Matt Denman
Currently, assistant professor of guitar studies at Oklahoma City University, Denman’s career is rooted in classical, Latin, and jazz studies. His programs have received top prizes at competitions, including three awards from the Guitar Foundation of America. He is one of three recipients of the GFA/Augustine Award for Excellence in Guitar Education. His work has been praised in books such as “Building an Award-Winning Guitar Program” by Bill Swick. Denman has been a featured performer and conductor for music festivals and a guest clinician for several institutions, including Beijing Central Conservatory, Chamber Art Madrid and Artist in Residence for the New Mexico Guitar Society. Denman is a Pepe Romero Artist and a Grammy-nominated educator who also serves as the director of guitar at Classen School of Advanced Studies. He directs the Celedonio Romero Guitar Institute and has been the director of education for the Guitar Foundation of America.
Matthew Ablan is a professional musician and National Board-Certified Teacher (NBCT) in Charlotte, NC. He began studying guitar at 12 and holds degrees from SUNY Stony Brook, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Case Western Reserve University.
With 17 years of teaching experience in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, Ablan has also taught at Allegheny College and several music schools. He founded The Guitar Teaching Blog and has lectured at various music conferences.
As a performer, he has a diverse background and currently plays solo and with groups like the Matt & John Acoustic Duo and Ten String Theory. Ablan also hosts the Queen City Music Podcast and recently released his first solo EP, “You & Me.”
Robert Teixeira – Classical Guitarist
Robert Teixeira, of Portuguese descent, is a classical guitarist on the faculties of Queens University of Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College. He actively performs and instructs, recently engaging with East Carolina University, the Universities of Texas at Austin and San Antonio, Southwestern University, and Kennesaw State University.
He has collaborated with award-winning guitarist Mary Akerman, including on the 2010 CD “Music for Two Guitars.” Robert composed a set of five études for right-hand development, published by Clear Note Publications. With his wife, Tanya Bechtler, he explores guitar and cello music, culminating in their CD “Shade Grown.” They also worked with composer David Crowe in the world music group Without Borders to produce the “Passage” CD.
Jacob Lyerly is a guitarist dedicated to bringing beauty and healing through music. He has pursued this mission via teaching, audio recording, and performing solo and ensemble music.
Lyerly has over 100 hours of performance in healthcare settings, including virtual and in-person programs at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He has worked with Peabody Institute to develop arts-in-healthcare training, planned his own concerts, and taught at summer guitar festivals. In 2021, he judged the Peabody Preparatory Signature Recital Series and currently teaches music in North Carolina Public Schools.
He earned his Bachelor of Music from The University of South Carolina and a Master of Music in Guitar Performance from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
Jacob was awarded the Stuart Weber Scholarship in 2019, providing full tuition to The Volterra Project Summer Guitar Institute. He also received a Peabody Institute Career Development Grant and the Christopher Berg Guitar Award from the University of South Carolina.
Christopher Teves was born in New York City and grew up in the contrasting worlds of the Philippines and Pittsburgh. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by the North Charleston Pops!, the Avanti Guitar Trio, Charleston Southern University Chamber Winds, the Silver Rose Duo, Chamber Music Charleston, and the University of Cincinnati Guitar Ensemble.
Christopher Teves was born in New York City and grew up in the contrasting worlds of the Philippines and Pittsburgh. His compositions and arrangements have been performed by the North Charleston Pops!, the Avanti Guitar Trio, Charleston Southern University Chamber Winds, the Silver Rose Duo, Chamber Music Charleston, and the University of Cincinnati Guitar Ensemble.
As a soloist and recitalist he has performed at the Dame Myra Hess Series in Chicago, the Bruno Walter Library series in New York, the WashinWashington D.C. Classical guitar society, and with orchestras in the Czech Republic, Ohio, Virginia, and South Carolina.
Kami Rowan, Charles A. Dana Professor of Music, has taught at Guilford College in Greensboro, N.C., since 1993. Her success has resulted in a nationally recognized classical guitar program within a liberal arts setting.
The Guilford College Guitar Ensemble has received top prizes at ensemble festivals and competitions, and has performed in Virginia, South Carolina, Illinois, Georgia, NYC, Philadelphia, and Ireland. Kami is also the faculty adviser for the Guilford College Radio Station, WQFS, ranked as high as third in the nation among college stations by the Princeton Review.
