BGFest XVII Programs Academy
The BGFest Academy program is designed for young guitarists (ages 15-30*) with a serious interest in the classical guitar. It includes private lessons, masterclasses, workshops, technique and performance classes, ensemble opportunities, as well as an optional competition and an opportunity to perform in the BGFest final concert at the Multicultural Arts Center.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: MAY 22ND, 2023
*Younger participants may be admitted to the program by request. Please contact mauriceliu@efgamusic.org for an audition.
*For European & Asian timezone participants, please refer to the International Academy program.
BGFest XVIII Academy Master Classes
BGFest XVIII offers master classes (live and/or Zoom) with international guest artists Sharon Isbin, Gohar Vardanyan, Jorge Caballero, and artistic director Eliot Fisk. All master classes will be recorded and saved for asynchronous viewing for a total of 30 days starting July 2nd. English / Chinese translation is available upon request.
Participants who wish to perform in BGFest masterclasses must submit a 5 – 10 minute audition video after completing registration, before May 15th.
BGFest XVIII Academy Private Lessons
BGFest XVIII Academy participants receive a total of three individual lessons (or two individual lessons and one masterclass). BGFest XVIII Academy faculty include: Jérôme Mouffe, Bruce Holzman, Adam Levin, Zaira Meneses, Scott Borg, and Lautaro Mantilla.
BGFest XVIII Academy GUITAR PERFORMANCE Competition
BGFest XVIII Academy Workshops & Lectures
Workshop
on Improvisation
Dr. Lautaro Mantilla
Composer / Guitarist

Dr. Lautaro Mantilla
Composer / Guitarist
LAUTARO MANTILLA, DMA is a guitarist, composer, and improviser from Bogota, Colombia. In his performances, he typically combines guitar, extended vocalization techniques, and homebuilt electronics to create music that is both viscerally affecting and conceptually rigorous. Based in Boston, Lautaro is active in the NY and Boston music scenes and is a faculty member of the Contemporary Improvisation department at New England Conservatory.
Lautaro holds a Master's in guitar and improvisation and a Doctorate in Composition both from New England Conservatory in Boston.
Lecture
on the topic of J.S. Bach & Leipzig
Christoph Wolff
Musicologist

Christoph Wolff
Musicologist
The eminent German musicologist and conductor, Christoph (Johannes) Wolff, studied church music at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik and in Freiburg im Breisgau; took Courses in musicology at the universities of Berlin and Erlangen. He obtained a performance diploma in 1963 from the Berlin Hochschule für Musik, and his Ph.D. in 1966 from the University of Erlangen (dissertation Der stile antico in der Musik Johann Sebastian Bachs: Studien zu Bachs Spätwerk, published in Wiesbaden, 1968).
Christoph Wolff taught the history of music at the University of Erlangen from 1965 to 1968; also at the University of Toronto from 1968 to 1970; then at Columbia University from 1970 to 1976. He also taught at Princeton University. In 1976 he became a professor of music at Harvard University; William Powell Mason Professor of Music, 1985-2002; and Adams University Professor, 2002 to present. At Harvard he served as Chair of the Music Department (1980-1988, 1990-1991), Acting Director of the University Library (1991-1992), and Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (1992-2000). Currently he is is Adams University Professor at Harvard University.
Recipient of various international prizes, several honorary degrees, Christoph Wolff holds an honorary professorship at the University of Freiburg and memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften. He currently serves as Director of the Bach-Archiv in Leipzigand President of the Répertoire International des Sources Musicales. In 1978 he was awarded the Dent Medal of the Royal Musical Association of London and in 1982 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Christoph Wolff has written extensively on the history of music from the 15th to the 20th century, particularly on J.S. Bachand Mozart. He has distinguished himself by innovative research into formative elements in J.S. Bach's works. He became editor of the Bach-Jahrbuch in 1974; edited volumes of the Neue Bach-Ausgabe (V/2, Goldberg Variations; 14 Canons; VIII/I, Musical Offering; Canons); the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (v/15, 2-3, Piano Concertos), and the Hindemith-Gesamtausgabe (opera Cardillac, Op. 39). He wrote the major portion of the article on the Bach family for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1980); also edited The String Quartets of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven: Studies of the Autograph Manuscripts (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1980) and with Hans-Joachim Schulze, Bach Compendium: Analytisch-bibliographisches Repertorium der Werke Johann Sebastian Bachs (5 volumes, Leipzig and Dresden, 1985 et seq.). Wolff published Bach: Essays on His Life and Music (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1991) and Mozart's Requiem: Historical and Analytical Studies, Documents, Score (Berkeley, 1993). In 1984 he discovered 31 unknown organ chorales by J.S. Bach in the Neumeister Collection of the music library at Yale University; they were published in 1985. The New Bach Reader (New York, 1998), and Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musicia (New York, 2000 - translated into eight languages) are his most recent books.
Lectures
on the topics of Basso Continuo, Ornamentations, and Rhetoric
Nigel North
Lutenist

Nigel North
Lutenist
British lutenist Nigel North has been sharing music with audiences for nearly 30 years. His quiet and gentle personality goes, literally, "hand in hand" with his choice of instrument; the lute is one of the most gentle, subtle yet technically demanding of "ancient" instruments. Through this medium, as soloist, accompanist and ensemble musician, Nigel has inspired appreciation from concert public and recording listeners with comments such as :
"North's playing has a freedom and expression rivaling the best jazz musicians"
"An amalgam of scholarship, respect, love and high instrumental ability."
"Lute plucked to perfection. . . perhaps he is the greatest performer of this instrument of all time"
"stunning - rich, warm, resonant and utterly musical"
Nigel North has also always adored teaching. Following many years of committed teaching in Europe (in London, Berlin and Den Haag) Nigel has since 1999 been Professor of Lute in the "Early Music Institute" at Indiana University, Bloomington, USA from where he continues his varied life as performer and teacher.