Acclaimed for its “touching musicality, elegant presentation, and seamless coordination” by Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, Kithara Duo (Olga Amelkina-Vera and Fernand Vera) are celebrating 20 years of playing together. The duo has performed in Europe, South America, and throughout the US since their founding in 2002. Their playing has been described as “state-of-the-art” by American Record Guide, which also stated “if you haven’t discovered them, you should.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune praised the ensemble for its “admirably seamless level of musicality and technique.”

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Brothers Adam and John Kossler have established themselves individually as soloists, chamber musicians and educators, and as the Kossler Duo have performed for concert series including the Utah Classical Guitar Series (SLC, Utah), Philadelphia Guitar Series (Philadelphia, PA), Triangle Guitar Series (Durham, NC) Auburn Guitar Society Concert Series (Auburn, AL), Aguado Guitar Series (Sterling, VA), Appalachian Guitarfest (Boone, NC), Mid Maryland Guitar Festival (Rockville, MD) and East Carolina Guitar Workshop (Greenville, NC). In 2019 the Kossler Duo released their first album titled Danse Macabre, a collection of their own new transcriptions for guitar duo. The recording debuted at #2 on Billboard’s “Traditional Classical” chart, and #7 on Billboard’s “Classical Albums” chart. All arrangements are published through Guitar Chamber Music Press. Kossler Duo performs exclusively with Augustine Strings.

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Winner of the Rose Augustine Grand Prize in the 2024 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition, Leonela Alejandro is a classical guitarist from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. She has garnered attention as a soloist, captivating audiences with her powerful and energetic performance style. She has been invited to perform in numerous venues in the United States and Europe, including the Latino Arts Guitar Festival, Northern Illinois University International Guitar Concert Series, Southern Guitar Festival, Florida Guitar Festival, Marlow Guitar Series, Louisville Guitar Society, Orange County Guitar Circle, and José Tomás Villa de Petrer Guitar Festival.

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William Kanengiser has forged a career that expands the possibilities of the classical guitar. A prize-winner in major competitions (1987 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Toronto Guitar ’81) he has toured throughout North America, Asia, and Europe with his innovative programs and expressive musicianship. He recorded four CD’s for the GSP label, playing music as diverse as Caribbean, Eastern European, and jazz. A member of the guitar faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music since 1983, he has given master classes around the world and produced two instructional videos. Most recently, he performed the U.S. premiere of “Folk Concerto” by Clarice Assad, with fellow LAGQ member Scott Tennant, and the Albany Symphony conducted by David Allan Miller.

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08.02.2025

David Norton

Community Concert Series

August 2, 2025

3:00pm

Hunter Library - Meeting Room

4740 W. 4100 South , West Valley City

David Norton was born in Los Angeles, and his early studies on the classical guitar were with Thomas Runyan. His formal instruction was completed at California State University at Northridge under the combined direction of Ronald Purcell (early music & Segovian repertoire) and Richard Stover (Latin American styles and the legacy of Agustin Barrios). 

Along the way, Mr. Norton has performed in master-classes taught by many of the world's leading classical guitarists and lutenists. He has had pieces written for him by Stepan Rak (Twilight, 1990), James Whitaker (Benedictus, 1994), Angelo Gilardino (A Quiet Song, 2005; Endless Skies, 2017), Yves Carlin (Ne Pale, 2013), and Jean-Marie Raymond (Snow Sonata, 2016). 

In early 2002, Mr. Norton was asked to lead a project involving cataloging a newly-found collection of over 125 manuscripts written by or for Andrés Segovia, which included the hitherto- unknown original masters for several major concert works written in the mid 20th century. Four of these original works were recorded by Scott Tennant on his 2018 CD, The Segovia Sessions. 

An active member of the acoustic music community, Mr. Norton has served on the Boards of Directors for the American Guitar Society, the Guitar Foundation of America, the Utah Classical Guitar Society, and the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association. He was Director of the GFA 1990 International Festival in Pasadena, CA. From 1988 to 2013, David was a music reviewer for GFA’s Soundboard magazine. 

Mr. Norton is currently President and Executive Director of the Utah Classical Guitar Society.

PROGRAM: MUSIC OF SPAIN

REGINO SAINZ DE LA MAZA (1896 – 1981)

Preludio en mi                                                                     

 LUIS MILÁN (c. 1500 – c. 1561)

   Four Pavanas (Nos. 4, 1, 5, 6)

LUYS DE NARVÁEZ (c. 1503 – c. 1555)

   Diferencias sobre Guardame Las Vacas                                                    

GASPAR SANZ (1640 – 1710)

Rujero / Paradetas / Folias / Canarios

FERNANDO SOR (1778 – 1839)

Estudio in A, Op. 6, No. 2     

   Estudio in Bm, Op. 35, No. 22                                

Minueto y Trio, Op. 25, No. 4

FRANCISCO TÁRREGA (1852 – 1909)

Preludio  / Estudio / Pavana

MIGUEL LLOBET (1878 - 1938)

El Testment d’Amelia

ISAAC ALBENIZ (1860 -1909)

Capricho Catalan, Op. 165, #5

MANUEL DE FALLA (1876 – 1946)

Homenaje à Debussy                                                        

FEDERICO MORENO TORROBA (1891 – 1982)

Cancioncilla  /  Romance de los piños / Burgalesa / Llamada

2025.09.12

Kithara Duo

Kithara Duo

Date: Friday, September 12, 2025

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Regent Street Black Box Theater at the Eccles

144 South Regent Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Workshop: Saturday, September 13, 2025

Time: 11:00am

Location: Glendale Library, Room A

1375 S. Concord St, Salt Lake City, UT 84104

Acclaimed for its “touching musicality, elegant presentation, and seamless coordination” by Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, Kithara Duo (Olga Amelkina-Vera and Fernand Vera) are celebrating 20 years of playing together.  The duo has performed in Europe, South America, and throughout the US since their founding in 2002. Their playing has been described as “state-of-the-art” by American Record Guide, which also stated “if you haven’t discovered them, you should.” Sarasota Herald-Tribune praised the ensemble for its “admirably seamless level of musicality and technique.”

Kithara Duo’s critically acclaimed debut CD, Beings, was released by Soundset Recordings in 2011. The duo is home to an international award-winning composer, Olga Amelkina-Vera, and their first album is a world premiere recording of her music for guitar duo. Olga's works have been called “the discovery of the evening” (Sarasota Herald-Tribune), “brilliant” (The Royal Gazette), “incandescent” and “hypnotic” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram). In addition to Olga’s original compositions, Fernand and Olga have contributed to guitar duo repertoire through their arrangements and transcriptions. Their second CD, Lingua Franca (2015), features their arrangements of music from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Kithara Duo are currently signed to the LA-based Frameworks Records, and are excited about the recent release of Ka Ao: Works for Guitar (2022), an album that features Olga’s recent guitar compositions performed by a star roster of artists, including three tracks recorded by Kithara Duo. 

Kithara Duo have been invited to perform and teach at numerous festivals and universities throughout the country, such as the Guitar Foundation of America Convention and Competition, St. Louis Classical Guitar Society Great Artist Series, Utah Classical Guitar Society, Seattle Classic Guitar Society, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Guitar Sarasota, Texas A&M International Guitar Symposium, Florida State University Guitar Festival, and many other venues. Kithara Duo appeared as soloists with New Texas Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere performance of Olga’s original work Étoiles Par Grand Vent, which she orchestrated for guitar duo with symphony orchestra.  The ensemble enjoys outreach presentations, and has been hailed as “great communicators to both children and adults” (St. Louis Classical Guitar).

Read More at KitharaDuo.com

2025.11.14

Kossler Duo

Kossler Duo

Date: Friday, November 14, 2025

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Regent Street Black Box Theater at the Eccles

144 South Regent Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Workshop: Saturday, November 15, 2025

Time: 11:00am

Location: Glendale Library, Room A

1375 S. Concord St, Salt Lake City, UT 84104

Brothers Adam and John Kossler have established themselves individually as soloists, chamber musicians and educators, and as the Kossler Duo have performed for concert series including the Utah Classical Guitar Series (SLC, Utah), Philadelphia Guitar Series (Philadelphia, PA), Triangle Guitar Series (Durham, NC) Auburn Guitar Society Concert Series (Auburn, AL), Aguado Guitar Series (Sterling, VA), Appalachian Guitarfest (Boone, NC), Mid Maryland Guitar Festival (Rockville, MD) and East Carolina Guitar Workshop (Greenville, NC). In 2019 the Kossler Duo released their first album titled Danse Macabre, a collection of their own new transcriptions for guitar duo. The recording debuted at #2 on Billboard’s “Traditional Classical” chart, and #7 on Billboard’s “Classical Albums” chart. All arrangements are published through Guitar Chamber Music Press. Kossler Duo performs exclusively with Augustine Strings.

Read more about the Kossler Duo at kosslerduo.com

2026.04.18

Leonela Alejandro

Leonela Alejandro

Winner of the Rose Augustine Grand Prize in the 2024 Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition, Leonela Alejandro is a classical guitarist from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. She has garnered attention as a soloist, captivating audiences with her powerful and energetic performance style. She has been invited to perform in numerous venues in the United States and Europe, including the Latino Arts Guitar Festival, Northern Illinois University International Guitar Concert Series, Southern Guitar Festival, Florida Guitar Festival, Marlow Guitar Series, Louisville Guitar Society, Orange County Guitar Circle, and José Tomás Villa de Petrer Guitar Festival.

Date: Saturday, April 18, 2026

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Regent Street Black Box Theater at the Eccles

144 South Regent Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Leonela has also placed in over a dozen competitions in the United States, with more than ten first-prize placements including the Louisville Guitar Festival, Appalachian State Guitar Festival, Columbus State University Guitar Symposium, Indiana Guitar Festival, and Chicago Guitar Festival, among others. She has also succeeded abroad as an international competitor, receiving prizes from the le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix guitar Competition, Ciudad de Coria International Guitar Competition, and the Iserlohn International Guitar Competition.

Leonela formally began her musical education when she was seven years old. Following her work with various Puerto Rican teachers including Jomel Rivera, Julio Reyes, and Rey Nieves, she decided to dedicate her professional life to this passion. In 2016, she was accepted into the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico at just 16 years old, studying with world-renowned performer Maestro Iván Rijos. After two fruitful years in the Conservatory, she transferred to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and completed her undergraduate degree with Cuban virtuoso René Izquierdo in 2020. Leonela recently completed her graduate studies with Dr. Andrew Zohn at Columbus State University in 2023.

Apart from her celebrated resume in competition settings, Leonela has established herself as a soloist in orchestral settings. She has performed multiple concerti with the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Roselín Pabón including Antonio Vivaldi’s Lute Concerto in D major, RV 93, and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Guitar Concerto No.1 in D Major, Op.99. She was the soloist in the recent premiere of Atanas Ourkouzounov’s Concertino for Guitar, Percussion and Strings under the direction of Paul Hostetter. She also has appeared as a solo mandolinist with the Schwob School of Music Wind Ensemble as a soloist in Ottorino Respighi’s Roman Festivals under the direction of Jamie L. Nix.

Leonela is an Augustine Strings Ambassador and her string of choice are Paragon Reds. She performs on guitars built by luthiers Stephan Connor and Martin Blackwell. 

Read more about Leonela at leonelaguitar.com

2026.05.15

William Kanengiser

William Kanengiser has forged a career that expands the possibilities of the classical guitar. A prize-winner in major competitions (1987 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Toronto Guitar ’81) he has toured throughout North America, Asia, and Europe with his innovative programs and expressive musicianship. He recorded four CD’s for the GSP label, playing music as diverse as Caribbean, Eastern European, and jazz. A member of the guitar faculty at the USC Thornton School of Music since 1983, he has given master classes around the world and produced two instructional videos. Most recently, he performed the U.S. premiere of “Folk Concerto” by Clarice Assad, with fellow LAGQ member Scott Tennant, and the Albany Symphony conducted by David Allan Miller.

Date: Friday, May 15, 2026

Time: 7:30pm

Location: Regent Street Black Box Theater at the Eccles

144 South Regent Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Workshop: Saturday, May 16, 2025

Time: 11:00am

Location: Glendale Library, Room A

1375 S. Concord St, Salt Lake City, UT 84104

An active proponent of new music, he recently received a grant from the Augustine Foundation for his “Diaspora Project,” commissioning seven new works focusing on issues of migration and assimilation. It includes new pieces by Sergio Assad, Dusan Bogdanovic, Golfam Khayam, and others. An advocate for musicians, wellness, he serves as Chair of the Thornton Musician’s Wellness Committee, curating their Wellness Initiative with health screenings and a lecture series, as well as creating a Musician’s Wellness course.

A prolific arranger, he has created dozens of transcriptions for solo guitar and guitar quartet, and composed a number of works for four guitars. In 2009 he created the stage production “The Illustrious Gentleman Don Quixote” for narrator and guitar quartet, writing the stage script and adapting music from the Spanish Renaissance. It was premiered with Monty Python member John Cleese, and extensively toured with Firesign Theater founder Phil Proctor.

As a founding member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, William Kanengiser has given hundreds of recitals and concerto appearances around the world, and has recorded over a ozen releases. Their Telarc release “LAGQ Latin” was nominated for a GRAMMY®, and it was their Telarc title “LAGQ’S Guitar Heroes” which won a GRAMMY® in 2005 as the best classical crossover recording. Most recently, their recording of the title work on Pat Metheny’s “Road to the Sun” hit #1 on the Apple Music Classical chart.

Read More about William at kanengiser.com.