GFA Spotlight Series, vol. 1, compositions

The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is committed to cultivating Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access in the international guitar community and in the repertoire published for the instrument. Many factors, including a composer’s race, gender, and sexual orientation, have historically created a narrow representation of our community in the classical music canon. For this first volume of the GFA Spotlight Series, the GFA commissioned seven new works by composers of color. The second volume of this series will follow with seven transcriptions of existing pieces by composers of color. These commissioned pieces and transcriptions were premiered by students in the GFA Mentorship Program in 2021.
With this collection, the guitar takes a step towards a more inclusive and representative repertoire that nurtures creativity and inclusion for generations of guitarists to come. Growing the canon enriches the musical experiences of our entire international guitar community through exposure to diverse perspectives and voices, complementing the invaluable lessons we learn from the existing contributions of pieces that form the canon.

compositions by Angel Lam, Bosba Panh, Clarice Assad, Jerod Tate, João Luiz, Sérgio Assad and Thomas Flippin.