# Guitar Foundation of America

The Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) is an American classical guitar nonprofit organization that was founded in 1973 at the National Guitar Convention sponsored by the American String Teachers Association. The foundation offers various services ranging from guitar lessons to a guitar shop, competitions, and events. The foundation relies on donations, events, and advertising on its web site for funding. The foundation publishes Soundboard Scholar, a peer-reviewed journal, and Prodigies, a magazine for children.

## History

In 1968 the foundation's founder, Thomas Heck, was living in Vienna, Austria, collecting rare sheet music for guitar. His collection included first editions by Mauro Giuliani. In 1973, Heck wrote the foundations' articles of incorporation in Santa Barbara, California, creating a non-profit foundation to which he could give his archive of sheet music. Along with Heck, others were interested in forming the first national classical guitar association in the United States, including Vahdah Olcott-Bickford, who served on the first GFA Board of Directors. Heck created the GFA archive in 1977 in Milwaukee while teaching at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. A catalog of the inventory was assembled and mailed to interested buyers, who could receive photocopies of sheet music on request. A second edition of the catalog was published four years later. During the 1980s, while Heck taught at Ohio State University in Columbus, the archive grew to include more sheet music, periodicals, and other materials related to classical guitar. In the 1990s the archive moved to the University of Akron, and in 2015 it was transferred to California State University, Northridge.

## International Concert Artist Competition

The foundation holds an International Convention and Competition. The International Concert Artist Competition gives the following prizes to the winner: a recording contract with Naxos, publishing contract, cash, and an international tour.
The first competition was held in 1982. Twenty-three guitarists entered the contest, and there were four finalists. To qualify as finalists, guitarists were required to play three pieces selected by the jurors. Michael Chapdelaine won the first contest, while Adam Holzman won in 1983. Holzman's repertoire included the Fourth Lute Suite by J. S. Bach and Sevilla by Albeniz.

### Winners

Source Official webpage
| Year | Winner | Country | Location |
| 1982 | Michael Chapdelaine | USA | Denver, Colorado, USA |
| 1983 | Adam Holzman | USA | Quebec, Canada |
| 1985 | Mary Akerman | USA | Fullerton, California, USA |
| 1986 | Peter Clemente | USA | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA |
| 1987 | Ricardo Cobo | Colombia | Tempe, Arizona, USA |
| 1988 | Olivier Chassain | France | Akron, Ohio, USA |
| 1989 | Marc Teicholz | USA | Lubbock, Texas, USA |
| 1990 | Joseph Hagedorn | USA | Pasadena, California, USA |
| 1991 | Alexei Zimakov | Russia | Miami, Florida, USA |
| 1992 | Jason Vieaux | USA | New Orleans, Louisiana, USA |
| 1993 | Kevin Gallagher | USA | Buffalo, New York, USA |
| 1994 | Margarita Escarpa | Spain | Quebec, Canada |
| 1995 | Antigoni Goni | Greece | Northridge, California, USA |
| 1996 | Fabio Zanon | Brazil | St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
| 1997 | Judicael Perroy | France | La Jolla, California, USA |
| 1998 | Denis Azabagic | Bosnia | Montreal, Canada |
| 1999 | Lorenzo Micheli | Italy | Charleston, South Carolina, USA |
| 2000 | Martha Masters | USA | San Antonio, Texas, USA |
| 2001 | Johan Fostier | Belgium | La Jolla, California, USA |
| 2002 | Dimitri Illarionov | Russia | Miami, Florida, USA |
| 2003 | Jérémy Jouve | France | Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico |
| 2004 | Goran Krivokapić | Montenegro | Montreal, Canada |
| 2005 | Jerome Ducharme | Canada | Oberlin, Ohio, USA |
| 2006 | Thomas Viloteau | France | Columbus, Georgia, USA |
| 2007 | Marcin Dylla | Poland | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| 2008 | Gabriel Bianco | France | San Francisco, California, USA |
| 2009 | Florian Larousse | France | Ithaca, New York, USA |
| 2010 | Johannes Möller | Sweden | Austin, Texas, USA |
| 2011 | Vladimir Gorbach | Russia | Columbus, Georgia, USA |
| 2012 | Rovshan Mamedkuliev | Russia | Charleston, South Carolina, USA |
| 2013 | Anton Baranov | Russia | Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| 2014 | Ekachai Jearakul | Thailand | Fullerton, California, USA |
| 2015 | Thibaut Garcia | France | Oklahoma City, OK, USA |
| 2016 | Xavier Jara | USA | Denver, CO, USA |
| 2017 | Tengyue Zhang | China | Fullerton, CA, USA |
| 2018 | Raphaël Feuillâtre | France | Louisville, Kentucky, USA |
| 2019 | Johan Smith | Switzerland | Miami, Florida, USA |
| 2021 | Bokyung Byun | South Korea | Los Angeles, USA |
| 2022 | Lovro Peretić | Croatia | Indianapolis, IN, USA |
| 2023 | Marko Topchii | Ukraine | New York, NY, USA |
| 2024 | Leonela Alejandro | Puerto Rico | Fullerton, CA, USA |