2017-02-26 - The First Ten Years

The First Ten Years: A Remarkable List of Accomplishments

In 2017, VCGS president and original founding member Galina Jitlina summarized what VCGS had accomplished in the first decade of the society. She was just about to step down as VCGS president and hand the reins over to Alec Pearson.

“In our first 10 years, we have presented more than 50 visiting artist concerts, 15 member concerts, 14 student concerts, 58 guitar socials and open mic nights, 25 guitar nights at local cafes, 7 masterclasses, multiple lectures, 12 scholarships and approved five guitar loan applications. All of this has been accomplished by volunteers.”

Galina frequently hosted visiting performers at her home and one of her most memorable guests was the great French guitarist and composer Roland Dyens who performed in Vancouver on September 20th, 2014. Sadly, Roland died just a few years later in 2016.

Here are some of the many notable local and international guitarists who performed over these years:

Michael Kolk - July 13, 2007 and again September 29, 2012

Jeffrey McFadden and Andrew Zohn Sept 22, 2007

Alan Rinehart March 29 2008

HK Duo - Drew Henderson & Michael Kolk Oct. 2, 2009 and April 29, 2017

Dimitri Illarionov Feb. 7, 2010

Harold Micay Nov. 8 2010

Irina Kulikova Nov. 26, 2010

Celso Machado April 2 2011

Alex Dunn Sept. 11, 2011

MIchael Partington Nov. 5, 2011

Johannes Moller March 31, 2012

James Reid Oct. 20, 2013

Vladimir Gorbach March 20, 2013 (and he’s coming back this season on December 4th, 2026)

Roland Dyens Sept. 20, 2014

Itamar Erez March 4, 2017

Xavier Jara Nov. 25, 2017

Roland Dyens Sept. 20, 2014

At the end of her ten-year summary, Galina wrote: “And we’d like to do more. More of these events but maybe something new. A festival..or a competition.”

Galina got her wish. In July 2020, the first Vancouver Classical Guitar Festival was launched and in 2022 the first Okanagan Guitar Festival was held in Kelowna. VCGS hasn’t started a guitar competition but it’s something we still think about. Maybe in the next few years….