Guitar Horizons
We believe music is a powerful tool for social change and guitar education is an ideal vehicle for delivering the benefits music has for individuals and communities.
Teaching Artists
SLCG employs expert Teaching Artists who co-teach with Classroom Music Teachers. This provides valuable guitar knowledge and empowers Classroom Music Teachers to run the program on their own.
Professional Development
SLCG offers professional development sessions where Classroom Music Teachers engage in practice teaching. In addition, SLCG hosts an annual Teacher Training Seminar led by the developers of GuitarCurriculum.Com from Austin, TX.
In School Residencies
SLCG brings artists from all over the world to perform concerts right here in St. Louis. Some of these artists also visit schools to perform for and engage with young students providing a model of success and inspiration.
All-Metro Guitar Day
All-Metro Guitar Day is an annual concert where students of all levels in the Guitar Horizons programs are invited to perform together in a guitar orchestra and small ensembles. With the support from our sponsor The Des Lee Fine Arts Education Collaborative, we have been able to host this concert at the Touhill Performing Arts Center the last few years.
Save the date for next year’s All-Metro Day - Sunday, April 26 2026, 2:30pm at the Lee Theater at the Touhill Performing Arts Center on UMSL’s campus.
Teaching Artists
Providing Teaching Artists (TA) to music classrooms is the most impactful way for SLCG to reach our communities. Our TAs are experts in their field and can assist classroom music teachers in navigating the trickiest parts of teaching guitar. Learn more about each teacher below:
Currently, Guitar Horizons supports 25 programs with a TA. These programs are focused in Ferguson-Florissant School District, as well as neighboring north county schools and St. Louis City Public Schools. In each of these programs, our TA attends twice weekly to co-teach with a classroom music teacher either during school or as a before or after-school class.
Professional Development
SLCG provides ongoing Professional Development (PD) opprotunities for music teachers and guitar instructors in the St. Louis and regional area.
We are lucky to have worked with Austin Classical Guitar for 9 years to provide comprehensive teacher trainings.
Every other summer we host a Teacher Training Seminar led by GuitarCurriculum.com developers from Austin Classical Guitar, which serves to further anchor each music teachers’ knowledge.
These course have specialized tracks available for New Teachers, Veteran Teachers, and Elementary Teachers, with sessions covering a wide range of topics, including technique, pedagogy, conducting and advocacy, with hands-on teaching and feedback.
Look out for the next Teacher Summit, Summer 2026! The last session took place on July 10, 2024 a the 560 Music Center.
Learn about our 2022 session with Austin Classical Guitar through the blog post below:
In School Residencies
2024 Residency Artist - An Tran
2025-26 Residency Artist - Jiji
Exposing children to engaging and inspiring performers can impact their lives in ways we cannot even imagine. Since a Saturday evening performance can be difficult or impossible to attend for many kids in St. Louis, SLCG brings performers directly to them!
Each year we host one or more In-School Residencies where artists from our series travel to several schools to perform for and engage with students. Previous Residency Artists include The Kithara Duo, Duo Noire, and Grisha Goryachev.