Long Island Guitar Festival

April 26 to 30, 2023

Harris Becker, Director

"The "Long Island" in the festival title clearly refers to its location and origins, rather than to its scope." – New York Times, March 2014

Long Island Guitar Festival 2023 is dedicated to the memory of Molly Farber.. a beautiful person, a lover of life, music and nature

Welcome to the Long Island Guitar Festival Web site.

Eclectic and International, the 31st annual Long Island Guitar Festival will be held April 26 to 30, 2023 at the Setauket Presbyterian Church in Setauket, NY. (Directions)

The 2023 Guitar Festival will be presented in partnership with the Setauket Presbyterian Church and the Oberon Foundation.

To date scheduled performers include Berta Rojas, Laura Snowden, João Luiz & Friends Quartets, Boyd Meets Girl (Rupert Boyd, guitar & Laura Metcalf, cello), Harris Becker, James Erickson, Laura Lessard, Octavio Deluchi, Gabriele Leite, Eduardo Gutterres, and Penelope Shvarts, winner of the 2022 LIGF High School Classical Guitar Competition.

Other musicians include Maureen Hynes, Veronica Salas, Jeffrey Marcus, Bradley Bosenbeck, Frank Cassara, Tammy Hensrud, The Hofstra University Chamber Choir, David Fryling, Noby Ishida, Clara Reeves, Diva Goodfriend-Koven, and Dale Stuckenbruck.

Scheduled Master Classes will be given by Laura Snowden and João Luiz.

Ensembles scheduled to perform include the NJMEA HS Honors Guitar Orchestra, New Jersey Guitar Orchestra, and the James Madison HS Guitar Ensemble.

Members of The Hofstra University Chamber Choir include Robyn Adams, Theodore Bazin, Amélie Buron, Elizabeth Byrne, Isa Cardenas, Rose Chesna, Samir Chopra, Calob Congdon, Casey Cormier, Julia Dasey, Gianna Defilippis, Ryan Demino, Marisa Drzewiecki, Mason Egdall, Annalisa Emmett, Anthony France, Jack Goodman, Mackenzie Hanna, James Kelly, Zachary Kiekhaefer, Yelena Koos, Michelle Landerer, Amanda Larsen, Zachary Lavoie, Duhan Lee, Evan Licari, Joseph Maiello, Evan Montemayor, Toni Nargentino, Didi Paunetto, Alison Pensa, Lucas Pepin, Sophie Roy, Christian Scala, Aidan Schroh, Rebekah Strohmyer, Kyla Surajbali, Matthew Trani, Jade Vila and John Paul West.

Featured events at Festival 2023 will include the US premieres of pieces for large ensembles – Trois Rêves composed by Laura Snowden and Crépuscule Rustique by Canadian composer Michael Spiroff.

In addition, luthier Brian Itzkin will lead a discussion/Q&A on Guitar Building in Granada, Spain. He will have several guitars to show.

In 2023 the first-place winner of the National High School Classical Guitar Competition will receive a guitar donated by Long Island classical guitar luthier Brian Itzkin – www.itzkinguitars.com. Brian was featured recently in an article in Acoustic Guitar.

Festival Schedule Ticket Information

Harris Becker – "Mr. Becker's presentation of these pieces was a study in fluidity and grace…"
– Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Counci

National High School Classical Guitar Competition

In 2023 the Festival will once again present its National High School Classical Guitar Competition, open to high school students of all 50 states.
Find out more...

Master Classes and Workshops for Guitarists and Performers

The Long Island Guitar Festival continues its tradition of presenting excellence in guitar performance and pedagogy.
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Ensemble Showcases

Through its history the Long Island Guitar Festival has featured ensembles representing high schools from the tri-state area and other states including Virginia, North Carolina and Florida.
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Festival 2022...

Read about Festival 2022...

The 30th annual Long Island Guitar Festival was held May 11 to 15, 2022 at the Setauket Presbyterian Church in Setauket, NY. (Directions)

The 2022 Guitar Festival was presented in partnership with the Setauket Presbyterian Church and the Oberon Foundation.

Performers included David Russell (first Long Island Concert), Benjamin Verdery, Beijing Guitar Duo, Evan Taucher, Harris Becker & Friends, Laura Lessard, Michael Roberts, James Erickson, Paul Cesarczyk, Chinnawat Themkumkwun, Olson/De Cari Duo, Jeffrey Marcus, Maureen Hynes, Rie Schmidt, Alan Morris, and Samantha Clarke.

Ensembles that performed included the NJMEA HS Honors Guitar Orchestra, the New Jersey Guitar Orchestra, the Susan E. Wagner HS Guitar Ensemble, and the Metropolitan Guitar Academy.

Featured events at Festival 2022 included two world premieres composed by Carlo Domeniconi and the "live" premiere of New York Sketches composed by Sérgio Assad.

Festival Sponsorship and Advertising

In recent years The Long Island Guitar Festival has been funded in part by grants from The Augustine Foundation, The D'Addario Foundation, Murphy's Music & Violin Shop, Savarez, Alhambra Guitars, The John P. McGrath Fund of LIU and the LIU Post Department of Music.

Learn how you can make a tax-deductible contribution to the Long Island Guitar Festival or how your company or organization can become a Festival sponsor or advertise in the Festival program book distributed at all Festival events. For more information about making a contribution or sponsoring or advertising, e-mail us at LIGFestival@aol.com.

View the 2023 Program Book.

2023 Program Book

Please continue to visit these pages for further information about the 31st annual Long Island Guitar Festival as it becomes available.

Since 1993 the Long Island Guitar Festival has proudly presented such distinguished guitarists and performers as:

Howard Alden • Alexandra Yannis Guitar Duo • Artesian Guitar Quartet (Harris Becker, James Erickson, Laura Lessard, Michael Roberts) • Amaryllis Project • Arvo Duo (Joenne Dumitrascu, violin & Ming-Jui Liu, guitar) • Denis Azabagic • Douglas Back • Manuel Barrueco • Rebecca Baulch • Harris Becker • Beijing Guitar Duo • Gene Bertoncini • Pasquale Bianculli • Bishop McGuinness HS Guitar Ensemble • Gunnlaugur Björnsson • Brentwood HS Guitar Ensemble • Winslow Browning • Jorge Caballero • Samantha Clarke • Thibault Cauvin • Cavatina Duo • Centreville HS Wildcat Guitar Ensemble • Paul Cesarczyk • Dennis Cinelli • Amanda Cook • Curtis HS Guitar Ensemble • John Dearman • Kevin Dolen • Carlo Domeniconi • Roland Dyens • Jérôme Ducharme • Cem Duruöz • Mark Elf • Eden Stell Guitar Duo • James Erickson • Eduardo Fernández • Hilary Field • Eliot Fisk • Paul Galbraith • Boris Gaquere • Pia Gazarek-Offermann • Derek Gripper • Guitar Trilogy • Frederic Hand • Freedom HS Guitar Ensemble • Olav Chris Henriksen • Adam Holzman • Maureen Hynes • Rene Izquierdo • William Kanengiser • Koh Kazama • Dennis Koster • Laura Lessard • David Leisner • Michael Lorimer • Jeffrey Marcus • Mare Duo • Mark Marino • Ronn McFarlane • Metropolitan Guitar Academy • Chieli Minucci • Ben Moran • Howard Morgen • Alan Morris • New Jersey Guitar Orchestra • NJMEA HS Honors Guitar Orchestra • Newman & Oltman Duo • Huy Thanh Nguyen • Pat O'Brien • Olson/De Cari Duo • Matt Palmer • Bucky and John Pizzarelli • POBJFK Guitar Nation • Simon Powis • Gyan Riley • Michael Roberts • Berta Rojas • David Russell • Hayley Savage • Rie Schmidt • Cecilia Siqueira • Raphaella Smits • David Starobin • Ernesto Tamayo • Evan Taucher • Scott Tennant • Saigon Guitar Quartet (Nguyen Thanh Huy, Nguyen Tri Doan, Huynh Ba Tho, Tran Hoai Phuong) • Stony Brook Guitar Quartet (Jose Maldonado, Barkely Heuser, Yannis Petridis,James Kerr) • Laura Snowden • Chinnawat Themkumkwun • Threefifty Duo • Robert Trent • Gohar Vardanyan • Benjamin Verdery • VIDA Guitar Quartet • Ana Vidovic • Jason Vieaux • Frank Vignola • Susan E. Wagner HS Guitar Ensemble • Weaver Academy • Jack Wilkins • Jerry Willard • Williams-Etheridge Duo (John Williams and John Etheridge) • Andrew York • John Zaccari • Fabio Zanon

"Long Island Guitar Festival...a very impressive concert lineup"
– Classical Guitar Magazine about Festival 2016

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To learn more about the history of the Long Island Guitar Festival, please visit these past Festival Web pages:

2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1995 (Flyer), 1994 (Flyer), 1993 (Flyer)

Note: Some of the links on these pages may not work. 30 years on the Internet is a long time.

Last update:November 25, 2023

Long Island Guitar Festival

April 26 to 30, 2023

Harris Becker, Director

Long Island Guitar Festival 2023. 31st Year

2023 Festival Artists and Performers