To celebrate and develop the talents of a diverse group of pre-college youth (ages 13-18) and pre-professional (ages 18-25) classical guitarists through instruction, engagement, and career development.
In supporting our historically underrepresented members, we seek to build a classical guitar community that truly welcomes all players.
Eligibility
Any person that self-identifies as underrepresented in the classical guitar community, ages 13-25 at the time of application.
The program is open to applicants who reside in the United States and are pursuing or seeking to pursue advanced studies in music.
Pre-Professional Track Program (ages 18-25)
The program runs from October to June.
All mentees will be welcomed to the program individually through a conversation with the GFA Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee to get to know more about their goals.
All mentees will be provided access to a series of virtual career development workshops with renowned leaders from the classical guitar community.
All pre-professional mentees will receive an invitation to intern at the annual GFA Convention. This opportunity will include a full convention pass, dorm accommodation, and a travel stipend (up to $400).
Mentees will participate in a one-day retreat with their cohort of mentees and then be placed in an area of focus to volunteer for the rest of the week.
Pre-College Track Program (ages 13-18)
The program runs from October to June.
All mentees will be welcomed to the program individually through a conversation with the GFA Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Committee to get to know more about their goals.
All mentees will be provided access to a series of virtual workshops related to college/conservatory admissions, master classes, and other topics with renowned leaders from the classical guitar community.
All pre-college program mentees will receive a full scholarship to participate in next year’s The Bridge at the 2025 GFA Convention.
This opportunity will include housing, meals, and a travel stipend (up to $400).
Expectations
All mentees are expected to:
Prioritize scheduling for approximately 1 hour per month for virtual workshops.
Attend the 2025 GFA Convention in Louisville, KY (June 16 -21, 2025).
Respond professionally and promptly to all communication.
Explore creative and proactive ways to build leadership skills and be a positive role model for peers in their community.
Support the Mentorship Program
We welcome donations in support of the GFA Mentorship Program. The costs associated with running this program are substantial, and the GFA is reliant on your membership dues and donations to fund our programming. You can make a donation through this page and write “mentorship” in the Comments field.
studies guitar with Christopher Mallett at the California Conservatory of Music. He was a prize winner at the Society of American Musicians Competition, Altamira International Virtual Guitar Competition, United
States International Music Competition and the Kenny Hill Guitar Prize at the University of Rhode Island Guitar Festival. He has been featured on NPR's "From the Top'' radio show and performed in a virtual
concert with guitarist Bokyung Byun. Preston had masterclasses with Meng Su and Benjamin Verdery and a prelude performance for Rene Izquierdo's concert. In addition to classical guitar, Preston also plays
the clarinet and represented his school at the 2023 California All-State Junior High Symphonic Band. He is a Boy Scout and enjoys chess, track & field, basketball and volleyball.
Kaye is a guitarist and teacher based in Maryland. She started playing guitar at the age of 14 and her classical training started during her first year of college. She studied Classical Guitar Performance at
University of Maryland, Baltimore County. During her time at college and university, she has performed in small guitar ensembles and has participated in master classes with Berta Rojas and Meng Su. Kaye
most enjoys playing music from classical, contemporary and jazz styles. She currently performs at small events and teaches guitar at local music schools in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Vivian Wang is an accomplished classical guitarist from Edison, New Jersey. She started studying the Suzuki Method with Galina Jitlina at the age of four in Vancouver, Canada, and currently, she is learning
under the guidance of Professor Denis Azabagic.
Throughout her musical journey, Vivian has won several competitions, including the Chicago Guitar Competition Senior and Collegiate Group, Long Island National High School Guitar Competition, Philadelphia Classical
Guitar Competition, Indiana International Guitar Competition, LASP Youth Advanced Competition, among others.
Vivian and her brother Owen Wang have performed several duets together at various events, such as the Long Island Guitar Festival and Peabody Fret Fest. They even premiered a GFA commissioned piece titled The
Rainy Ketagalan Harbor by Ming-Jui Liu during the GFA convention. Vivian and Owen's musical collaborations have been well-received by audiences, and they even hosted their concert in Vancouver in the summer
of 2022.
Furthermore, Vivian and Owen participated in four tutorial videos for GFAtv in 2020-2021, showcasing their musical prowess and sharing their knowledge and experience with aspiring guitarists. Vivian's passion for music extends beyond her performances,
as she is currently teaching guitar at her local Chinese school, where she inspires and shares her experiences with her students.
Jonathan Shanley is a Classical Guitarist based in San Francisco originally hailing from the East Coast. He started playing the guitar at a young age, studying jazz with Sandy Renda in Belleville, NJ. He discovered
Classical Guitar at 17 and pursued study of it at Bloomsburg University with Dr. Matthew Slotkin where he earned a Bachelor of the Arts degree dual-tracking in Music Education and Guitar Performance. Jonathan
furthered his education by finishing a Master's Degree in Guitar Studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music with Dr. David Tanenbaum this spring. He has also taken part in lessons and Master Classes
with other notable performers such as Sergio Assad, Thomas Viloteau, David Russell, Zoran Dukic, Jason Vieaux, and more. Jonathan is half Puerto Rican and excited to be premiering Hermelindo's work and be
a part of expanding the Puerto Rican Classical Guitar repertoire.
Antara’s fifth birthday present was her first guitar. Now eighteen years old, she has never looked back since. Music has been a constant companion to her throughout; bringing her new friends, lessons, and experiences.
Beside her years of solo study under Shyamal De at the Calcutta School of Music, she has also performed in the school’s Guitar Ensemble for 4 years and in a few quartet and trio performances. Currently,
she is set to perform as the soloist at the premiere of “Huayno para el ocaso” by Moa Edmunds, in the guitar ensemble at the 2020 Calcutta International Classical Guitar Festival. She has attended this festival
for 8 years, and won the under 18 competition last year
She has had the wonderful opportunity to play for and learn from a lot of wonderful guitarists over the last few years, and can only hope the future holds even more.
Henrique Carvalho is a Brazilian classical guitar student. He is currently finishing his Bachelor's Degree in classical guitar at the University of São Paulo (USP), studying with professor Edelton Gloeden. He
studied with professor Everton Gloeden (founding member of the Grammy award winner Brazilian Guitar Quartet). In addition, he has been a prize winner of numerous Brazilian national guitar competitions and
as a recipient of the Cultura Artística scholarship, He has had the honor of honing my artistry with maestro Fábio Zanon.
Elizabeth Oluwade was born in Nigeria, ogunstate in the year 1999 as the first of three children. Elizabeth grew up singing as a member of her local Church's choir. In 2018 she started her professional music
career as a classical guitarist and joined Chocolate Africans Classical Guitar Association.
In2020, Elizabeth participated in GuitarLab masterclasses, she collaborated with incredible musicians from around the world,participated asasoloist in Escuela de Musica School of Classical Music in Peru, and
was awarded a Certificate of Recognition. In 2021 she was invited to participate in the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society Education Program and was given acertificate of participation.
She participated in Musically Talented African Women (MTAW) project and given an award of excellence under the string category and also participated in world guitar day on the 18th of October 2021 and was given
an official certificate of participant.
David Manzanares is a classical guitarist from Houston, Texas. One of David’s passions is sharing his music with the community through outreach concerts, having performed at a variety of retirement homes and
hospitals. As a supporter and performer of new music, David has collaborated with composers, especially from underrepresented communities, to create new works for the guitar. David has been awarded scholarships
to study music at many summer music programs, including the Carnegie Mellon Pre-College Program, the Boston Guitar Festival, and the Brevard Music Center.
David also has performed in masterclasses with Manuel Barrueco, Grisha Goryachev, Adam Holzman, Rene Izquierdo, Lorenzo Micheli, Marco Tamayo, and Jason Vieux. Currently, David is pursuing a Bachelors of Music
at the Peabody Institute of Music with Dr. Thomas Viloteau on a full scholarship.
Sofia Martinez is a 17 year-old student guitarist currently based in Cincinnati, Ohio. She has been playing guitar for six years under the instruction of Justin McMurdo, Thomas Thoroughgood, and Dr. Kami Rowan,
as well as participating in the New Mexico All-State Ensemble and Youth Ensemble. Sofia plans to attend a university this fall to major in classical guitar performance and prepare for a career in composition
and studio performance.
Nattakarn Kijrattanakarn is currently majoring in Master of Music and working as an assistant teacher at East Carolina University, NC and studying with Professor Elliot Frank and joining GFA mentorship program
2021-2022. He finished his bachelor degree from Mahidol University in Thailand with first honors GPA. Nattakarn has started his music education since he was at the fifth grade with Yamaha music program and
continued his pre-college period at college of music, Mahidol University.
During high-school and undergrad program, Nattakarn had chances to study with several guitarists, such as Kiatkong Subhayon, Chairat Pomamnuay, Paul Cesarczyk, Rattanai Bunpenyou, Nalin Komentrakarn, and Suvich
Klimsmith. He also had a chance to joined several guitar festivals and concerts, such as, Homenaje al Maestro Simone Iannarelli - 1st Festival Internacional de Guitarra Clasica - Suena Peru, National Hispanic
Heritage Month at School of music, East Carolina University, Tercer Festival Internacional de Música “El Reencuentro,” and be a jury in II Festival Internacional de Musica, Homenaje a Leo Brouwer.
Owen Wang,15, is from Edison, New Jersey. Owen started learning guitar when he was five with Galina Jitlina in Canada. In 2020, he was selected as part of the Guitar Foundation of America Mentorship Program
and had the opportunity to study with Denis Azabagic who is his current teacher. Owen is the 1st prize winner of the 2021 Latino Arts Strings Program Youth Competition, advanced group. 2nd prize of the 2021
Philadelphia Classical Guitar Competition National Competition, Junior Division, 2021 James Stroud Competition finalist.
In 2022, he was also selected as a finalist for From the Top as well as the scholarship for the 2021 Guitarlab Summer Camp. Owen and his sister Vivian also created four segments for the GFAtv youtube channel
in 2021. Owen is currently a classical guitar teacher at the Edison local chinese school. His dream is to become a skilled, professional guitarist.
Sunil Parameswaran is a Bangalore-based classical guitarist from India, pursuing his undergraduate studies in Computer Science Engineering. Sunil finds a seamless sense of satisfaction by performing as a classical
guitarist and loves to teach music. He showed an early interest in Music, learnt classical guitar and ensemble over the years, at The Bangalore school of Music.
He worked hard to earn his certificate of music education in performance Diploma, ARSM from the ABRSM-London, 2019 as a High Achiever. He has won many accolades and awards at the classical guitar competitions.
In 2021, he was a finalist at the Asia International Guitar Festival and won the Merit Prize. Winner of the open category and recipient of the prestigious Indian Guitar Federation - Spanish Guitar competition,
Sunil was awarded with the Fellowship 2020. Sunil won the Grand prize, for his exemplary performance at the competition organized by SaPa , 2018.
Throughout the pandemic, he played and uploaded music of diverse repertoire in his social media handles. To stay connected, he performed curated concerts at online platforms. Sunil dreams for the futuristic
valuable connections that would shape his musical expertise. He aspires to learn at a Music Conservatory and tour the world by performing concerts.
