Phoenix Guitar Society

To promote and support guitar with music performance, education and outreach.

The Phoenix Guitar Society organized in 2016 and has been supporting classical guitar with Performance, Education and Outreach since our beginnings. Today as we emerge from COVID we continue that tradition and have transitioned from virtual to live performance.

Our new venue at the First Church UCC Phoenix, is centrally located in the middle of town and has been a great place to host local and international guest artist. The Guest Artist series started with the Tucson Guitar Quartet. Duo Deloro (Adam del Monte & Mak Grgic), was a new adventure or PGS, this was our first ticketed event we had a large appreciative crowd attend. Duo Chinoiserie in an upcoming concert June 11th, We will also host an open stage before the duo performs. This is a great way for local guitarists perform for an audience.

PGS hosted the Sonoran Desert Guitars Festival, the Ensemble Showcase in October of 2022 and the Educational/Technique workshop day this March 25th, 2023. PGS is proud to partner up with Glendale Community College, Camelback HS. Through our collaboration we are able to support our younger guitarists with the Ensemble Showcase and Educational two day festival.

The PGS John Wetter Scholarship program has helped some promising young guitarists. One of the students awarded a JWS guitar won first place at the Students of Promise competition within the Maricopa County Community Colleges this year. Guitars were awarded to deserving students during the COVID pandemic,, as PGS encouraged them to continue to strive to achieve their desires in music.

The Phoenix Guitar Society has been able to support our guitar community with generous contributions from people who love classical guitar and you. PGS is in planning stages to host more concerts and bring outstanding performers to our venue.

Please consider supporting PGS by attending a concert or making a generous donation. It is people like you that make PGS what it is.

Through music we learn about different cultures. Through other musicians we learn about our cultural differences. It is the music that brings us together. PGS looks forward to meeting new friends and creating new experiences.

Testimonials

With all the current chaos in the world, the Phoenix Guitar Society has provided welcome respite. The monthly meetings are something I look forward to very much. Not only for the featued artists, but for the community guitarists as well. PGS leadership and community outreach are also quite important in support of the Phoenix Guitar community.
Dr. Alvin Elisco

The Phoenix Guitar Society is the fifth guitar society I have belonged to. Started with The Philadelphia Guitar Society when I was 18, near where I grew up, and then everywhere I lived (total 5 now) afterwards. The Guitar Societies were where I could meet people like myself! If you are a classical guitar aficionado, and why would you not be, since classical guitar is the coolest thing on earth, Classical Guitar Societies are where you go to meet people like yourself and to hear great classical guitar music. The Phoenix Guitar Society really fills the bill. I would be lost in Phoenix without it.

A. John Mardinly, Ph.D., P.E.
Retired Principal Materials Nanoanalysis Engineer

I am a DMA in guitar performance and I'd like to say a few words about the PGS scholarship, an initiative from 2019 aimed to support talented guitar students in their educational and artistic pursuits. This endeavor was only possible thanks to the joint efforts of Bill Bayless (the president of PGS), Frank Koonce (ASU Prof Emeritus and PGS board member), and John Mardingly (volunteer and avid supporter of the guitar society). Although the funding was initially based on donations from community members, the bulk of it came from a generous contribution by John Mardingly and his former employer, Intel. 
 
As the only recipient of the scholarship, I was truly impacted by it. Here is a short summary. From 2016 to 2019, I pursued my doctorate at ASU as an international student. However, because of legal immigration restrictions, I was not allowed to work outside school. As a result, I faced financial difficulties in the last year of my degree in a way that risked its completion. If it weren't for the PGS scholarship (in the amount of $1,000) I would not have achieved the needed peace of mind to fully focus on my guitar studies and finish my last academic requirements in time. And I am very grateful for that.

By sharing this experience, I hope to have demonstrated, although briefly, how the scholarship can be a necessary means for supporting talented students and developing the guitar community in the area as a whole. Given the importance of this initiative, I'd like to encourage those of you who have an interest in contributing to this noble cause by getting involved with the Arizona Gives Day on April 7. Thank you for your time...