2025 Festival Artists
New Mexico Showcase
NM Showcase concert concerts: friday, june 13, 2025
Join us for a casually elegant evening featuring music from New Mexico’s finest guitarists. Held in a cafe setting, there will be a little bit of something for everyone!
REX WILLIS
Festival Orchestra Conductor
Rex Willis
2025 Guitar Orchestra Conductor
Join us on Saturday, June 14 at 7pm for a fantastic concert put on by our 2025 Festival Guitar Orchestra, led by the energetic and gregarious Rex Willis!
Rex Willis is the recently retired head of guitar at State College of Florida, who refuses to slow down. He last visited us in New Mexico as director of the 2024 All State Guitar Orchestra. When he is not busy fishing and pretending to be retired, he is a musical theatre composer & director, an actor, and a sought-after dynamic conductor of guitar ensembles. The program he has selected for our festival includes Fuego!, Hot Blues in a Storm, Bluegrass Suite (Ed Prasse,) compositions by John Truitt, and more. Expect the unexpected at this concert!
Concert Schedule:
Friday, June 13, 7:00pm: New Mexico Showcase: featuring GNM Guitar Youth Orchestra
Saturday, June 14, 7pm: Festival Guitar Orchestra, conducted by Rex Willis
REGISTER HERE
All events & concerts held at:
St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal Church
425 University CarlBlvd, Albuquerque NM 87110
Workshops and masterclasses will be held June 10-13; see SCHEDULE for complete listing
Workshop Presenters:
Featured artists from previous festivals: Martha Masters, Johan Smith, Lynn McGrath, Paul Galbraith, Iliana Matos, Zoran Dukic, Evan Herschelman, Helen Sanderson, Michael Anthony, Bandini Chiacchiaretta Duo, Matt Palmer, SoloDuo, Michael Partington, Jeremy Mayne, Stephen Goss, Jorge Caballero, Tantalus Quartet, Andrew York, Rene Izquierdo, Roland Dyens, Scott Tennant, Benjamin Verdery, Marcin Dylla, Eden Stell Duo, Carlos Rafael Rivera, Michael Chapdelaine, Marc Teicholz, Carlos Perez, Thomas Viloteau, Genevieve Leitner, Lynn McGrath, Roberto Capocchi, Randall Kohl, New Mexico Guitar Duo, Benjamin Silva, Mickey Jones, John Truitt, Rio Grande Guitar Quartet, Anthony Mariano, Elliot Simpson, Adam Larison, Calvin Hazen, Craig Russell, Gwen-Marie Lerch, Patrick Cox, Petra Babankova, Brian Moore, and Cyro Delvizio