Calling all guitar friends and fans! Join us online for a pre-Halloween treat as we celebrate the culmination of our 8th Annual Wilson Center Guitar Festival! This virtual event will feature a special concert from Milwaukee’s own renowned classical guitarist Rene Izquierdo, followed by the announcement of our 2020 Guitar Competition winners in the genres of Classical, Fingerstyle, and Jazz, and a recorded YouTube performance from each of our first-place winners!
ABOUT RENE IZQUIERDO: A native from Cuba, Izquierdo graduated from Guillermo Tomas, Amadeo Roldan Conservatory and Superior Institute of Art in Havana. In the U.S., he earned a Master of Music and an Artist Diploma degree from Yale University School of Music, where he studied with Benjamin Verdery. He has shared the stage with prestigious guitarists including Eliot Fisk, Benjamin Verdery, and Jorge Morel, as well as renowned flutist Ransom Wilson, soprano Lucy Shelton, David Jolley, and Paquito d’Rivera. Izquierdo is a winner of JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Competition in 2004, Extremadura International Guitar Competition, Schadt String competition, Stotsenberg International Guitar Competition among others. He is currently a professor of classical guitar at the UW-Milwaukee and an active solo performer and chamber musician.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL: Established in 2012, it is the mission of the Wilson Center Guitar Festival to celebrate the greatest guitarists of today and tomorrow. Traditionally held at the Wilson Center for three days in August, featuring ticketed headliner concerts, free masterclasses and workshops, a vendor hall, and live competition rounds in multiple genres. Shortly after we began to feel the full effect of the current pandemic this spring, the Wilson Center made the very difficult decision to cancel our in-person competition for our 8th Annual Wilson Center Guitar Festival, originally scheduled to take place this August. At that time, we indicated that we would look for ways to bring our guitar community together; what we ultimately realized is that the heart and soul of our Festival is the competition. Even if it had to look a little different this year, we still had an opportunity to creatively celebrate the next generation of guitar greats—so we made the decision to hold our competition virtually! Focusing on three genres of Classical, Fingerstyle, and Jazz, the competition was again open to guitarists of all ages. First place in each genre will receive $1,000; second place in each genre will receive $250, and third place will receive $100. For our preliminary competition round, we received YouTube submissions from guitarists in 51 different cities, 27 states/territories, and seven countries around the world. A renowned panel of judges in each genre selected this year’s finalists, and each finalist submitted a second video submission. This Friday, October 30, we are tremendously excited to be announcing the first, second, and third-place winners in each of the three genres! To see the full list of our 2020 competitors, please click here.
VIRTUAL CONCERT TICKETS: $10. Following your ticket purchase, a dedicated link will be sent to your email address approximately two hours prior to the concert.
Please note: ticket purchasers will only have access to this concert on Friday, October 30, at 8pm (CT). Following the concert and announcement on October 30th, we will be creating a second, shorter video that just includes the announcement of winners and the first-place winners’ videos. That video link will be sent to each of the first, second, and third-place winners to share with family and friends, and we will also make that available on our social media platforms.