Stetson Guitar Extravaganza
September 28, 2024
On behalf of the School of Music at Stetson University, it is our distinct pleasure to welcome you to the annual Stetson Guitar Extravaganza.
Stetson University is committed to developing and supporting the highest standards in music education. We encourage teachers and intermediate to advanced students ages 11-17 to join us for Guitar Extravaganza, on Saturday, September 28, 2024, to explore our beautiful campus, make new friends, and work with our distinguished faculty and guest artists. In this mini-residency, you will have the opportunity to participate in small group masterclasses, attend special recitals and masterclasses.
Contact Dr. Orlando Roman, Professor of Guitar, for more information.
2024 Schedule
Saturday, September 28, 2024
9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Check-in / Welcome talk / Meet and Greet
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Faculty masterclasses
12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Q&A
2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Guest Artists main masterclass featuring Steve Robinson
Faculty
Critically acclaimed virtuoso guitarist, Orlando Roman, was brought up in a musically gifted family of eight American born of Puerto Rican origin. Dr. Roman began to play the guitar at the age of five. His performances have been praised for their “virtuosity, exceptional musicality, and sensitivity to details.” He attended renowned schools such as the Boston Conservatory, Stetson University where he graduated Cum Laude, Peabody Conservatory where he received a Master of Music degree in guitar performance, Florida State University from where he received a Doctor of Music degree in guitar performance, and the Royal Conservatory in Madrid, where he completed his post-doctoral studies.
Dr. Roman is the recipient of numerous awards including the National Merit Award, New York Curran Award for Music, Selma Levine Professional Grant, Mark K. Joseph Professional Grant to Cuba, the Peabody Career Development Grant, and the Maryland State Arts Council Grant for solo performance. He also represented the United States as a Fulbright Scholar to Spain. His competition appearances include first prizes in the Rising Star Recital Competition, the Appalachian State University Guitar Competition, and the Boston Classical Guitar Society Competition.
He currently serves as guitar professor at Stetson University
With his relaxed presence on stage, Stephen Robinson is known for his melodic, gorgeous tone and his ability to move the listener with a single note. Stephen Robinson’s celebrated career includes extensive touring as a recitalist, collaborative artist, and orchestral soloist. He has appeared as a guest soloist with orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras and conducts master classes and adjudicates at leading musical institutions and festivals worldwide. He was commended by The New York Times for his “effortless virtuosity with intelligence and good taste” and by (Puerto Rico’s) El Nuevo Día as a “magnificent North American guitarist, full of virtuosity, magnificent technical precision, and a masterfully delivered diverse range of sound.”
As a pioneer in his field, Stephen was the first recipient of Florida State University’s Doctor of Music in Guitar, founded the Stetson University Guitar Program and the Stetson International Guitar Workshop, and commissioned new works for solo guitar, chamber music with guitar, and guitar and orchestra. He garnered numerous international and national awards, fellowships, and grants, including several from the National Endowment for the Arts. He was a Fulbright Fellow and was honored by Stetson University’s Hand Award for Excellence in Research and Creativity for his unparalleled performances and recordings.
Stephen founded the Stetson University guitar program in 1983 and his graduates excelled in the finest graduate programs. Many now hold prominent positions in the professional world. Upon his retirement in 2021, Stetson University honored Stephen Robinson with the ranking of Professor Emeritus.
Versatile, award-winning guitarist/composer Joseph Shields has performed throughout the United States including Los Angeles, New York, the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, has been a featured performer for Guitar Sarasota, the Long Island Guitar Festival, the Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon, GA, and lecturer at the Stetson International Guitar Workshop. He was awarded the Eliot Fisk Prize “to an outstanding guitarist” by Yale University where he was heralded for his “exciting and virtuosic playing”. Mr. Shields also won 1st prize in the Belle and Lynum Jackson Competition for excellence in music performance at Marshall University and was one of four guitarists selected nationwide to perform in a masterclass for the legendary virtuoso Pepe Romero. In addition, Mr. Shields’ articles have been published in Soundboard, the journal of the Guitar Foundation of America.
Joseph Shields is a graduate of Yale School of Music, Marshall, and Stetson Universities receiving degrees in Music Performance and Music Theory. He has served on the faculties of Shawnee State and Marshall University and after nearly two decades in Connecticut, Mr. Shields returned to Florida in 2015 where he founded a guitar program at the prestigious St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton, FL. He currently serves as Music Director at Faith Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, is a board member of Guitar Sarasota, host and Artistic Director of their Vera & Imre Hecht Emerging Artists Concert Series, and remains active as a performer, composer, and pedagogue.