Austin Classical Guitar is one of the leading guitar performance and education organizations in the world. Founded in 1990, the organization proudly features extensive education and outreach programming and six distinct concert series having presented such acclaimed artists as Pepe Romero, John Williams, Christopher Parkening, Eliot Fisk, Xuefei Yang, and David Russell. ACG currently presents six major concert series, reaching more than 10,000 people annually through our International, Summer, FlamencoAustin, Guitar Salon, and Classical Cactus series, along with Community Concert Residencies which provide 50 free concerts annually to Austin students and communities.  Our Community Guitarists and Insights programs for adults promote life-long learning in the arts.

Since 2001 ACG Education has dramatically transformed Austin's school-based guitar instruction.  Working closely with the AISD Fine Arts Department, the program has grown rapidly from serving 20 students in 1 school to serving more than 2,000 students in 40 schools during the 2013-14 school year in daily, for-credit classes.  The program also serves the Gardner-Betts Juvenile Justice Center and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. High quality guitar programs in Austin schools are proving to be a powerful way to engage diverse young people in the arts.  With Texas Music Educators Association reporting that the vast majority of Texas High School students are not enrolled in a music class, it is notable that 90% of ACG’s students are coming to elective school-based music study for the first time through guitar class.

For more information about ACG, visit www.austinclassicalguitar.org.

This project is funded and supported in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and in part by the City of Austin Economic Growth & Redevelopment Services Office/Cultural Arts Division believing an investment in the Arts is an investment in Austin’s future. Visit Austin at NowPlayingAustin.com.