Southwest Guitar Festival

The Southwest Guitar Festival was formed in 1991 by the guitar professors at UTSA, Southwest Texas State University, and UT Austin as a small regional festival for the guitar students of central Texas. In 1995, the festival moved permanently to San Antonio, where it has been held every two years or so. In 2000 we hosted the Guitar Foundation of America’s International Convention and Competition, bringing over 400 guitarists, teachers, guitar makers, and afficionados of the guitar to San Antonio for one of the greatest weeks of classical guitar music in the United States. A highlight of the week was the U.S. conducting debut of Leo Brouwer.

One of our favorite projects has been the U.S./Mexico Guitar Orchestra, shown here in front of the Alamo. This group consists of top level students and young professionals from both the U.S. and Mexico, rehearsing and performing together in our city that is so rich in American and Mexican Culture.

In 2000 and 2003, the SWGF has been hailed by the press as “one of the ten best arts events in San Antonio” and “one of San Antono’s most anticipated and loved events.” Along the way to becoming one of the premiere classical guitar festivals in the U.S. we’ve had some wonderful partners and assistance from the Instituto De México, the San Antonio Chamber Music Society, the Newman Family Charitable Trust, the D’Addario Foundation for the Performing Arts, Arts! San Antonio, Texas Public Radio, The San Antonio Express-News, and many other fine organizations and friends.

In 2007, in addition to our stellar line up of concerts and masterclasses, we introduced two new aspects to the festival. The first was the inaugural SWGF International Solo Competition for students. This is one of the few true international guitar competitions specifically for students in existence. The finals in 2007 featured guitarists from Australia, France, Nicaragua, and the United States. The 2007 winner, Aleksandr Tsiboulski, has gone on to have an international career. The second new event was our first SWGF Guitar Ensemble Fest. We invited all guitar ensembles from schools around the U.S. to come perform and receive adjudication and coaching from top professionals. This is a fantastic opportunity for students of the guitar to learn from and get to know some of the true stars of the concert guitar world, and to meet fellow students of the guitar from around the country and beyond.

Our concert schedule this year features the premiere of Sergio Assad's Interchange for Guitar Quartet and Orchestra, commissioned by the Southwest Guitar Festival. The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet will perform the premiere with the San Antonio Symphony on Friday February 6. The festival kicks off with another premiere, James Scott Balentine's Triqueta, Double Concerto for Guitar, Horn, and Chamber Ensemble, performed by SWGF Director Matthew Dunne and Michael Gast, principle Horn of the Minnesota Orchestra. Recitals by 11-time international competition winner Denis Azabagic and the highly acclaimed Sergio and Odair Assad round out the evening concerts. We have partnered with Arts San Antonio for the International Competition and have doubled the total prizes to $10,000. We will have masterclasses with many of the artists, as well as classes with top guitar educators. As always, the Southwest Guitar Festival offers something for anyone who loves the guitar!