PGS Guest Artist Series | PhoenixGuitarSociety

pgs Guest artist series

The Phoenix Guitar Society Presents

Josh Moore

Sunday, April 13th at 2:00PM Doors open at 1:30PM

The Guest Artist Series is hosted in the Wesley Lounge of First United Methodist Church, 5510 N, Central Ave, Located on the corner of Central and Missouri Avenue.

Doors open at 1:30pm and the concert starts promptly at 2:00pm.

The Guest Artist Series is open to the public with a suggested Donation of 10$ at the Door. Your Donations help make our programming possible and we thank you for your support!

Josh Moore,

Dr. Joshua Moore is a Classical and Jazz guitarist that is currently based in Flagstaff, Arizona. Josh was drawn to music from a very early age, finally making his way to the guitar around the age of 10. Josh is a frequent performer, both as a classical and jazz guitarist. He has performed throughout the US and Canada for many guitar societies and classical music series, including concerts for the Sacramento Guitar Society, the Great Lakes Guitar Society, the Ventura Guitar Society, the NAU Jazz Festival, the Chandler Jazz Festival, and many others. In competitions Josh has received top prizes in multiple guitar competitions including, the Pacific Guitar Festival, ASTA Aaron Green Guitar Competition, the Buffalo State Young Artists Concerto Competition, the Sierra Nevada Guitar Competition, the Mississippi Guitar Competition, the Philadelphia Guitar Competition, the Southern Guitar Competition, and Hamilton International Guitar Competition among others. Josh holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts, with a minor in Jazz Guitar from the University of Southern California where he studied under Scott Tennant and Bill Kanengiser. Additionally, Josh holds a Professional Studies Diploma from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Sergio Assad, a Master of Music degree with a minor in Jazz Guitar from the University of Southern California under Scott Tennant, and a Bachelor of Music

Performance degree from Buffalo State College under Evan Drummond. While at USC, Josh studied Jazz guitar under Bruce Forman, and Frank Potenza, and took jazz improv with Bob Mintzer. Josh is a full-time faculty member of the Northern Arizona University Kitt School of Music. At NAU, Josh directs the guitar program as well as teaches classes and coaches ensembles in the Jazz Studies Department. Josh can be seen performing all around Arizona in both jazz and classical settings.

PGS is a non-profit organization dedicated to the growth and enrichment of Classical Guitar. This pursuit relies on the support of our generous community to continue its mission. Making a charitable donation is as easy as clicking on the link provided below. You can donate directly to PGS using PayPal or you can also make a donation at of one of our concerts.

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PGS COVID and Mask Policy:

The Phoenix Guitar Society has developed a statement regarding COVID-19 and Mask requirements.

The CDC is not recommending wearing a mask at an indoor event in Maricopa County, PGS will not require wearing a mask or proof of vaccination, to our events at this time.

You are always welcome to wear a mask if you desire to do so. PGS will have a box of mask at the door for our indoor events.

This policy is subject to change based on community health and safety conditions. The Phoenix Guitar Society continues to follow guidance from the CDC, Maricopa County Health Department and other recognized health advisors.

Alden/Carlson Duo

Sunday, March 9th at 2:00PM Doors open at 1:30PM

KEVIN CARLSON,

Guitarist, graduated Summa cum laude with degrees in Classical Guitar and Theory/Composition from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and graduated with honors from Musicians Institute (GIT) in Los Angeles, CA. Kevin has a broad spectrum of performance experience with varied ensembles and artists: Marvin Hamlish, Rita Moreno, Thad Jones, George Burns, Lorna Luft, Roger Williams, Howard Alden and a variety of Broadway shows. Kevin is proficient in many styles of guitar playing.

Prior to moving to Arizona, Kevin was an active member of the Minnesota Guitar Society, Chet Atkins Appreciation Society, and served as Guitar Program Chair for the MN Music Teachers Association (MMTA).

Kevin’s repertoire consists of a wide array of high-caliber arrangements for solo guitar including classical favorites, guitar masterpieces a la Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed and Johnny Smith, TV / movie music, Scott Joplin, and pop / jazz standards from the 1920’s through the 1970’s. He also composes original music and plays a variety of historic guitars in his programs.

Since moving to Arizona in September 2023, he is working to make new musical connections and play professionally within the community - he has joined the Phoenix Guitar Society and the Professional Musicians of Arizona (AFM 586). He and his wife are happy to be here in the "Valley of the Sun"!

In Feb 2024 Kevin was interviewed for an hour-long show on 94.7 FM regarding his talents and guitar and musical knowledge. You can listen here: https://www.kawc.org/border-radio

HOWARD ALDEN,

Born in Newport Beach, California, in 1958, Howard began playing at age ten, inspired by recordings of Armstrong, Basie and Goodman, as well as those by guitarists Barney Kessel, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and George Van Eps. Soon he was working professionally around Los Angeles playing in groups ranging from traditional to mainstream to modern jazz. In 1979, Alden went east, for a summer in Atlantic City with Red Norvo, and continued to perform with him frequently for several years.

Upon moving to New York City in 1982, Alden's skills, both as soloist and accompanist, were quickly recognized and sought-out for appearances and recordings with such artists as Joe Bushkin, Ruby Braff, Joe Williams, Warren Vache` and Woody Herman.

Howard Alden has been a Concord Jazz recording artist since the late '80s where his prolific recorded output as leader, co-leader, and versatile sideman, has captured an artist of consistently astonishing virtuosity and originality. One of the many highlights in Howard Alden's fruitful association with Concord Jazz came in 1991 when, at the urging of Concord President, Carl Jefferson, Alden recorded with one of his all-time heroes, seven-string guitar master George Van Eps on the album Thirteen Strings .As a result of his association with - and inspiration from - George Van Eps, Alden has been playing the seven-string guitar since 1992. The seven string guitar imparts a greater range and harmonic richness to Alden's already colorful tonal palette, as evidenced on three remarkable follow-up albums with Van Eps.

Alden also teamed up with fellow guitarists Jimmy Bruno and Frank Vignola to record a three guitar outing entitled The Concord Jazz Guitar Collective , which was quickly called by some critics "an instant classic!"

Howard can be heard on the soundtrack to the 1999 Woody Allen movie "Sweet and Lowdown", starring Sean Penn, who was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role as a legendary jazz guitarist in the '30s. Howard not only played all the guitar solos, but also coached Mr. Penn on playing the guitar for his role in the film. The London Observer had this to say about Alden's 2001 solo CD, My Shining Hour ; "If there is such a thing as a complete jazz guitarist, then Alden is it. Only a real virtuoso can sustain a whole CD of solo guitar with the aplomb he displays here."

Previous Artists (2024-2025)

Bokyun Byun

Tuesday, March 4th at 7:30PM Doors open at 7:00PM

Bokyun Byun

“Here is a simple fact: with artistry such as Ms. Byun’s,

the state-of-the-art of guitar performance has reached a new level.”

-Soundboard Magazine

Recipient of the 2023 Avery Fisher Career Grant, Bokyung Byun enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Bokyung holds the distinction of being the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where Falletta herself described Bokyung’s performance as "stunning, showcasing her gorgeous tone, immaculate technique, and sophisticated musicianship.” Other recent honors include the grand prize at the 2021 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition and the Montreal International Classical Guitar Competition.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Bokyung began playing guitar at the age of six. At eleven, she took the stage for her first solo recital, leading to an early start in her teen years performing numerous concert tours in Asia. At the same time, Bokyung gained international attention for first-prize finishes in international competitions.

Bokyung soon moved to the United States, where she entered The Juilliard School at the age of sixteen. She holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. Teachers and mentors include Scott Tennant, William Kanengiser, Chen Zhi, Tae-Soo Kim, and Sharon Isbin.

Bokyung’s debut recording in 2020 has been praised by Soundboard Magazine as, “a very beautiful disc…We are treated to extraordinary musicianship, technical assurance, and beauty of sound.” In 2022, American Record Guide chose her Naxos Laurate Series recording as the Critics’ Choice Album, remarking her style as “very reminiscent of Andres Segovia.”

Bokyung is currently on the guitar faculty of University of North Texas. She is an Augustine Strings artist and plays a guitar by Dieter Mueller (2019).

Open Stage Concert

Sunday, February 9th at 2:00PM Doors open at 1:30PM

Our PGS Community

The PGS community has been a loyal base of appreciators, teachers, and artists that make up a fantastic network of music lovers. You make our programming possible with your continued support. It is events like this that help us give back to you, and showcase the amazing artistry we have right here in our backyard.

Marko Topchii

Presented by PGS And Arizona State University

Tuesday, January 28 at 7:30PM

Marko Topchii

Marko Topchii, a renowned classical guitarist born into a musical family in Ukraine in 1991, has garnered widespread acclaim for his exceptional talent and numerous competition victories. With over 100 awards in international classical guitar competitions, including First Prizes in prestigious events such as the International Guitar Competition Francisco Tarrega and the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition in New York, Marko has established himself as a one of a kind musician in the classical guitar world.

Marko’s performances have graced some of the most esteemed venues worldwide including Carnegie Hall (New York), the Salle Cortot (Paris) and Yamaha Ginza Hall (Tokyo). His collaborations with orchestras, spanning more than 15 concertos for guitar and orchestra, showcase his depth and flexibility as a guitarist.

Marko Topchii's discography includes several solo albums recorded under legendary classical music labels, Naxos and Contrastes. His most recent Naxos recording was released in Spring 2024 as part of the prestigious Guitar Foundation of America’s Laureate Series.

Beginning his guitar studies at the age of four under Volodymyr Homenyuk, Marko went on to graduate from the Kharkiv Conservatory and pursue advanced studies under notable mentors like Volodymyr Dotsenko and Yuri Aleksik. In 2018, he joined the professional studies programme of the San Francisco Conservatory in the class of Judicaёl Perroy, with whom he continued his studies at Haute Ecole de Musique de Geneve as part of the Master Soloiste programme.

Glendale Community College
Guitar Studio

Sunday, November 10 at 2:00PM

Chuck Hulihan and GCC:

The GCC Guitar Program, directed by Chuck Hulihan since 1999, has been a presence in the Phoenix music community for decades, presenting concerts, workshops, and clinics to our community and offering a full schedule of classes focused on improving your guitar skills and expanding your musicianship. Our graduates are performers, composers, private studio owners and instructors, non-profit arts administrators, public, private, and charter school teachers, college faculty, free-lance musicians and lifelong learners who engage with the arts. The program prepares students to pursue an associate or baccalaureate degree, become a professional musician, or advance your musical skills and experience for personal enrichment. Courses include a four semester sequence of Class Guitar, Guitar Ensemble, Chamber Music, Studio Class, Guitar Methods, and Private Instruction.
Since 2000, GCC Guitar students have consistently taken top honors in the Maricopa Community College music competitions, for both solo guitar and chamber music. Students have attended and participated in masterclasses, workshops, festivals both locally and around the world including the Guitar Foundation of America conventions, National School Summit, Vanguard University Guitar Festival, and Grand Canyon Guitar Society and Phoenix Guitar Society events. Students have been accepted to top universities and conservatories including Peabody Conservatory, Örebro University, University of Texas Austin, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, University of New Mexico, Eastman School of Music, and Berklee College of Music.
The guitar as an ensemble instrument is both a feature and focus of GCC Guitar. The Glendale Guitar Orchestra has been presenting four concerts a season for more than 20 years, including many concerts with guest artists, conductors, and composers. Composer spotlight programs often include a retrospective of a composer’s catalog, and have included Maximo Diego Pujol, Frank Wallace, Mark Houghton, Vito Nicola Paradiso, Andrew York, Celso Machado, Jürg Kindle, Luc Levesque and many more. The orchestra regularly features world premiere performances, their live recordings are available on their YouTube channel GCCGuitar where their work interpreting the classics of the guitar ensemble repertoire serve as inspiration to ensembles around the world. In 2014 the GCC Guitar Ensembles Octet won the Guitar Foundation of America Ensemble Showcase competition and performed the world premiere of both Rex Willis’ “18 and 49” and Mark Houghton’s “Frippertron” at the 2014 convention at California State University Fullerton. The many small ensemble configurations of the GCC Guitar Ensembles over the years have performed on stage with artists such as Celso Machado and Roland Dyens for the Grand Canyon Guitar Society and performed as guest artists for festivals including Vanguard University, Sonoran Desert Guitars, and the GFA Regional Symposium at the Musical Instrument Museum.
The GCC Guitar Program regularly hosts international performing artists and educators. Past guest guitarists include Martha Masters, David Russell, Andrew York, Celso Machado, William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, Nikita Koshkin, John W. Duarte, Adam del Monte, John Jorgenson, Gonzalo Bergara, Michael Chapdelaine, Joe Lopiccolo, Vahagn Turgutyan, Daniel Ward, Chris Burton Jacome, Michael Nigro, Chanson du Soir, Bekkers-Ku Duo, David Burgess, Finn Svit and Jochen Brusch, Mesut Ozgen, Michael Partington, Randall Avers, Dale Kavanagh, Marcelo Coronel, Maximo Diego Pujol, Irina Kulikova, Cem Duroz, Craig Yarbrough, Quaternaglia, San Francisco Guitar Quartet, Santa Fe Guitar Quartet, Brazil Guitar Quartet, David Leisner, Jiji Kim, Lovro Peretic, Laura Snowden, Thibaut Garcia, Rovshan Mamedkuliev, Grisha Goryachev, Thomas Villoteau, Raphaël Feuillâtre, Vito Nicola Paradiso, Rex Willis, Francisco Munoz, Ryan Ayers, Frank Wallace, Matt Denman, Nestor Benito, Puerta-Vazquez Duo, Kupinski Duo, Frank Koonce, Tom Patterson, Jose Luis Puerta, Ruth LeMay, The Great Necks Trio, and Tom Sheely.

Yifan Zhang

Sunday, October 13, 2024, 1:00PM

First United Methodist Church of Phoenix,

5510 N. Central ave, Phx. 85012,

Wesley Lounge

The church is located on the north west corner of Central and Missouri. There is ample parking and the Wesley Lounge has easy access for everyone.

Join us Sunday, October 13th for Yifan Zahng.

Yifan Zhang

Classical guitarist Yifan Zhang hails from Wuhu, China. He is an active solo performer, chamber musician, and experienced educator living in Phoenix.

His dedication and talent bore fruit as he clinched impressive accolades in his journey. He won the 4th prize at the Xi'an International Guitar Art Festival in 2023 and achieved the 3rd prize at the China Wuhu Guitar Festival in 2018.

He has been selected for the 2022-2023 Richard & Babette Burns Guitar Scholarship and the 2021-22/2023-24 John Mardinly Guitar Award for excellence at Arizona State University.

His achievements also include a 2nd prize at the 5th Guitar Festival in 2013 at Hefei Normal University in China.

Zhang has performed extensively as a soloist and chamber musician throughout his career, establishing his reputation in both the United States and China.

He has been a member of several acclaimed ensembles, including the University of Cincinnati Guitar Ensemble, the San Francisco Conservatory Guitar Ensemble, and the Arizona State University Guitar Ensemble.

Beyond his classical repertoire, Zhang holds a profound passion for Chinese music.

He aspires to expand the guitar's repertoire and capabilities by collaborating with composers to commission new guitar works. Notably, composer Yangfan Xu wrote her first guitar solo piece, "Soberless Dance (in the Mountains)," for Zhang in March 2021.

He premiered this composition in May 2021 at Sol Joseph Recital Hall in San Francisco.

Zhang made his Arizona recital debut in 2022 at the Katzin Concert Hall in Tempe.

Zhang made his San Francisco recital debut at Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall in 2019.

Zhang received both the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Tanenbaum and Judicael Perroy.

He is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree as a student of Dr. Martha Masters. He is a Teaching Assistant at Arizona State University where he instructs collegiate-level classes.

Grupo Riken

Sunday, September 8, 2024, 2:00

Biography

Grupo Riken has been performing in Arizona since 2009. They specialize in folkloric music from the Caribbean and Latin America. Genres like the Cuban bolero, Puerto Rican jibaro music, llanero, Latin jazz, salsa, and bossa nova.

The group’s unique sounds come from folk instruments like the Puerto Rican cuatro, guitar, Peruvian Cajon, Afro-Caribbean percussion bongos, and congas, accompanied by the guitar.

The name Riken derives from the name given by the indigenous Tainos in Puerto Rico, which is called the island Boriken.

Grupo Riken has participated in local music festivals such as the Tucson Meet Yourself and has participated in Tohono Chul’s Sunday in the Garden concert series since 2015, as well as many collaborations with the University of Arizona and the Tucson Guitar Society.

They released their first CD titled De Aqui pa’ allá in 2016. In Spring 2019 they won second place at the SAACA Folk Music Festival in Oro Valley.

José Luis Puerta (guitar), a native of Puerto Rico, has been an active Board Member of the Tucson Guitar Society since 2009. He is the Director of Education and the conductor for the Tucson Guitar Society Orchestra since 2013.

As a soloist and ensemble artist, he has performed in Canada, Spain, the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Music at the School of Music at the University of Arizona.

Alexis Rivera (cuatro) native of Puerto Rico, has been performing with different instruments, such as the bass, drums, guitar, and cuatro, with different groups throughout the Tucson area. Most recently with the LFP Project, Tradiciones, and Grupo Riken. He also records, composes, and edits some of the music for the group.

David Pérez (percussion) originally from Mexico City, studied congas with a Cuban teacher which gave him a deep understanding of Caribbean music such as the salsa, boleros, and guaguancó. He has performed with multiple groups and is an active member of Vox Urbana. Vox Urbana is a seven-piece band that combines Latin-based sounds with stories and experiences that occur in the Arizona/Sonora border region. The bi-national band is based in Tucson, Arizona, and has been creatively narrating stories of the border community since 2010.