SLCG Summer Guitar Gala 2025

What a wonderful evening of eclectic music on nylon-string guitars at our Summer Guitar Gala this past Saturday night at the Focal Point in Maplewood! Guitarists Vincent Varvel and Farshid Etniko performed two sets and then came together at the end with our very own Executive Director Brian Vaccaro! Thank you so much to Hobbes Tayloe for the fantastic concert photos.

The SLCG Summer Guitar Gala is an annual benefit concert that gives back to our Guitar Horizons education programming. This year, we presented to well-renown guitarists in the St. Louis community: -

Vincent Varvel: Jazz guitarist, composer, and professor of guitar at Washington University, performing an acoustic guitar set.

Farshid Etniko Soltanshahi: Iranian-American guitarist and composer, performing on a nylon-string guitar and various Middle-Eastern and Eastern European instruments.

We would like to give a huge thanks to everyone who was able to attend our Summer Guitar Gala! All proceeds from this fundraising event go towards Guitar Horizons, our education program which brings guitar ensemble classes to St. Louis schools who need it most. We are still accepting donations in honor of Guitar Horizons! Make a contribution on our website, link in bio: https://www.stlclassicalguitar.org/donate