In an effort to help talented young artists who are on the onset of their performance careers develop their careers, Aguado Guitar Concerts is happy to offer an opportunity to give a public concert sponsored by Aguado Guitar Concerts – a Rising Star Concert. This opportunity is available to young artists not over 30 who do not have a fully established performance career. Aguado Guitar Concerts will provide the artists a concert fee, a chance to perform in the Community Lutheran Church Sanctuary, a printed program, and include their concert in the advertisements on its mailing list. The artists are expected to participate actively in advertising their concert and recruiting their audience. Young artists are welcome to submit their applications to Aguado Guitar Concerts Director at concerts1@aguadoguitar.org. The application needs to include a bio and a professional CD or a live video recording of a previous concert. Artists can submit their application for the 2025/2026 season.
We are excited to present our first Rising Star artist on our concert series, Benjamin Gascon.
Distinguished as a finalist in multiple national competitions, Benjamin Gascon is a dedicated and accomplished classical guitarist. His performances have garnered top placements in prestigious events,including second place at the Boston Guitar Festival and third place at the Southern Guitar Festival.
Deeply dedicated to musical craftsmanship, Gascon shares a repertoire that seamlessly intertwines Classical- and Romantic-era masterpieces with contemporary compositions. He has been invited to perform for the Estrella Classical Guitar, Honey Acres Music Center, and Emerson Avenue Salons concert series, and is scheduled to perform this season at the Arts Club of Washington, The Church of the Epiphany, and the Aguado Guitar Rising Star Concert Series. Additionally, he performs regularly in the Guitar Department concerts at the esteemed Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.
Gascon is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate at the Peabody Conservatory, where he previously earned both a Master of Music and a Bachelor of Music in Classical Guitar Performance under the mentorship of Julian Gray. His foundational training began with pre-college studies at the University of Denver’s Lamont School of Music with Jonathan Leathwood.
Benjamin’s program includes a selection from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in G-minor arranged for guitar as well as works by two master guitarist-composers from Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which reveal the beauty and diversity of guitar music in 18th century Europe. Closing the program is the stunning—but rarely heard—Sonata No. 1 for guitar by Argentinian composer Carlos Guastavino. Benjamin Gascon performs on a Daniel Friederich guitar from 1973.
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