Our AGS Concert Events
AGS concerts are now held at the Faith Lutheran Church, 7500 De Soto Ave in Canoga Park, CA 91303.
Our first concert of 2025 was on Saturday, February 8th and featured guitarist Taso Comanescu and friends. These gifted artists delighted our audience with a wide variety of music, played with perfection!
FEBRUARY 8, 2025 8:00pm
Taso Comanescu, guitar
with guest artists Yoshika Masuda, cello and Anastasia Malliaras, soprano
In the first American Guitar Society concert of the 2025 season, guitarist Taso Comanescu took the stage at Faith Lutheran Church. It was an honor, he said, to be before an audience of accomplished guitarists. He would, in fact, so dominate the evening as to fill the assembled with awe.
In the first part of the program, he played pieces by Murcia, Ponce, Granados, Villa-Lobos, and Turina in the tradition of Segovia, doing so with technical mastery and evident joy, often pausing to relate the meaning of the music to him, for example, the influence and inspiration of Segovia. After an intermission, fellow musicians celloist Yoshika Masuda and soprano Anastasia Malliaras, came on stage, each to be accompanied by him in magnificent duets by Spanish and Latin composers and including one traditional Greek folk song. Comanescu ended the program with solo performances of Malats, Torroba, and Albéniz.
Throughout, Comanescu was a cheerful, commanding presence, displaying technical mastery that brought out the soul of his 1973 Ramirez instrument. He and his fellow performers created a memorable evening.
John F. Steiner
The AGS Centennial Celebration - 9/24/2023
The American Guitar Society (AGS) was founded in 1923 by the guitarist Vahdah Olcott-Bickford. At 100 years, the AGS is the longest continually-running classical guitar organization in the world.
To honor our Centennial Event, the AGS held a commemorative celebration on September 24, 2023 - almost 100 years to the day of the first AGS meeting. A presentation on the life of Vahdah Olcott-Bickford was given by Kathy Acosta Zavala, our AGS Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Alice Artzt, and superb live performances were given by guitarists Connie Sheu and Laura Mazon Franqui.
Click here to see a slide show of photos from this gala event.
David Norton
AGS Chairman
Information on Local and National Guitar Events
Guitar Events in Southern California posted by the Orange County Guitar Circle
The Well-Tempered Guitar by Grammy® Award-winning guitarist John Schneider
January 17, 2025, 8:00pm at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, Sierra Madre, CA - Tickets: $12-35
Unfortunately this concert was cancelled due to the close proximity of Sierra Madre to the Eaton Canyon fire tragedy. John will let us know when his concert will be rescheduled.
The Well-Tempered Guitar features Grammy® Award-winning guitarist John Schneider in a rich journey through classical and experimental guitar styles. Showcasing works by Lou Harrison, Harry Partch, Manuel Ponce, and more, highlights include Partch's December 1942, Ponce's Suite in A, and Schneider's own Men are Men & Mountains are Mountains, performed on adapted, electric, and National Resophonic guitars. An evening of innovative compositions and masterful guitar artistry awaits in this captivating performance.
