Read a review of the MIGF 2025 written by Dr. Koh Kazama on March 7, 2025:
2025 Miami International GuitART Festival 10th Edition
The Miami International GuitART Festival at Florida International University directed by Dr. Mesut Özgen, director of guitar studies at FIU, marked its tenth anniversary this year, and it was once again a great success. This festival has featured various genres and types of guitar music for the past ten years and has been an important cultural event for Miami. A variety of genres were heard throughout the festival this year, from classical to Latin American to jazz. Events included concerts, workshops, lectures, masterclasses, and a luthier expo. Guest artists were local and international, including Benjamin Verdery, Muriel Anderson, Aysegül Koca, Héctor Molina, Luciana Kube, Gradus Jazz Trio, and many more.
The festival opened with a concert by Serenata Latinoamericana, which featured Héctor Molina on cuatro, guitar, and voice, and Luciana Kube on cuatro and voice. Their program included beautiful music from various countries in South America, including Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru. This concert was a tribute to the late guitarist Luis Quintero Santamaria, who was originally scheduled to open the festival.
While the opening concert featured music from South America, the following night’s concert featured music of North America played by American harp-guitarist Muriel Anderson. Anderson played music ranging from bluegrass to Don McLean to her own compositions on her harp-guitar, a unique instrument that looked like a classical guitar with a mini harp below and above it. The instrument produced a wide range of tones and pitches that Anderson tastefully utilized for each of her pieces. Anderson also sang a few songs, including a French version of Don Mclean’s “Vincent,” which gave this famous song a fresh perspective.
After hearing two nights of popular and traditional music, the festival had its first classical guitar concert performed by Turkish guitarist Aysegül Koca. The concert featured a variety of classical guitar music, yet it mostly comprised of Spanish music. In addition to playing standard pieces from this era, such as Albeniz’s Mallorca, she performed Vicente Asencio’s Suite Mística, a lesser-known piece full of unusual harmonies. Koca’s sensitive and dynamic playing brought out the mystical feeling of the suite and the different character of each movement.
The FIU Miami GuitART Orchestra concert featured a wide range of music from Bach to Lauro to Brouwer. The guitar orchestra was directed by Dr. Mesut Özgen, and the programming kept the audience engaged throughout the concert. The concert started energetically with a traditional Andean tune, Carnavalito, which included Dr. Özgen playing the bombo, a large percussion instrument. There was a mixture of solo and ensemble performances, with solo performances students and professionals, including Luciana Kube and Cristian Perez.
Italian 19th Century specialist Marco Battaglia played a program with a 19th century guitar that included a world premiere of a rediscovered work by Matteo Carcassi, Brilliant Fantasy on themes of the opera “I Puritani” by Vincenzo Bellini, Op. 63. Battaglia obtained the score for this piece from a private individual in France in 2023. This concert was a historic moment for classical guitar, and it was exciting to hear a recently rediscovered work by the great guitar composer Carcassi, who is most known for his guitar etudes.
Other concerts included Japanese American guitarist Koh Kazama, American guitarist Benjamin Verdery, Lithuanian guitarist Danguole Lingyte, Colombian American guitarist Carlos Serrano, and the Gradus Jazz Trio (Enrique Lleida and Pablo Lleida on piano and bass guitar, and Santiago Lleida on drums) from Spain.
In addition to the concerts, lectures and workshops were presented by Federico Bonacossa, Luciana Kube, Marco Battaglia, Mesut Özgen, Muriel Anderson, and Danguole Lingyte. Topics were diverse, ranging from solo arranging on the guitar to designing technical training programs for classical guitar. Masterclasses were taught as well by festival artists, including Koh Kazama, Asegül Koca, and Benjamin Verdery. Amid all the events there was also a luthier expo that featured local and international guitar makers.
The Miami International GuitART Festival was filled with events that showcased the wide range of the guitar. Although many guitar festivals focus on a specific type of guitar or genre, the GuitART festival was truly a unique festival that celebrated all types of guitar and various genres of music. By bringing a diverse program and guest artists from around the world to Miami, it has established itself as a significant cultural festival for the city. This was a festival not to be missed, and we hope that you can join us for next year’s edition of the Miami International GuitART Festival!
Dr. Koh Kazama
