Scott Cmiel is director of the guitar program at the Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts and a member of the guitar faculty at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where he served as chair of the guitar department and chair of the musicianship department for over twenty years. His students have won awards in many local, regional and national competitions and have been featured on national radio and television including on the NPR program From the Top and the televised GRAMMY Awards. We were honored to have Mr. Cmiel join us this past summer as a special guest lecturer for our national teacher training event in Austin.
The inspirational and fecund Austin Classical Guitar brings the joy of guitar music to people of all ages in myriad ways. They have created an exciting concert series of internationally acclaimed guitarists; established guitar programs in over 50 different elementary, middle and high schools, the Travis County Juvenile Justice System, and the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired; inspired teachers throughout the country with the innovative training program at guitarcurriculum.com, and brought guitarists from throughout the Southwest together in a high quality Classical Guitar Youth Orchestra and wonderful Community Ensembles. Last season ACG brought together the Grammy-winning vocal group Conspirare with the Dublin Guitar Quartet, Texas Guitar Quartet and the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet to perform a commissioned piece, based on the letters of pioneer women, portraying the hope, fear, and loneliness that defined the experience of Texas’ original settlers as they pursued the promise of a better life. What will they come up with next? The energy, enthusiasm and idealism of Executive Director Matthew Hinsley, and his team of Travis Marcum, Jeremy Osborne, Eric Pearson, Toby Rodriguez and Joseph V. Williams and are a treasure. Many thanks!