Lily Afshar
World's largest Iranian Festival comes to Toronto again
Born in Tehran Lily was 10 years old when she began learning the guitar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree in guitar performance from The Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory of Music. At Florida State University Lily became the first woman in the world to gain a Doctorate of Music in guitar performance.
Biography
Born in Tehran, Lily was 10 years old when she began learning the guitar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music degree in guitar performance from The Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory of Music. At Florida State University, where she studied with Bruce Holzman, Lily became the first woman in the world to gain a Doctorate of Music in guitar performance. She has studied at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts and the Aspen Music Festival with Oscar Ghiglia. She received Diplomas of Merit from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. Lily was honored with the 2000 Orville H. Gibson Award for Best Female Classical Guitarist in Los Angeles. Her other performance awards include the Top Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition and Grand Prize in the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, among others. She has an active schedule of solo, chamber and concerto appearances in the US and around the world. Lily’s collaborations with international composers have resulted in premieres of new works by Reza Vali, Garry Eister, Gerard Drozd, Loris Chobanian, Arne Mellnas, Kamran Ince, Barbara Kolb, Marilyn Ziffrin, David Kechley, and Salvador Brotons. Currently, Lily is head of the University of Memphis guitar program.
Recordings
Lily Afshar has four recordings to her credit which have attracted international critical acclaim:
- "24 Caprichos de Goya, Op. 195" was released in 1994 by Summit Records.
- "A Jug of Wine and Thou” in 1999 by Summit Records.
- “Possession” released in 2002 released by Archer Records.
- “Hemispheres” released in 2006 released by Archer Records.
