The 15th annual Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival will take place Thursday, May 28 through Sunday, May 31, 2015 at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Please join us in welcoming this spring’s roster of internationally acclaimed artists in a concentrated series of recitals, debut performances, premieres, master classes, lectures, and exhibits celebrating the classical guitar and art music: solo and ensemble, old and new. All recitals will take place in Mixon Hall, CIM's award winning new concert hall.

Our reasons for presenting this Festival are five fold: (1) to help increase the awareness and respect due artists whose exemplary work has enhanced our lives and the lives of others; (2) to entertain; (3) to educate; (4) to encourage deeper thought and discussion about how we listen to, perform, and evaluate fine music; and (5) to help facilitate shared moments of human awareness.

In our experience, participation in the live performance of fine music is potentially the highest end towards which we can aspire as performers, music students, and audience members. For it is in live, heightened moments of musical magic—when time stops and egos dissolve—that we often become most aware of our shared humanity.

Many thanks to all our distinguished participating artists and to all of you who have traveled here from near and far over the years: Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Canada. Your enthusiasm, loyalty, and diversity have made this event the jewel that it is acknowledged world wide to be.

I look forward to greeting many new and repeat participants at this May's Festival.

Armin Kelly, Artistic Director and Founder
Cleveland International Classical Guitar Festival
classicalguitars@guitarsint.com
216.752.7502

Performing Artists:

Jason Vieaux, guitar (USA) - 2015 Grammy Award Winner, CIM Guitar Department Head
  Among the elite of today's classical guitarists (Gramophone)

Paul Galbraith, guitar (Scotland)
  Magnificently played, thoughtful and majestic performances (Gramophone)

Ricardo Gallen, guitar (Spain)
  Flawless interpretation and charisma and exquisite technique and particularly beautiful sound...." (Diario de Cordoba)

Antonis Hatzinikolaou, US Debut, guitar (Greece)
  Magnificent...simply magnificent! This is playing of the highest standard. (Classical Guitar Magazine)

Yolanda Kondonassis, harp (USA)
  Kondonassis showed why she's arguably the preeminent harpist in the world (The Beaumont Enterprise)

Duo Melis, Susana Prieto and Alexis Muzurakis, guitars (Spain & Greece)
  Their Bay Area debut . . . revealed an ensemble notable for sensitive musicianship, virtuosic panache, and stylish performances. (San Francisco Classical Voice) 

Pavel Steidl, guitar (Czech Republic)
  Never was a standing ovation more richly deserved (Classical Guitar)

Gideon Whitehead, guitar (USA)
  Whitehead demonstrated his ability to bring out subtle inner details and achieve a variety of voicings over a wide dynamic range (clevelandclassical.com)

Lecturers:

Colin Davin, guitar (USA)
  Mr Davin is the real thing, a player with a virtuoso's technique, a deeply expressive musicianship, and a probing imagination. (American Record Guide)

Joshia de Jonge, master guitar maker (Canada)
  If the term "Child prodigy" can be applied to luthiers, Joshia de Jonge certainly qualifies. (Acoustic Guitar)

Nigel North, lute (England)
  Perhaps he is the greatest performer on the instrument of all time (Birmingham Post)