Gerard Garno

Gerard Garno began serious study of the acoustic guitarat age 11. Shortly thereafter, he heard therecordings of Andrés Segovia and was inspired topursue the study of classical guitar. He was tutoredby guitar instructor Ken Hummer until he began his universitytraining at the age of 18.Gerard received hiscollege education at theCincinnati Conservatory ofMusic with Professor ClareCallahan, a student ofSegovia. He graduatedfrom that institutionMagna Cum Laude in1988.During his collegeyears, Garno continued todevelop his appreciationof the Segovia heritage ashe studied with OscarGhiglia and Eliot Fisk, also students of Segovia, during summercourses at the Aspen Music School.In 1983 Gerard was accepted to study with one of America’smost successful guitarists, Christopher Parkening, at a three daymaster class held at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania.This was to be the first of several master classes that Garno participatedin with Parkening over the next few years. He wasselected to be a part of a group of students from that class whoperformed a special recital. After the concert, master class organizerDavid Stafford wrote that Gerard’s performance “...reallyturned the audience on and helped make it possibly the best studentrecital that Chris has had in a master class.” Parkeningissued a promotional statement on Gerard’s behalf in 1988 whichsaid that Garno was a “...gifted young player.”Garno is the first-prize winner of the 1981 Society ofAmerican Musicians National Competition, a prize winner in the1983 Music Teachers National Association Competition, firstprizewinner of the 1984 Society of American Musicians NationalCompetition, first-prize winner of the 1986 American StringTeachers Association National Competition, and was a finalist inthe 1987 Toronto International Guitar Competition.After his graduation from the Cincinnati Conservatory in1988, he made his living as a full time concert artist, touringextensively in the United States and Canada. Garno resides inMichigan, with his wife and children. In addition to his work inthe field of music, he is currently pursuing a career in law. Hehas written several books for Mel Bay Publications and hasalso made over a dozen recordings.