Lily Afshar
BIO:An extraordinary artist, Lily Afshar has grounded her career on a strong foundation of excellent formal education, upon which she has built an exceptional record of innovative achievements. With a bachelor's degree from The Boston Conservatory, she earned her Master of Music at The New England Conservatory and went on to study at Florida State University, where she became thefirst woman in the world to be awarded the degree ofDoctor of Music in guitar performance. She pursued greater proficiency with summer studies at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts and the Aspen Music Festival, advanced training at Gargnano, Italy, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, and master classes with Andrés Segovia at the University of Southern California. Since becoming a tenured professor and head of the guitar program at the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music, Afshar has received the 2000 Eminent Faculty Award, and in 2011 she was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award from The Boston Conservatory. She conducts master classesworldwide and has released six instructional DVD’s “Classical Guitar Secrets”, Vols. I & II for beginner to Intermediate guitarists, and six instructional DVD’s “Classical Guitar Collection”, Vols. I & II for Intermediate to Advanced guitarists. Both are released with Guitarcontrol.com.She also produced a DVD entitled “Virtuoso Guitar”featuring live performances and an interview with Mel Bay.As a performing guitarist, she has won a top prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Grand Prize in the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, the Orville H. Gibson Award for Best Female Classical Guitarist, and a National Endowment for the Arts Recording Award, among others, and she was chosen as an “Artistic Ambassador” to Africa for the United States Information Agency. With her passion for going beyond the traditional guitar repertoire, contemporary classical composers have sought after her for creative collaborations resulting in notable world premieres, including works by Carlo Domeniconi,John Baur,Reza Vali, Garry Eister, Gerard Drozd, Loris Chobanian,Arne Mellnas, Kamran Ince, Barbara Kolb, Marilyn Ziffrin, David Kechley, and Salvador Brotons.Most of these can be heard on her seven CDs. Her first recording, “24 Caprichos de Goya, Op. 195′′(1994) composed by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco led her to develop a unique multimedia concert combining performance and commentary along with avisualpresentation of Francisco Goya’s satirical black and white etchings which inspired the guitar pieces. She still receives special requests to present this unique program today. PRESS:A delicious blend of Eastern and Western flavors.
- Katherine Reese Newton Salt Lake Tribune A first class addition to the Afshar catalogue...in terms of quality control, Afshar maintains the highest standards, always generating upmarket fare and often with a sizeable dose of original thought. - Paul Fowles Classical Guitar Magazine Afshar’s fluent technique boasts a seamless legato, strong projection, rhythmic precision and a broad tonal palette, all tempered by a free, improvisatory style - William Yeoman Classical Source Draws together the seemingly disparate spheres of classical guitar and world music... An endlessly rewarding release from one of the 21st century guitar's most individual and creative figures... - Paul Fowles Classical Guitar Magazine Read Full Press |
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