With Maximo Diego Pujol
and Victor Villadangos
Friday, April 25 – Sunday, April 27, 2025
St. Andrew’s Church
73 Simcoe St., Toronto
Concerts • Guitar Orchestra • Open Mic • Luthier/Vendor Fair • Lectures • Masterclass • Brunch with the Artists

Full Weekend Schedule
All events except Sunday Brunch take place at St. Andrew’s Church, 73 Simcoe St., Toronto.
Friday, April 25
12:10pm Friday Noon-time Recital – FREE
Performers: Adam Batstone, Bahar Ossareh, Shawn Pickup. Program will include Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Barrios, Faure and more
7:30pm Future Stars of the Guitar Concert
Featuring Seven DMA students from the University of Toronto
Matt Aasen, James Baker, Carmine Coccimiglio, Navid Niknejad, Luis Medina, Daniel Turner, Jelica Mijanović
Tickets $40 Adults | $35 Seniors | $20 Students
At the Door $45 | $30 | $25
Purchase Tickets for this Concert (Included with Full Weekend Pass)
Saturday, April 26
9:30am – 5:00pm Luthier Fair (FREE)
10:30am – 11:30am – Workshop Presentation – Simon Farintosh
Tickets $25 Adults | $20 Students
At the Door $30 | $25
Purchase Tickets for this Workshop (Included with Full Weekend Pass)
Workshop Details
Anecdotal evidence suggests that guitarists entering undergraduate music programs struggle with sight-
reading more than instrumentalists of other disciplines. Researchers have found that 80% of middle and high school guitar students report finding reading music notation to be very difficult while only 20% of band and orchestra students expressed difficulties. Several factors may contribute to this, including the influence of popular music, guitar instruction culture, complexity of the guitar fretboard, and pattern recognition skills. This workshop will present several basic exercises involving rhythm, visualization, and position reading on the guitar. Participants can expect to read a series of exercises that are progressive in difficulty, beginning with rhythm exercises on an open string. Elements such as pitch and harmony will be introduced one-by-one, applying a spiral curriculum framework that is easy and satisfying to follow.
Simon Farintosh is currently a student in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at the University of Toronto.
Here, his research is centred around devising sight-reading curriculum for undergraduate students in guitar
performance. He is currently running the guitar program at the University of Victoria.
11:30am – 1:00pm Luthier Room browsing and Lunch break
1:00pm – 1:45pm Luthier Showcase – FREE
2:00pm – 3:30pm History of Tango – Maximo Diego Pujol
Tickets $25 Adults | $20 Students
At the Door $30 | $25
Purchase Tickets for this Workshop (Included with Full Weekend Pass)
Presentation Details
A journey through the history of tango from its beginnings in the marginal neighborhoods of Buenos Aires to the present as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”, according to UNESCO. Audition of historical recordings and live performances of the most important composers of the genre.
Máximo Diego Pujol is a composer, performer and teacher whose work is inspired by the musical heritage of his native Argentina. He draws on the music of the region around the Río de la Plata, as well as from the different musical forms found in other parts of Argentina. Pujol’s extensive output is widely acknowledged to have enriched the repertoire for guitar. He has strived for a fusion of traditional Argentine Tango and formal academic concepts. Today Máximo Diego Pujol’s compositions are performed and recorded throughout the world.
3:45pm – Open Mic and Guitar Orchestra (Free)
7:30 p.m. Concert – Maximo Diego Pujol and Victor Villadangos
Tickets $75 Adults | $65 Seniors | $40 Students
At the Door: $80 | $70 | $45
Purchase Tickets for this Concert (Included with Full Weekend Pass)
Sunday, April 27
10:30am Brunch with the artists for registered participants only – $45
1:00pm – 4:00pm Master classes with Maximo Diego Pujol and Victor Villadangos
Tickets $25 Adults | $20 Students
At the Door: $30 | $25
Purchase Tickets for this Masterclass (Included with Full Weekend Pass)
Full Weekend Pricing
Full Weekend Registration with Brunch $210
Full Weekend Registration without Brunch $165
Student Weekend Registration with brunch $145
Student Weekend Registration without brunch $100
About the Artists
Maximo Diego Pujol

Born in Buenos Aires, Máximo Diego Pujol graduated from the Juan José Castro Conservatory with the Superior Guitar Professor title. His extensive education included instrumental and interpretation studies with Maestros Abel Carlevaro and Leo Brouwer, as well as harmony and composition studies with Maestro Leónidas Arnedo.
He has received numerous first prizes and distinctions, both as a performer and as a composer. He is permanently invited to participate in America, Europe and Oceania in series and festivals dedicated to his instrument. Since 1995, he has been Professor in Guitar at the Buenos Aires Superior Conservatory of Music Manuel de Falla.
Pujol’s works are inspired by the musical heritage of his native Argentina, especially from the music forms of the Río de la Plata, as well as from the different music forms of the rest of the country. The final purpose is the fusion of this cultural base and the European academic formal thinking.
His extensive production has remarkably enriched the repertoire for the guitar and has gained the respect and the acknowledgment of the music world. His works are published by important publishers in Europe, Canada and United States and are performed and recorded by guitarists and chamber and orchestral groups all around the world.
Victor Villadangos

Also a native of Buenos Aires, Víctor Villadangos graduated from the Juan José Castro Conservatory with the degree Profesor Superior de Guitarra under the tutelage of María Herminia Antola de Gómez Crespo. Since 1980, Mr. Villadangos has performed extensively, both as a soloist and in chamber music ensembles, having appeared on the stage of all of the major concert halls and theaters of Buenos Aires and more than one hundred different cities throughout Argentina. Internationally, he has concertized in Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, France, Canada, the US, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay,Israel, South Africa and Japan.
Twelve solo CD recordings, as well as his participation in numerous recordings of classical and popular music, give testimony to his prolific activity in the recording studio, featuring world premiere recordings of numerous works, many of which are dedicated to him. In 2000, Mr. Villadangos joined the roster of artists recording with the Naxos International Record label. His first recording, Guitar Music of Argentina, includes works by Argentine composers: Carlos Guastavino, Juan Falú, Máximo Pujol, Héctor Ayala, Walter Heinze and Narciso Saúl. The second, Tango Argentino, features tangos by Piazzolla, Gardel, Troilo and Mores, among others. His third recording with Naxos will include works by C. Guastavino, M. Pujol, S. Natali, M. Coronel, J.Santillán, and J. Ferrer and of his own authorship.
Victor Villadangos has performed with prominent musical organizations including Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Cuba, Orquesta Filarmónica de Buenos Aires, Orquesta Filarmónica de Montevideo (Uruguay), Orquesta Sinfónica de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Orquesta Sinfónica Juan de Dios Filiberto, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Ramat Gan (Tel Aviv), Orquesta de Cámara Mayo, Orquesta de Cámara de Morón, Orquesta de Cámara de La Plata, Orquesta Académica del Teatro Argentino (La Plata), Orquesta de Cámara Juvenil de Buenos Aires, Orquesta de Cámara Scherzo, the String Quartet of the Universidad Nacional of La Plata, Buenos Aires String Quartet, the Artave string quartet (Portugal) among others.
Since 1990, Mr. Villadangos has given master classes and seminars throughout Argentina, including Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy, Santa Fe, Corrientes, San Luis, Puerto Madryn, Mendoza, San Juan, Mar del Plata, Colón and Victoria (Entre Ríos) and abroad in Rosario and Curitiba (Brazil), Bergen (Norway), Innsbruck (Austria), Frankfurt, Iserlohn and Coesfeld (Germany), Torino and Livorno (Italy) , Oliveira do Bairro and Santo Tirso (Portugal), Stratford (Canada) and Tel Aviv (Israel). Currently, he is Professor of Guitar at the Juan José Castro and Manuel de Falla Conservatories in Buenos Aires In 1999, he was awarded the Diploma al Mérito (Merit Award) by the KONEX Foundation for his artistic endeavors and accomplishments over the last decade.
Simon Farintosh

Simon Farintosh is an award-winning guitarist, composer, and educator based in Victoria, BC. Named one of CBC’s ‘30 Under 30 Classical Musicians’ in 2023, he is known for his unconventional programming choices, connecting with audiences by integrating the classical guitar with more contemporary musical forms such as electronica and jazz. Simon is currently a music performance instructor at the University of Victoria, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate guitar students.
Simon studied with Dr. Alexander Dunn at the University of Victoria, where he earned his Bachelor of Music Degree in 2018. Simon’s musical pursuits later took him to Milwaukee, WI, where he completed a Master’s Degree at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2020. Here, he was a student and teaching assistant to Rene Izquierdo, a renowned Cuban virtuoso and revered pedagogue. Currently, Simon is in the finishing stages of a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, where he is a student of Jorge Caballero and Dr. Jeffrey McFadden.
Simon’s performances have garnered him top awards in various national and international competitions, including 1st Prize at the 2018 Northwest Guitar Festival in Spokane, WA. As a composer, he was recently awarded First Prize in the 2022 Ottawa Guitar Society Composition Competition for his original piece ‘Distant Light.’ He is a six-time recipient of the British Columbia Arts Council Award, and has been a featured performer for organizations such as the Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival, Victoria Conservatory of Music Summer Guitar Intensive, The Classical Guitar Society of Tri-Cities, Madison Classical Guitar Society, Victoria Guitar Society, Ottawa Guitar Society, Guitar Society of Toronto, and Higher Ground Music Festival.
Matt Aasen
Matt Aasen is a guitarist whose passion speaks through his music. Born in British Columbia, he moved to Toronto in 2022 to pursue graduate studies in jazz performance at the University of Toronto.
Throughout the two years of his degree, he cultivated the ability to interpret standard jazz repertoire on the solo guitar. Now, through his emphasis on improvisation and spontaneity, he transforms each performance into a unique conversation with the audience.
He is currently continuing his studies at the University of Toronto in the Doctor of Musical Arts program. Matt hopes to invite the listener in with a mix of humour, fun, and sincerity.
James Baker
James Baker is an award-winning guitarist from Mississauga, Ontario. He has taken top prizes in both national and international competitions, including second prize at GuitarFest West in 2024, first in the guitar division of the FCMF Emerging Artist competition and the Buffalo International Guitar Festival Showcase Competition. James holds a Bachelor of Music in Guitar Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Master of Music from the University of Toronto. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Toronto where he studies with Dr. Jeffrey McFadden and Jorge Caballero. James has had lessons and masterclasses with some of the world’s best guitarists, such as Judicaël Perroy, Rene Izquierdo, Daniella Rossi, Lorenzo Micheli, Mateo Mela and Zoran Dukic.
Carmine Coccimiglio
Carmine Coccimiglio is a guitarist from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. He has won local and provincial awards in various competitions. Carmine is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts Degree, studying under Jeffrey McFadden. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and Master of Music Degree from the University of Toronto. He has performed in masterclasses with Jason Vieux, Jérémy Jouve, Jorge Caballero, René Izquierdo, Irina Kulikova and Lucas Harris and has performed at the Guitar Society of Toronto. Carmine is also the conductor and director of the GST Community Orchestra.
Luis Angel Medina
One of Canada’s leading young classical guitarists, Luis Angel Medina is a distinguished performer, educator, and guitar researcher, known for his deep musicality, technical mastery, and exquisite sound. Founder of the Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival, he has performed worldwide, including prestigious venues like the Vancouver Playhouse, the Pyatt Hall, and Koerner Hall. Luis collaborates with esteemed musicians and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across Canada. He is currently teaching at Capilano University, adjudicating at local music festivals, holding community workshops, and being invited to teach at some of Canada’s leading institutions. Pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto, his research focuses on contemporary Mexican composer Julio Cesar Oliva and his relationship to the guitar.
Luis’s passion for music, his leadership in the Canadian community, and commitment to nurturing young talent, solidifies his role as a leading figure in Canada’s classical guitar community.
Jelica Mijanović
Canadian-Montenegrin guitarist Jelica Mijanović has garnered international recognition as a soloist, lecturer and adjudicator in over 40 international festivals and musicology conferences across a dozen countries. Jelica won eleven international guitar competitions, published two books, and received over thirty scholarships during her academic journey. Jelica was selected for the Atlantic Debut Tour in 2025 and is the most recent recipient of the Newcomer Artist Award from the Toronto Arts Foundation. She is the only guitarist from the University of Toronto who has won either the DMA Recital Competition or the doctoral Canada Graduate Scholarship. Jelica is fluent in French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, and Montenegrin.
Navid Niknejad
Having studied classical guitar in four countries, Navid Niknejad holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) from the University of Toronto, studying under Dr. Jeffrey McFadden Dr. Niknejad’s career began in his native Iran. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Tehran, studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and holds a Master of Music from California State University, studying with Martha Masters. He has participated in masterclasses with Álvaro Pierri, Judicaël Perroy, Marcin Dylla, Zoran Dukić, and Pavel Steidl, among others.
Dr. Niknejad has performed in various chamber music settings, and has taught in every country he has lived in. He served as a Teaching Assistant at the U of T, coached guitar ensembles, performance classes, and academic courses. He continues to teach students of all ages and skill levels.
Daniel Turner
Daniel Turner is an award winning Canadian guitarist, arranger and educator. He has a Master’s in Guitar Performance from the University of Toronto, a Bachelors of Musical Arts in Guitar Performance from the University of Windsor, and is now working towards his Doctorate in Musical Arts in Guitar Performance at U of T with Dr. Jeffrey MacFadden. His dissertation tackles the difficult issue of guitar fingerings, and he will create a guide modelled after those of fingering for the violin and piano.
As a soloist, Daniel has performed for the Guitar Society of Toronto, with the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, and placed in International Guitar Competitions. In addition to his work as a soloist, Daniel is also active in several duos, for which he often creates original arrangements. His duo with opera singer Amelia Daigle has performed in France, Spain, and Germany and has also given concerts for Western University and the University of Windsor.