- UPDATE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ST. JOSEPH INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL & COMPETITION - MAY 17-21, 2006
(NO AGE LIMIT - NO REQUIRED PIECES) - Thousands of Dollars Prize Money and Merchandise & Paid Concert

Dear Friends of the St. Joseph Festival,
Below are additional details of the 2006 festival per:
I) Final Jury Selection
II) Grants & Funding

We look forward to seeing you in St. Joseph!
Sincerely,
Anthony GLISE
Festival Director
PS - Remember we offer free home-hosting, transportation to/from the airport and translators as needed!

I) Jury Selection
There will be a set jury of five voting members for all rounds of the competition plus one Safety Juror in the event of conflict of interest (i.e. if a competitor is a student of one of the jury members, etc.) as well as the Jury President (whose vote will only be counted in the event of a draw).
The competition will consist of one set jury for each round:

JURY (full biographies below)
1) Andrew Dickenson - USA (guitarist, President, New York City Classical Guitar Society),
2) Isaac Bustos - NICARAGUA (guitarist, former St. Joseph Competition Winner),
3) Marie-Caroline Lebriez - FRANCE (guitarist, President, Cord’Accord Guitar Society of Northern France),
4) Dr. Jeffrey George - USA (guitarist, professor),
5) Thomas Ransom - USA (recording producer, owner, Ransomed Productions),
6) Anthony Glise [Jury President] - USA / FRANCE (guitarist, composer, author),
7) Michael Fuson [Safety Juror] - USA (noted classical / rock studio guitarist).

II) The festival is pleased to announce that we have recently received considerable private, corporate and state funding from:
1) The St. Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau,
2) Heartland Health,
3) The City of St. Joseph,
4) Missouri Arts Council, a state agency,
5) Missouri Western State University Western Institute Center for the Arts, Culture, and Literacy, Center for Business and Economic Development and Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences as well as a number of private and anonymous donors. This support is allowing us to radically expand our original festival design.

BIOGRAPHIES OF JURORS

ANDREW DICKENSON (US)
J. Andrew Dickenson is a founding member of the New York Guitar Quartet and is President and Artistic Director of the New York City Classical Guitar Society. He has performed extensively in the United States in a variety of innovative locations and situations as a soloist, chamber musician, with soprano Yeonjune Suh, and as a founding member of the 1 East Guitar Quartet. He has performed at prestigious venues in New York City such as Columbia University and in Washington, DC at the Corcoran Art Museum and has worked with high profile acts such as Trio Sorella and the SONOS Chamber Orchestra. An avid protagonist of new music and art, Andrew has actively commissioned several young and pioneering composers to write music for his performances, including Terry Champlin, Brian Grundstrom, and Judah Adashi, and has collaborated with many multi-media artists to produce shows at Baltimore’s Augenmusik festival and the Academy of Art in Philadelphia. Recent tours have taken him to the Lahina Jodo Buddhist Mission in Hawaii, the School for Visual and Performing Arts, and Knua Hall in Seoul, Korea.

A scholarship winner from both the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the Mannes College of Music, Andrew’s primary teachers include Julian Gray, Robert Trent, and Frederic Hand, and he has also studied with Manuel Barrueco, Peter Golladay, Sergio Assad, William Kanengiser, Michael Newman, Terry Champlin and Carlo Domeniconi. Andrew holds a Bachelors of Music from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a Masters of Music from the Mannes College of Music in New York City and has attended the Penzance Guitar Workshop in Penzance, England. During the summer of 1998, he spent several months studying with the acclaimed guitarist/composer Gilbert Biberian in England as a recipient of the Johns Hopkins Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research.

Andrew is Professor of Music and Guitar at Cecil Community College. Also a writer, Andrew is founder of NYlon Review and has been published internationally in magazines such as Soundboard and Classical Guitar. He serves on the advisory board of the International Studio of Music in New York City and is Music Professor at Cecil Community College.

ISAAC BUSTOS (Nicaragua)
Born in Managua, Nicaragua, Isaac Bustos began playing popular Latin-American music on the guitar by ear at age 11. By age 12, he was accepted into the Conservatorio Nacional De Musica in Managua where he received top honors in guitar performance. Isaac immigrated with his family to the United States in 1988 and continued his studies with the late Cuban guitar virtuoso Juan Mercadal. An extensive performance career has taken Bustos to Canada, Central America and all over the US. He has gained critical acclaim and is quickly becoming recognized as one of the top young guitarists of his generation.

“Soulful and virtually flawless”, hails the Portland Oregonian and the Boston Globe writes, “In warm, round tones, the notes of Bach cascaded from the guitar, every note correct and played without hesitation.” He has made several Radio and Television appearances and has been invited to perform in the Portland Guitar Festival, St. Joseph Guitar Festival the Eastfield College Guitar Festival and the Texas Guitar Festival in Dallas.

An impressive array of top prizes include: First Prize — 2005 Texas International Solo Guitar Competition, Dallas TX; First Prize - 2004 Lachine International Guitar Competition, Lachine, QC, Canada; First Prize - 2004 St. Joseph International Solo Guitar Competition, St. Joseph, MO; First Prize - 2004 Portland Solo Guitar Competition, Portland, OR; First Prize - 2004 East Carolina University Solo Guitar Competition, Greenville, NC; First Prize - 2002 University of New Hampshire Concerto Competition, Durham, NH; Top Prize - 2003 Appalachian State University Solo Guitar Competition, Boone, NC; Semi-finalist - 2000, 2001 and 2004 Guitar Foundation of America International Solo Guitar Competitions.

In addition to guitar study, Bustos has performed several premieres. Most recently works by composers Peter Askim for solo guitar, Andrew Dickinson for four guitars, a work for two guitars and electronic sound effects by Jeremy Cumbo and “After Sylvius” a solo guitar work written for Isaac by composer/guitarist Frank Wallace.

Isaac has participated in Masterclasses of international world-renowned performing artists such as Manuel Barrueco, David Russell, Paul Galbraith, Fabio Zanon, Ricardo Iznaola, Odair Assad, Elliot Fisk and Jason Vieaux. He was also one of three performers chosen to play in the Pepe Romero Masterclass held at the prestigious Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. He holds a Bachelor of Music in performance from the University of New Hampshire, where he held a full-music scholarship, and a Master of Music degree in performance from the University of Texas at Austin where he was the teaching assistant under the tutelage of world-renowned guitarist Adam Holzman. He is currently on faculty at Texas A&M University Department of Performance Studies.

MARIE-CAROLIN-LEBRIEZ (France)
Born in Northern France in 1975, guitarist Marie-Caroline Lebriez was accepted to the National Conservatory of Lille at the age of 9 and as a student of Philippe Gruneissen, was awarded a 1st Prize Diploma in guitar several years later.

She has been awarded additional 1st Prizes at various competitions, including Dunkerque, Lys Les Lannoy and the competition of Montdidier (Paris).

An active teacher for over 12 years at various music schools throughout Northern France, Mlle. Lebriez studied pedagogy with Karel Harms and Olivier Chassain of the Conservatoire Superieur de Musique (Paris) and Pedro Ibanez of the Conservatoire National de Region de Paris.

She has organized masterclasses and guitar seminars throughout France and in 1996 she formed a duo with Belgian guitarist, Claude Burvenich, with whom she has performed throughout France, Belgium, and the Czec Republic featuring a vast repertoire of music from France, South America and Spain.

Her love of chamber music and contemporary forms has recently been focused on music from North and South America. She is currently also accompanist for “Choer de Joi” - a chorale of over 100 vocalists conducted by noted chorale director, Antoine Dubois, featuring sacred music of North America, including the “Stabat Mater Speciosa - The Blue Virgin” of Anthony Glise, composed for chorale and solo guitar.

In 1998 she founded the association “Chord’accord” which helps promote the cultural awareness of the guitar, lute and mandolin.

Dr. JEFFREY GEORGE
Jeffrey George, coordinator of guitar studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, received his bachelors degree in guitar performance under Paul Reilly at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. While teaching in the school of music as an associate instructor, he earned his MM in performance at Indiana University in Bloomington studying under the renowned Argentine guitarist, Ernesto Bitteti.

Dr. George completed the doctoral degree on a graduate scholarship at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ where he studied with celebrated American guitarist Frank Koonce and also taught for the ASU guitar college preparatory program. Mr. George has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including support for academic programs at Berklee College of Music, Musicians Institute in Hollywood, CA and the National Guitar Summer Workshop. He has been invited to play in masterclasses for Eliot Fisk, Manuel Barrueco, Christopher Parkening and Roberto Aussel.

Praised by musicians and critics nationwide, Jeffrey George is recognized as one of today’s outstanding guitarists. Highlights of recent seasons include concerts in Memphis, New Orleans, Phoenix, Austin, Nashville, Indianapolis, and Pensacola, as well as London and British Columbia. He has been heard on National Public Radio and has recorded for the Public Broadcasting System. His doctoral dissertation, Angelo Michele Bartolotti: Performance Edition of Thirteen Suites from Libro Secondo di Chitarra (1655) was recently published by Mel Bay, Inc. Prior to his appointment at UL Lafayette, Mr. George coordinated the guitar program at Phoenix College in Arizona.

Mr. George’s jazz teachers include Joe Pass, Jack Wilkins, Joe Diorio, Jon Herington and David Baker. His performance credentials include appearances with Joe Henderson, Billy Childs, Richard “Groove” Holmes, Oliver Nelson Jr., Ritchie Havens and Taj Mahal. He has performed in jazz festivals in Indianapolis, Newport, and Sedona, Arizona. Mr. George is an active member of the Guitar Foundation of America, American String Teachers Association, the International Association of Jazz Educators and the College Music Society.

THOMAS RANSOM (US)
A graduate of Berklee School of Music (Boston), Ransom is a renowned producer best known for his production of classical, jazz and rock CDs. He is owner of Ransomed Productions (US) which offers the First Prize winner of this year’s competition a recording contract.
He has produced and engineered numerous internationally-released CDs and has been cited for his flawless production in such magazines as Audiofile, Gramophone (US), Les Cahiers de la Guitare (France), Gitarre und Laute (Germany), Luster (Holland), The Soundboard (US) and many others.
Thomas has also released three of his own CDs and has written and arranged numerous instrumental and vocal compositions for radio and television productions.

JURY PRESIDENT
ANTHONY GLISE (US / FRANCE)
Director of the St. Joseph International Guitar Festival & Competition and the Festival Chartres (Chartres, France), Anthony is the only American-born guitarist to win First Prize at the International Toscanini Competition (Italy). He is a product of the Konservatorium der Stadt (Vienna) and the New England Conservatory (Boston) with additional study at Harvard, Université Catholique de Lille (France) and the Accademia di Studi “L’Ottocento” (Italy).

His concert appearances have included Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Nouveau Siecle (France), Vienna International Center (Austria) and hundreds of other solo, chamber and concerto appearances world-wide.

Anthony has been awarded diplomas and performed at such festivals as Festival des Artes (Hautecombe), Ville Sable (France), ARCUM (Rome), and the Nemzetközi Gitárfesztivál (Hungary). In addition to traditional classical repertoire, concerts often include 19th-Century works performed on a priceless 1828 Staufer Viennese guitar.

Anthony’s commitment to the art has led to many diversified activities. His writings have been published extensively in The Soundboard (US), Guitar International (England) and Gitarre und Laute (Germany). He has acted as an Artist-in-Residence and Touring Artist for a number of US state arts councils and similar European programs. He is also the editor of the internationally-acclaimed series of guitar music, “The Anthony Glise Editions,” published by Willis Music Company and “The Anthony Glise Urtext Editions” by Mel Bay Publications.

An active composer, Anthony’s original compositions have been premiered in such cities as New York, Chicago, Rome, Vienna, Lille (France) and Esztergom (Hungary). He is also the only foreign composer chosen to preside on the board of the Domaine de la Musique panel, to assist in relationship development between composers, documentary and major film producers in France.

His recordings include traditional works (solo, chamber, orchestral and ballet) as well as original compositions for such labels as Éclipse (France), Young Recording Artists (US) and Dorian Recordings (US). His first album, Overview, was chosen as one of the year’s “Top-5 Classical Releases” by Vienna Life Magazine.

When not on tour, Anthony lives and teaches part-time in the Flandres region of Northern France, part-time in the Black Forest region of Germany and part-time in the US.

SAFETY JUROR (in the event of conflict of interest)

MICHAEL FUSON (US)
One of the industry’s leading classically-trained rock guitarists, Michael has performed in venues throughout the US including Gazzari’s and the Troubadour on “The Strip,” in Los Angeles (some of the former haunts of Elton John, John Lennon and Nilsson). Michael completed his Bachelor’s a classical violinist and has worked in concert, studio and commercial aspects of the music industry for the past 25 years.