Education and outreach are key parts of the Guitar Society of Toronto’s mandate. We are committed to enriching Toronto’s cultural life and building awareness of classical music and classical guitar. We do this by providing performance opportunities for students and aspiring professionals, helping outstanding young guitarists pursue their musical development, creating a meeting place for guitar aficionados, organizing free concerts for schools and hospitals, and giving free concert tickets to people who couldn’t otherwise attend.
Investment in Students
The Guitar Society supports learning through classical music and classical guitar in a variety of ways as follows:
Masterclasses
The Guitar Society supports the development of up-and-coming guitarists by sponsoring masterclasses at the University of Toronto for university level students.
Kenneth G. Mills Foundation – Performance Outreach
We are particularly excited by our Performance Outreach Program, which funds guitar concerts and workshops in local schools. This program is generously sponsored by the Kenneth G. Mills Foundation.
These concerts benefit both performer and students, as they provide valuable performance experience to aspiring professional guitarists and give young audiences a taste of live classical music played on guitar. Concerts are presented free of charge to the school, and the performer is paid a modest fee.
If you would like to be considered as a performer for this program, or know of an organization which would benefit from a concert, please contact the coordinator at info@guitarsocietyoftoronto.com.
Commission
The Guitar Society of Toronto has commissioned a work from Dr. Daniel Mehdizadeh to be performed by Naoko Tsujita (marimba) and Daniel Ramjattan (guitar). It will be premiered at the 21st Century Guitar Conference in Indiana in 2022.
The Guitar Society has renewed its commitment to commissioning new music for guitar, placing a focus on this goal during our June fundraising campaign.
Urban Outreach
The Guitar Society of Toronto provides free tickets to each of its International Performing Artist Concerts so that people who could not normally attend classical music concerts can enjoy a taste of the classical guitar. Please contact info@guitarsocietyoftoronto.com.
Free Noon Hour Concerts At St. Andrew’s
In cooperation with Daniel Bickle, the music director of St. Andrew’s, this new initiative began during the 2019-20 season. These noon-time classical music performances take place Fridays from September to April; the Guitar Society of Toronto sponsors three concerts given by professional guitarists. St. Andrew’s Church, King and Simcoe Sts. in downtown Toronto. Sign up to our email list to receive notifications.
