Youth Guitarathon: Saturday, May 18, 2024
This event will celebrate up-and-coming young guitar students of various styles, ages (6 to 21), and levels.
The Youth Guitarathon will begin at 7:00 pm on Saturday, May 18. We will present 20 young performers — soloists, one duo and one quartet — in a 90-minute concert with one intermission. Tickets are $10 and will be available at the box office on the evening of the concert, starting at 6:30 pm. A single ticket will be good for up to a party of six people.
Performers were chosen by audition on Saturday, April 20th, at the Brady Education Center on the University of St. Thomas’s St. Paul campus. It was not a competitive event—no one was or will be declared a “winner” in the Youth Guitarathon. The auditioning panel consisted of experienced judges, all professional guitarists from different backgrounds. Criteria was based on musicianship, skill level, stage presence, and diversity of style. Every young guitarists who auditioned received a comment sheet from the judges. As always, we made every effort to ensure that the auditions took place in a friendly, supportive environment while providing the players with valuable, positive feedback.
For many years the Minnesota Guitar Society has presented guitarathons. In fact, our first concert was a guitarathon. These have primarily featured adult, professional-level performers in various styles. When students have participated they have always been well received. But performances focused only on student guitarists have been limited. Most often, to perform in public as a student means stressful competitions intended for only classical guitarists. The Youth Guitarathon is different from, and broader than, that. Our goal is to nurture and encourage all young guitarists.