at
New World School of the Arts
Friday, MARCH 31st, 2023
Dr. Koh Kazama, Director
Mr. Avlaro Bermudez
Guitar Program Director at Ronald W. Reagan/Doral Senior High School
Dr. Marco Sartor
Assistant Teaching Professor at Wake Forest University
Dr. Koh Kazama
Faculty at New World School of the Arts College
Welcome to NWSA GuitarFest 2023! GuitarFest is a FREE day-long event of masterclasses, workshops, and performances for the Miami community. Events are centered around the students, providing guitar learners with information and experiences that will further advance their playing. Open to the public, and all levels are welcome!
this event is free
but registration is required
schedule of Events:
11:00AM - 11:45AM
Lecture/Workshop with Mr. Alvaro Bermudez
Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, Room 4304, Building 4 (3rd floor)
401 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL
12:00PM – 1:00PM
Lunch break
1:00PM – 2:30PM
Ensemble Masterclass and Individual Masterclass
with Dr. Koh Kazama
Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, Auditorium (Room 1261), Building 1 (2nd floor)
300 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33132
2:30PM – 4:30PM
Masterclass/Workshop
with Dr. Marco Sartor
Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, Auditorium (Room 1261), Building 1 (2nd floor)
300 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33132
4:30PM – 6:00PM
dinner break
6:00PM – 7:00PM
NWSA GuitarFEst Concert
Featuring the NWSA GuitarFest Ensemble, Cristian Perez, Koh Kazama, and Marco Sartor
Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, Auditorium (Room 1261), Building 1 (2nd floor)
300 NE 2nd Ave, Miami, FL 33132
about the artists
Marco Sartor
Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, Marco Sartor is a top prize winner in numerous international competitions, and has performed solo and chamber music recitals in three continents to critical and public acclaim. He has appeared with orchestras such as the Allentown Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Ann Arbor Symphony, and SODRE (Uruguay) among others. His debut solo recording for Fleur de Son Classics, “Red,” has received rave reviews and been broadcast on national radio.
Marco Sartor serves as Assistant Teaching Professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC, where he teaches classical and jazz guitar, chamber music, and courses on Western and Latin American music. As an active pedagogue, he has given numerous master-classes in universities and conservatories in the USA and abroad. He has designed and implemented successful guitar programs at the Carnegie Mellon Music Preparatory School in Pittsburgh, PA and the Charleston Academy of Music in Charleston, SC, and served as faculty for the College and High-School Divisions of the New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL.
Marco holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Yale University, where he earned the Friedmann Prize for his doctoral thesis on Tango and its deployment in contemporary works. He also received degrees from the College of Charleston and Carnegie Mellon University. His former teachers include Robert Ravera, Mario Payssé and Eduardo Fernández in Uruguay, and Marc Regnier, James Ferla and Benjamin Verdery in the USA.
Marco Sartor is an Augustine Strings Artist.
Alvaro Bermudez
A native of White Plains, New York, Colombian-American guitarist and composer, Alvaro Bermudez has been making music professionally since the age of 15. He is highly sought after as a performer, composer, and teacher.
As a composer, Alvaro has been recognized for his “fine…contemporary choral music,” which has been described as lovely” and “contagious.” (South Florida Classical Review, Music in Cincinnati & Miami Clásica). Seraphic Fire, Miami’s Grammy-nominated Professional Chamber Ensemble, has twice commissioned him to write works for the group, and universities and professional groups throughout the United States and South America have performed Alvaro’s choral compositions.
koh kazama
A New York City native, Koh Kazama is a concert guitarist and educator exposing audiences to the endless possibilities of the classical guitar. He started his guitar studies at the age of six, after being inspired by a Japanese rock musician. His diverse repertoire ranges from early music played on period instruments to contemporary music using electronic effects.
Dr. Kazama has performed in renowned venues, festivals, and concert series, including Carnegie Hall, Miami International GuitART Festival, Long Island Guitar Festival, Killington Music Festival, Symphony Space, Webster Hall, WNYC New Sounds Live series, Morse Hall (Juilliard), Mid-Hudson Classical Guitar Society, and Yale Guitar Extravaganza. He has also premiered works by a wide range of prominent composers, including Michael White (Juilliard), David Lang (Yale), William Anderson (Queens College), Paula Matthusen (Wesleyan), and Kendall Williams.
Dr. Kazama holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, where he was a scholarship student and teaching assistant of the guitar department. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in psychology, Master of Music, and Artist Diploma at Yale University. He received a full scholarship to attend Yale, and he was the recipient of the Eliot Fisk Prize, which was awarded to an outstanding guitarist whose artistic achievements and dedication have contributed greatly to the department. He attended LaGuardia Arts High School in New York City, where he majored in cello and was part of the LaGuardia Symphony Orchestra. His major teachers have included Jerry Willard, Benjamin Verdery, Simon Powis, Liam Wood, Nadav Lev, and David Gonzalez.
Dr. Kazama is also a dedicated teacher who has experience teaching guitar to students of various levels and ages. He is currently on the faculty at New World School of the Arts, a partner of Miami Dade College, University of Florida, and Dade County Public Schools in Miami. He has previously taught as a guitar instructor at Yale University and Stony Brook University. He is also a former faculty member and alumnus of Third Street Music School Settlement, the longest-running community music school in the United States.
In addition to his teaching and performing, Dr. Kazama has contributed publications and learning resources to the guitar community. He co-founded Monologue Publications, which is dedicated to creating solo and chamber music arrangements for guitar that include thoroughly researched historical and stylistic information for the player. He is also the co-founder of Leyenda, an online graded classical guitar database.
In his spare time, Dr. Kazama enjoys playing soccer, snowboarding, and eating Japanese food.