Biography

Christopher Avilez is a classical guitarist with masters degree in Musical Interpretation from the FaM at the UNAM, the University of Alicante and the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC). He has made academic stays in the Klagenfurt’s, Conservatory Austria with Marco Tamayo and the Frankfurt am Main’s Conservatory Germany with Thomas Bittermann. With a successful international career, Christopher has participated as a soloist with different orchestras, such as the Chamber Orchestra of Morelos, the Mexican Orchestra of the Arts, the “Carlos Chávez” Orchestra, the Simphony Orchestra of Cuenca and the Simphony Orchestra of Cusco, only to mention a few. In the international arena he has been presented in Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Slovenia, Spain and United States. 

His discography is comprised of five productions: XIII Sonatas for guitar and figured bass by Juan Antonio de Vargas y Guzmán (Veracruz, 1776); Imágenes… memoria. Contemporary mexican music for flute and guitar; Concerto for Classic Guitar & Jazz Piano Trio by Claude Bolling. Fisis Quartet; Sudamérica Seductora. Latin American music Douze Études by Villa-Lobos, La Catedral by Barrios Mangoré, Sonata Op. 47 by Ginastera and Terruño by Sinesi; “Al pie de volcán” Unreleased work for solo guitar by Pedro Ximenez Abril y Tirado (1784-1856).

Christopher has been awarded with more than 20 prizes in national and international contests of classical guitar interpretation, and he has also been granted national and international incentives and fellowships, such as the State Youth Award (2013), Programa de Estímulo a la Creación y Desarrollo Artístico (2008, 2018), Programa de Creadores Escénicos (2011) and Programa de Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales (2019) from the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA).

Mexican guitarist Ricardo Saeb has performed in venues across Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. His performances have been described as “perfectly balanced,” “of an exquisite subtlety,” and “simply spectacular.” His tours have taken him to cities as diverse as Querétaro, Beirut, Ciudad Juárez, Boston, Dallas, and Córdoba. Ricardo Saeb has appeared as a guest artist at international festivals such as the Festival Internacional de Música de Morelia, Festival Internacional Chihuahua, Chicago’s Latin American Guitar Festival, among others.

Ricardo has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras in Mexico and the USA, as are the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orquesta Filarmónica del Estado de Chihuahua, University of Kentucky’s Philharmonia, and the Camerata di Sant’Antonio, to name a few. Ricardo has also collaborated with various artists and ensembles including tenor Manuel Castillo, the Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus, pianist Cliff Jackson, the Buffalo Chamber Players, and is featured in jazz saxophonist, Rusty Crutcher’s album, Romances Latinos.

Ricardo has a Doctorate degree in Musical Arts from the University of Kentucky, under the mentorship of professor Dieter Hennings. Ricardo recently moved to Buffalo, NY, where he founded and directs a community program through the Hispanic Heritage Council of WNY, called the HHC Guitar Initiative. The Initiative gives free guitar classes for children of underserved populations, and brings some of the best guitarists in the world to Buffalo in a free International Concert Series. Ricardo teaches privately at the Castellani-Andriaccio Guitar Studio, and he recently released his premier solo recording with Fleur de Son Classics, titled Zephyr.

Widely admired for her technique, artistry, and passionate performances Armenian-American guitarist Gohar Vardanyan has performed throughout the United States and internationally. She has performed for numerous guitar societies, universities, and arts organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and guitar societies in Seattle, San Francisco, Houston, Miami, and New York City to name a few. She has appeared on National Public Radio in the United States and Radio Nacional in Argentina. Ms. Vardanyan has performed with the Juilliard Opera Center and as a soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Panama National Symphony Orchestra. She has also been a guest artist at International Guitar Festivals in Sweden, Italy, Panama, Canada, and Mexico. She has been featured on the cover of Classical Guitar Magazine.

Guitar International Magazine has described her as “the complete package,” “with a musicality and emotional quality . . . that one would expect from someone much older than the young wunderkind. Not only is she able to draw you into her performances with engaging musical interpretations, but she has the technical facility that is required of any concert level guitarist.” Her playing has been described as “passionate,” “evocative,” and “virtuosic.” In addition to her performing career, Ms. Vardanyan is an avid teacher. She maintains a private studio in New York City and frequently teaches master classes and guitar technique workshops during her concert travels. Ms. Vardanyan is an author of four books from Mel Bay Publication and has an extensive list of instructional and guitar performance videos on both her own and the Strings by Mail channels on YouTube. Ms. Vardanyan began studying the guitar in her native Armenia at the age of five under the careful guidance of her father, Vardan Vardanyan.

At the age of eight, she gave her first public performance and also appeared on Armenian National Television. She was the first prize winner in the Armenian National Music Contest “Amadeus” and was accepted into the prestigious group, “New Names,” for talented young musicians. She performed in numerous concert venues in Armenia, including Komitas Chamber Music Hall and the Small Philharmonic Hall. She went on to study with Antigoni Goni at the Pre-College Division of the Juilliard School. In 2001, Ms. Vardanyan studied with John Wunsch at the Interlochen Arts Academy.

She was awarded the Young Artist’s Certificate from Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Harold Randolph Prize in performance from the Peabody Conservatory. Ms. Vardanyan holds a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School where she studied with Sharon Isbin, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music where she studied with Manuel Barrueco. She is also an alumna of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Gohar Vardanyan is sponsored by Strings by Mail

Guitar: 2012 Jean Rompré

Gohar Vardanyan

Presented in partnership with Internal Creations & Austin Classical Guitar

Saturday, April 10 at 9PM EST

Free, Donations Accepted

Magnificent virtuoso Gohar Vardanyan began playing guitar at the age of five in Armenia, and has since traveled the world dazzling audiences in some of the most storied venues. We can’t wait to share her extraordinary talent with you, live, from our spring residency in Brooklyn.

Fill out the RSVP form in the link and a confirmation with the link to view the performance will be sent to you via email. We’ll follow up with a reminder a few days before the event goes live on Youtube. All at-will donations made through this form will benefit Internal Creations’ guitar education programs.

GuitarFest 2021 at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., will be dedicated to the music of SUNY Distinguished Professor James Piorkowski, who heads the guitar program at the Fredonia School of Music.Austin Peay’s guitar studio will present a livestream performance of Mr. Piorkowski’s music on Wednesday, March 17, at 8:30 p.m.

The Fredonia Guitar Quartet – including Charles Mossey, a junior majoring in Music Performance from Saratoga; Dawson Hinds, junior, Music Education, Kirkwood; Ian Underwood, junior, Music Performance, Canandaigua; and Olivia Mescallado, first-year, Music Performance, East Northport – has been invited to participate in the concert. The quartet will perform the world premiere of Piorkowski’s “One Night in Romania.”

Click on the picture to access Live performance link of both guitar ensembles can be viewed at:

Grisha Goryachev

Presented in partnership with Internal Creations & Austin Classical Guitar

Saturday, March 13 at 9PM EST

Free, Donations Accepted

One of our all-time favorite musical geniuses returns to inspire us in ways we can only imagine.

Fill out the RSVP form in the link and a confirmation with the link to view the performance will be sent to you via email. We’ll follow up with a reminder a few days before the event goes live on Youtube. All at-will donations made through this form will benefit Internal Creations’ guitar education programs.

Rupert & Laura

Presented in partnership with Internal Creations & Austin Classical Guitar

Saturday, February 27 at 9PM EST

Free, Donations Welcome

This spring our ACG concert-streaming rig has traveled up to Brooklyn, New York, to broadcast some of the amazing artistry that’s been attracted from around the globe to one of the world’s greatest cities. We start things off with Australian husband and wife duo Rupert Boyd and Laura Metcalf sharing the divine sounds of cello and guitar.

Fill out the form in the RSVP link and a confirmation with the link to view the performance will be sent to you via email. We’ll follow up with a reminder a few days before the event goes live on Youtube. All at-will donations made through this form will benefit Internal Creations’ guitar education programs.