition, including the winner of the competition in 2006, recently one of Matthew's young students was selected to perform on the From The Top radio show. As Executive Director of the Austin Classical Guitar Society, Matthew has personally raised over $500,000 for concert series and extensive community outreach programs. In 2008-2009, he will manage a budget exceeding $300,000. Through ACGS Matthew has built a rapidly growing educational program that has developed guitar programs in 8 Austin schools, with many more soon to follow serving hundreds of Central Texas students on a daily basis. A frequent presenter at GFA Conventions, Matthew joined the Board of Directors in 2008.
Bruce Holzman is Associate Professor of Guitar at the Florida State University, and has been Director of the Guitar Program since 1972. Holzman's students have won many prestigious prizes in competitions worldwide. Professor Holzman has been on the Artists' Faculties of The Iserlohn International Guitar Symposium, Germany, Stetson International Guitar Workshop, Columbus States Guitar Symposium, Domaine Forget Academie of Music and Dance, Quebec, Canada, National Guitar Summer Workshop, New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes, Boston Guitarfest, and Toronto Guitarfest. He has been an adjudicator for numerous competitions. Bruce Holzman was awarded a special Lifetime Achievement award at the Fifth New York Guitar Seminar at Mannes held in his honor, "El Maestro/Tradition of the Masters."
Tom Johnson is the founder and head of the classical guitar program at the University of North Texas, which boasts the largest college of music in the United States, and one of the largest guitar enrollments in the United States. In addition to his activities as a performer and teacher, Tom has served as an adjudicator for many guitar competitions including the Guitar Foundation of America. He is on the Advisory Board of Directors of the Ft. Worth Classical Guitar Society. Johnson has been internationally active as a performer and educator for more than twenty-five years. He teaches annually at the Iserlohn Guitar Festival in Germany. For six years, he was a scholarship student in the Oscar Ghiglia master class at the Aspen Music Festival. After his graduate studies, Johnson lived in Spain where he studied with José Tomás. Tom has served on the Advisory Board of the GFA since 2005.
William Kanengiser is a founding member of the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, as well as a noted soloist, pedagogue, and arranger for guitar. Currently a Senior Lecturer in Guitar at the USC Thornton School of Music, Bill received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at USC, being named "Outstanding Graduate for the School of Music" upon conferral of both degrees. In addition to his many solo recordings on the GSP label and LAGQ recordings for Telarc, Sony Classical and Delos, he has released DVDs for Hot Licks Video and Mel Bay records. Bill has been a member of the GFA Board of Directors since December 2005.
Pamela Kimmel is Associate Professor of Guitar at Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University. Throughout her long teaching career, Pamela has been an active soloist and chamber musician. Her duo with Kaye Clements (flute) has performed extensively for universities, guitar societies, and concert series, including WFMT ‘s "Live from Studio One" radio program. Pamela's scholarly interests include the study of various schools of guitar technique and pedagogy; and physiological problems of musicians with special emphasis on repetitive stress injuries. She is a contributor to classical guitar publications, including the Guitar Foundation of America's Soundboard journal. She currently serves as President of the Chicago Classical Guitar Society. Pamela joined the GFA Board of Advisors in 2007.
Robert T. Lane holds a Bachelor of Science Degree with an emphasis in Finance from the Marshall School of Business and a Juris Doctor from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California. Having practiced law for over 23 years, Bob has represented and advised corporations in litigation, transactional, and compliance matters as both outside and in-house counsel. A student of the guitar and its history for many years, Bob has become an avid advocate and collector. He has been a member of the GFA Board since 2000.
David Leisner is an extraordinarily versatile musician with a multi-faceted career as an electrifying performing artist, a distinguished composer, and a master teacher. A featured recording artist for Azica Records, Leisner has released 5 highly acclaimed solo CD's of music by Bach, Villa-Lobos, Mertz and Schubert, Contemporary composers and his own compositions. Mr. Leisner has also become a highly respected composer. David Leisner is currently co-chairman of the guitar department at the Manhattan School of Music and taught at the New England Conservatory for 22 years.
Kate Lewis began her classical guitar studies with the Trinity College of Music, London. She received her Bachelors and Masters Degree from University of Southern California where she studied with Scott Tennant and James Smith. Kate currently teaches at Loyola Marymount University, Cal State University, Northridge and for the Los Angeles Community College District. Kate was elected to the GFA Board of Directors in 2003. She has served on the Pre-College Guitar Education Committee and as the Director of Development.
Jeffrey McFadden is recognized as one of the pre-eminent Canadian guitarists of the past thirty years. Since becoming the first Canadian prize winner in the GFA Competition in 1992, he has performed across North America and in France, Italy, Spain, Slovenia, Germany and the Netherlands as a soloist and as part of Duo Spiritoso with guitarist Andrew Zohn. He has recorded nine highly acclaimed CD's for Naxos and ClearNote and has produced recordings for Disques XXI, ClearNote and independent artists. Jeffrey is a lecturer in Guitar at the University of Toronto and the director of the UofT Guitar Ensemble. He is a sought after clinician and active editor of pedagogical materials. Jeffrey joined the Board of Advisors in 2008.
Greg Newton received his BM and MM degrees from the University of Southern California, and completed his DMA at the University of California, Los Angeles with Peter Yates. He has given concerts, broadcasts and classes throughout Great Britain, the USA, Canada, South America, the Middle East, Scandinavia, and Western and Eastern Europe. He is on the faculties of Glendale College and Los Angeles City College, serves as president of the American Guitar Society, and directs the AGS International Concert Series. Greg has been a member of the GFA since its inception in 1973, joining the Board of Directors in 1998.
Jack Sanders A graduate of California Institute of the Arts, Jack has been on the faculty of Pomona College and Claremont Graduate University since 1980. His performing career has included two compact discs and tours for more than 20 years throughout the United States and China with violinist Clayton Haslop, including the 1985 and 1988 GFA festivals. A frequent collaborator with other musicians, Jack has performed at the Sitka, Anchorage, Kapalua, Costa Rica and Sedona Chamber Music Festivals. A solo recording of the Complete Preludes of Ponce, Carlevaro, and Villa-Lobos has been released on Townhall Records. In addition, Jack is an accomplished luthier of modern and historical guitars. Jack has been on the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee of the GFA since 1988.
Jason Vieaux began guitar studies at age eight with Jeremy Sparks in Buffalo, New York, and continued at The Cleveland Institute of Music with John Holmquist. He is a First Prize winner of the GFA International Guitar Competition. He is the youngest department head at The Cleveland Institute of Music, and a recipient of the conservatory's Alumni Achievement Award. Jason has recorded 8 CDs for Naxos and Azica Records, is an internationally recognized solo recitalist and chamber musician, and has performed as soloist with many of the top orchestras in the United States. Jason was elected to the GFA Advisory Board in 2004.
Guitarist/composer Andrew Zohn has earned prizes in five international competitions including the Guitar Foundation of America and the Stotsenberg International. Andrew also performs as part if Duo Spiritoso with acclaimed Canadian guitarist and Naxos recording artist Jeffrey McFadden. Andrew holds a doctorate of music degree from Florida State University, a master of music from the University of Texas, and a bachelor's degree from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Since 1999, Andrew has served on the faculty of Columbus State University. Andrew served as Convention Director for the 2006 Convention in Columbus, Georgia, and has served as a member of the Advisory Board since 2005.
