Mark your calendars for GuitarFest 2026!
GuitarFest 2026 is scheduled for March 27-29, 2026 (Friday-Sunday).
We hope to see you there! This page will be updated with a registration link when registration opens. As GuitarFest 2026 approaches, additional artist information and the full event schedule will be posted.
Now in its 29th year, GuitarFest offers an intensive weekend of education and camaraderie for classical guitarists nationwide. The three-day annual festival, which began in 1997, offers a guitar orchestra, Suzuki workshops, masterclasses and recitals by national and international guitar celebrities, and competitons for guitarists of all ages - including opportunities to win handcrafted guitars by famous makers. Anticipated pricing for individual registration will be $150 for the Regular or Suzuki track or $90 for Auditor/Vendor registration.
New for 2026! NCMEA Music Performance Adjudication (MPA)
This year, the NCMEA Guitar Committee will partner with Appalachian State University GuitarFest to offer the first ever NCMEA Music Performance Adjudication (MPA) at GuitarFest. Learn more in this letter to guitar educators. Teachers must be members of the North Carolina Music Educators Association in order to have their guitar ensemble participate in the adjudication. MPA pricing and registration details will be posted later this year.
Artist Biographies
Read more about our guest artists!
Performers and clinicians include Dr. Armin Abdihodžić, Salome “SaSa” Sandoval, Christopher Mallett, William Kossler, Billie Feather, and more to be announced!
Hotel Sponsors
Thank you to our GuitarFest hotel sponsors! La Quinta Inn & Suites and Graystone Lodge offer an exclusive discount for GuitarFest attendees. Booking information will be posted when available.
Guitar at Appalachian State University
Guitar at the Hayes School of Music
The Hayes School of Music at Appalachian State University has a thriving guitar program with a wide variety of degree programs. Highlights of our program include...
- Undergraduate degrees, graduate degrees, and certificate programs for guitarists
- Appalachian State GuitarFest: March 27-29, 2026
- Matanya Ophee Music Collection in the Belk Library
- Guitar Orchestra with over 25 guitarists
- Cannon Music Camp for high school musicians
- Guitar lessons for youth and adults (non-credit) through the Community Music School
Degree Programs for Guitarists
The Hayes School of Music offers many music degree options for guitarists.
Auditions are required for all music degree programs, including the music minor.
Music Degree Programs
- B.M. in Music Performance
- B.M. in Music Education
- B.M. in Music Therapy
- B.S. in Music Industry Studies
- Master of Music Therapy
- Master of Music in Performance
Minors and Certificates
The Ophee Collection: Historical Guitar Music
Appalachian State University has recently acquired the collection of historical documents once belonging to publisher and musicologist Matanya Ophee. Highlights from the Ophee Collection include over five hundred first and early editions of major guitar composers including Fernando Sor, Mauro Giuliani, Matteo Carcassi, Ferdinando Carulli, and many others, as well as the only complete manuscript of the Dix Etudes by Giulio Regondi, discovered by Ophee in 1987. The collection also includes the personal scores and papers of Argentinian guitarist Doming Prat (1886–1944), as well as a large amount of rare music for the Russian 7-string guitar from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries