Guitar, Conductor
Saturday, February 26, 2022
1:00 pm EST
WPAC Concert Hall
$15 general, $10 senior/FIU faculty, staff, & alumni, $5 student
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2022 MIGF Festival Pass
is available to attend all festival events at a single reduced price: $100 general, $70 senior/FIU faculty, staff, & alumni, $30 student
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Christopher Perez is in his 28th year as an active teacher, musician, presenter, adjudicator and clinician who directs the Guitar Program at Freedom High School in Central Florida. Having studied saxophone and percussion, Mr. Perez is a graduate of Western Illinois University with a B.A. in Music Education. For two seasons he was a drum major for the WIU Marching Leathernecks, and was a Student Conductor Competition Winner. He is a 2017 GRAMMY Foundation Award “Teacher of the Year” Quarter-Finalist.

Mr. Perez is a member of the:

·         National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and served on the Guitar Council as the Southern Division Representative and currently serves as the Guitar Council Chair.
·         Florida Music Educators Association (FMEA) where he serves on the Secondary General Music Committee
·         Guitar Foundation of America (GFA)
·         Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia

He served for eight years (2009 to 2017) as the Orange County Public Schools Guitar Chair. For the OCPS All-County Guitar Festival he twice served as Clinician with the 2012 High School Guitar Ensemble and 2018 Middle School Guitar Ensemble. Mr. Perez was the Advanced Guitar Ensemble Clinician for the 2020 All-County Guitar Ensemble Festival in Polk County, FL. As a composer and arranger, his music is published with Drop6 Media, Inc. and has several music arrangements on the Florida Bandmaster’s Association State Music List.  Mr. Perez is a percussionist with both the Southern Winds Symphonic Band and Walt Disney World’s “ENCORE! Performing Arts“.  He continually serves on district, state and national level writing teams, developing guitar curriculum recommendations plus blueprinting, designing, writing and scoring CFE/EOC (Common Final Exams/End of Course Exams).

Mr. Perez presents professional development guitar sessions at local, state and national music conferences, of which several are published online as webinars and blogs. His students and ensembles have consistently participated in music events on local, state, national and international stages including presenting clinics and performing at the FMEA All-State Music Conference and FMEA State Guitar Festivals; the Orange County Public Schools All-County Honor Guitar Festival, Music In-Services, and district events including the OCPS “State of the Schools Address” and “Teacher of the Year” Ceremonies; Walt Disney World, Sea World and Marriott Resorts; the Stetson University Guitar Ensemble Festival (2015, 2017, 2019) as well as community events in and around the greater Central Florida area. Under his direction the FHS Guitar Orchestra, performed in concert at the 2013 FMEA All-State Music Conference and twice in New York at the 2013 and 2017 Long Island Guitar Festival (LIGF). The FHS Advanced Guitar Ensemble “Tasto” also performed virtually for the 2021 LIGF High School Guitar Ensemble Showcase. The Guitar Orchestra performed in concert at the 2018 Florida Guitar Festival at Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL.

FHS Guitar Program

The Freedom High School Guitar Program was established in the fall of 2007 and is one of the largest Performing Arts electives offered consisting of three Guitar 1 classes, the Guitar Conservatory and one of three audition based Guitar Ensembles that serve as our FHS Guitar Program family. The program encompasses yearlong accredited classes that meet one period every day during the school day. Students successfully completing a guitar class receive one credit and also fulfill the FDOE Performing Arts Elective required for graduation.

In 2018 the FHS Guitar Program became a Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) Certified School, only of only nine high schools in the nation. The FHS Guitar Ensembles perform regularly at concerts and festivals locally and around the state of Florida. This includes presenting our annual Fall, Winter and Spring Concerts, annual December FHS Performing Arts Department “PRISM” concerts, participating in the OCPS Guitar Ensemble Music Performance Assessment, the OCPS All-County Guitar Festival, performances and clinics in the FMEA All-State Music Conference and FMEA State Guitar Festival and at several area resorts including the Walt Disney World resorts through the Walt Disney World Holiday Resort Enhancement Program. We have enjoyed nationally and internationally renowned artists, composers and guitar professors as guest clinicians to work with our students and perform in concert together with our ensembles. The FHS Guitar Program are recognized as a member of the international guitar community.