2026 Adjudicators

Patrick Rafferty,  an active performer and teacher, concertizes across the Midwest and teaches in a variety of studio and classroom settings across the area. A polished interpreter of the traditional guitar repertoire, he is equally at home in a wide range of popular and world music styles. Patrick has extended his interests to early guitar repertoire with a focus on Baroque guitar, 19th Century Guitars and the music that was written for them.

As a student, Patrick has earned several academic degrees in guitar performance. In 2004 he received a Bachelor of Music degree from Southeast Missouri State University where he studied with Jeffrey Noonan. He continued his studies at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, earning the Master of Music degree in 2006 and the Graduate Performance Diploma in 2008 under Julian Gray. At Peabody, Patrick gave numerous performances, most notably in the classes of Manuel Barrueco and as a featured performer in the Thursday Noon Concert Series. In May 2008, Patrick was voted the top graduate performer by his peers at Peabody.  

As a performer, Patrick has won several competitions and in 2011 he became only the third guitarist in over sixty years to win a top prize in the Artist Presentation Society Auditions in St. Louis, Missouri. Patrick has also been a first prize winner in the Southeast Missouri State University Concerto Competition in 2004 and in the Missouri Music Teachers Association in 2003. In 2021 Patrick was selected as a Featured Artist by the Missouri Arts Council.

Patrick currently serves on the guitar faculty of Southeast Missouri State University, Saint Louis University and the Webster Community Music School. His recently graduated students have been accepted into the prestigious guitar programs of The Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, The Jacobs School at Indiana University, Northwestern University and Denver University.

Jesse Steele

Southeast Missouri State University

Jesse Steele is from Southeast Missouri and started his life as a musician on the Trumpet. Jesse graduated with his Bachelor's in Music Composition and Guitar Performance in 2018. During his time at SEMO, he eventually left formal playing of the Trumpet behind to make time for Voice lessons and Choir.

Jesse then auditioned and was accepted to the prestigious and competitive music program at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois as a Master's student in Classical Guitar Performance and Pedagogy. Jesse graduated on June 20, 2020, with his Master's and now is pursuing his career as a performer, composer, and teacher.

During his masters, Jesse learned more about the history of the Banjo in America and its connection to the American classical guitarists early on in our country’s history. The majority of classical guitarists in America’s early days also played and taught the mandolin and banjo. Exploration of old Banjo and Mandolin methods has led Jesse to an even better understanding of plucked string pedagogy.

During his studies, Jesse studied with Patrick Rafferty in guitar and Dr. Robert Fruehwald in composition at SEMO with a semester of guitar under Dr. Jeffery Noonan and 3 years of vocal lessons under Dr. Tim Schmidt. He studied under the tutelage of Anne Waller at Northwestern University with regular studio classes with her husband Mark Maxwell, a guitar professor at Du-Paul University. As a student, Jesse had the opportunity to play in many master classes with wonderful players. During his undergraduate degree, he played in a master class for guitarist Johannes Mohler. During his masters, he was in master classes with Oscar Ghiglia, Berta Rojas, Manuel Barrueco, An Tran, GFA winner TY Zhang, Judicael Perroy, Brasil Guitar Duo, Brian Toroscan, as well as with lutenists Paul O’Dette and Ronn McFarlane.

Since receiving his master's Jesse has been teaching and performing. Running summer camps, ensemble workshops/technique classes, and classes at the SEMO Art Council. Jesse is currently guitar faculty at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.