Guitarraganza

All festival events will take place in Snider Recital Hall. Anything open to the public will also be live-streamed on the Stanislaus State Department of Music YouTube Channel (direct links included below).

Thursday, October 24

• 4:00pm Olga Amerkina-Vera: Composing for the Guitar
• 7:30pm Guest Artist concert: Jeremy Garcia, Flamenco Guitar

Friday, October 25

• 4:00pmJeremy Garcia: Flamenco Guitar Workshop
• 7:30pm Guest Artist concert: Kithara  (Olga Amerkina-Vera & Fernand Vera)

Saturday, October 26

• 3:00pm Fernand Vera: Masterclass
• 7:30pm Gala Concert featuring: Jeremy Garcia, Kithara, Yuri Liberzon, and festival participants.

Evening Concerts

Non-participants must purchase tickets to attend the evening concerts. Advance ticket reservation is strongly recommended. Limited seats are available..

The 2024 Guitarraganza Festival individual registration.

• $30

Complete Competition Entry Form before October 18 at 11:59 p.m.

Entry includes entry to all masterclasses and invitational concerts.

All participants are required to complete Release of Liability Web Form

Event Registration

Jeremy Garcia

Yuri Liberzon

Born in Novosibirsk, Russia and raised in Israel. Classical guitarist Yuri Liberzon has been recognized for his impressive technical ability and musicality. Based on his achievements in the music field United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has granted Yuri Liberzon ‘Alien of Extraordinary Ability’ United States Permanent Residency.
Mr. Liberzon has given countless number of concerts across the United States. Notable concerts venues include: 92nd Street Y in New York, Florida State University, Oregon State University, Santa Clara University, Marlow Guitar Series in Maryland, Murov Music College in Novosibirsk, Russia; Legion of Honor in San Francisco, Lesher Center in Walnut Creek, and many guitar societies. Mr. Liberzon has collaborated and performed in concerts with many renown musicians including guitarists Grisha Goryachev, Patrick O’Connell, Piotr Pakhomkin and flutist Josué Casillas. Orchestra performances with Diablo Symphony Orchestra and Tahoe Symphony Orchestra. Chamber music with Gold Coast Chamber Players, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra and Quartet San Francisco.
Media appearances include: Capital Public Radio of Sacramento, Classical Guitar Magazine, Kol HaMusica (National Classical Music Radio Station of the Israel Broadcasting Authority), KUHF (NPR Houston), KUSF San Francisco, San Francisco Chronicle, Soundboard Magazine and WDR German Television Network.
Mr. Liberzon has released three albums in collaboration with Grammy winning sound engineer and producer Nahuel Bronzini: Ascension, 2015; ¡Acentuado! (Soundset Recordings), 2017 and ‘ Violin Sonatas by J.S. Bach, 2020 (Laudable Records). In August 2022, Yuri will release an album of music by Konstantin Vassiliev on the under guitar worksseries of the Naxos label. This will be 70 minutes of music including world premieres commissioned by Mr. Liberzon.
Mr. Liberzon has transcribed music of Domenico Scarlatti and Johann Sebastian Bach for guitar. His transcriptions have been published in SoundBoard magazine and are distributed in Europe by Bergmann Edition.
Mr. Liberzon is an avid teacher. He has prepared students admitted into some of the most prestigious music schools: Juilliard Pre-College, Peabody Conservatory and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Mr. Liberzon has been a judge at numerous music competitions such as Beatty Classical Guitar Competition, Junior Bach Festival, Sierra Nevada Classical Guitar Competition and San Francisco Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition. He has given masterclasses at Florida State University, Katy Guitar Guild, Murov Music College in Novosibirsk, Russia and Portland State University.
While in Israel, Mr. Liberzon studied with Maestro Yaron Hasson for 6 years. During that period Mr. Liberzon has been a multiple time recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarships and grants. In year 2000, Mr. Liberzon came to the United States to study at the Peabody Conservatory with world renown guitarist Manuel Barrueco. Mr. Liberzon has received Bachelor of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory as well as Master of Music degree from Yale University. He was awarded full scholarships from both Peabody and Yale where he studied with two of the world leading guitar masters: Manuel Barrueco and Benjamin Verdery.
Mr. Liberzon plays on guitars by Gil Carnal and Robert Ruck with Royal Classics strings.

Kithara Duo

Acclaimed for its “touching musicality, elegant presentation, and seamless coordination” by Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, Kithara Duo (Olga Amelkina-Vera and Fernand Vera) are celebrating 22 years of playing together.  The duo has performed in Europe, South America, and throughout the US since their founding in 2002 at the University of North Texas. Their playing has been described as “state-of-the-art” by American Record Guide, which also stated “if you haven’t discovered them, you should.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune praised the ensemble for its “admirably seamless level of musicality and technique.”

Kithara Duo’s critically acclaimed debut CD, Beings, was released by Soundset Recordings in 2011. The duo is home to an international award-winning composer, Olga Amelkina-Vera, and their first album is a world premiere recording of her music for guitar duo. Olga is hailed by Soundboard as “at the very forefront of composers writing for the guitar today.” Her works have been called “magical” (Soundboard), “the discovery of the evening” (Sarasota Herald-Tribune), “brilliant” (The Royal Gazette), “incandescent” and “hypnotic” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram). In addition to Olga’s original compositions, Fernand and Olga have contributed to guitar duo repertoire through their arrangements and transcriptions. Their second CD, Lingua Franca (2015), features their arrangements of music from the Renaissance to the 20th century. The duo is also featured on Ka Ao: Works for Guitar (2022), an album that features Olga’s guitar compositions performed by a star roster of artists, including three tracks recorded by Kithara Duo.

Kithara Duo have been invited to perform and teach at numerous festivals and universities throughout the country, such as the Guitar Foundation of America Convention and Competition, St. Louis Classical Guitar Society Great Artist Series, Utah Classical Guitar Society, Seattle Classic Guitar Society, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Guitar Sarasota, Texas A&M International Guitar Symposium, Florida State University Guitar Festival, and many other venues. Kithara Duo appeared as soloists with New Texas Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere performance of Olga’s original work Étoiles Par Grand Vent, which she orchestrated for guitar duo with symphony orchestra.  The ensemble enjoys outreach presentations, and has been hailed as “great communicators to both children and adults” (St. Louis Classical Guitar). 

To learn more about the duo, please visit kitharaduo.com and follow them on Instagram @kitharaduo, Facebook.com/kitharaduo, and on YouTube @kitharaduo.