For release, April 25, 2011
For press information, contact Carol Morse (901) 678-2279

Performances by virtuoso classical guitarists Lily Afshar, Edoardo Catemario, and Ernesto Tamayo  will highlight the Second Annual Memphis International Guitar Festival at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. The event, which will be held June 3-5, 2011 will include concerts, student showcase, master classes, and a competition.  The festival is sponsored by the Augustine Foundation and hosted by the  Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music.

Participants in the classical guitar competition will perform on two days and will be judged by the event’s guest artists.The winners of the competition will receive cash prizes. Competition entry fee is $20.

All events will be in Harris Concert Hall, 3775 Central Avenue on the U of M campus. The 3-day pass to all events is $75; a 1-day pass is $30.

General admission to the evening concerts for individuals not registered for the festival are $20. Concert tickets are not available online and must be purchased at the box office. For ticket information, call (901) 678-1651.

For a complete schedule of events, visit the Memphis International Guitar Festival website.

About the Artists

Festival Director Lily Afshar, professor of classical guitar at the University of Memphis, is “one of the world’s foremost classical guitarists” according to Public Radio International. Honored with the 2000 Orville H. Gibson Award as Best Female Classical Guitarist, she has also won the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition and was Artistic Ambassador to Africa for the United States Information Agency.She is head of the University of Memphis guitar program where she received the Board of Visitors Eminent Faculty Award and the Alumni Association Distinguished Teaching and Research Award. Her four CDs and DVDs have attracted critical acclaim.
Afshar will performat the U of M on June 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Edoardo Catemario passes from the romantic repertoire to the baroque, to contemporary music with ease. A native of Naples, Italy, he has won several national and international competition first prizes including the prestigious “Andres Segovia” guitar competition in Almunecar (Granada) and the Alessandria International Competition. He performs in concerts, broadcasts and major festivals in countries throughout the world with orchestras such as the Wiener Akademie, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de Andorra, Accademia Bizantina, Orchestra della Toscana, Orchestra Filarmonica Italiana and Orchestra di Stato del Messico.
Catemario will perform at the U of M on June 4 at 7:30 p.m.

Ernesto Tamayo has toured extensively throughout North and South America, Asia and Europe. He is one of the most accomplished guitarists of his generation and is often praised for his brilliant technique, artistry and his exceptionally warm tone and expressive interpretations on the guitar. He has participated in the Fourth International Guitar Festival in Cuernavaca, Mexico, the Sixth International Guitar Festival in Long Island, New York and the "Classical Guitarists of the World" concert series in Fullerton, California, among others. He has performed in numerous concert series and with orchestras in the United States and abroad. He recently completed his 6th CD, which features his compositions for guitar and orchestra.

Tamayo will perform at the U of M on June 5 at 7:30 p.m.