Janet Agostino is a performer and teacher in Sydney, Australia, with a career that spans four
decades and reflects a sustained contribution to both music and education. She holds
degrees in Learner Diversity, a Master of Gifted Education, a Fellowship from the Trinity
College in London in guitar performance, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Practice.
She is Director of the University of New South Wales Guitar Ensemble and guest conductor
of the Sydney Classical Guitar Society Orchestra. Janet was a founding member of the
Sydney Guitar Quartet, a group which performed extensively throughout Australia over a
ten-year period, the first guitar quartet in Australia at the time. Janet performs as ‘Duo
Agostino’ with husband Raffaele Agostino and the Duo joins with colleague,
guitarist/composer Richard Charlton, as ‘Sydney Guitar Trio’. With a dual focus on the
development of the guitar as an ensemble instrument, and presenting and recording
Australian works for this genre, the Duo and Trio have performed and taught nationally and
internationally, including in the U.K., U.S.A., Argentina, Italy, Vietnam and New Zealand.
Janet has also organised and tutored at the annual Sydney Guitar Summer Schools over the
last twenty-five years. She enjoys collaborating with other instrumentalists, arranging
bespoke works for mixed-instrumental ensembles. Janet’s PhD thesis, “‘Transcription’ as
Cultural Translation: Transforming horizons for the classical guitar ensemble” investigates
the gap between transcription theory and practice, and it includes a portfolio of new works
transformed for guitars in ensemble. Three of these works are published by Les Productions
d’OZ.
Janet Agostino