Why you should be excited...

Bokyung Byun returns to Wilmington Classical Guitar as the reigning GFA champion!

Bokyung Byun

“Byun’s interpretation enlivens them with creative phrasings, articulations, spacing, and dynamics, which take the listener beyond most performances I have heard.”

Jim McCutcheon - American Record Guide

“From the first notes of the “Gallarda” from Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Escarraman, we are treated to extraordinary musicianship, technical assurance, and beauty of sound.”

Al Kunze - Soundboard Magazine

“She showed off a thorough expressivity and impressive technical agility, seemingly without breaking a sweat…Byun went on to capture something supremely blissful, beautiful, and meaningful in this music.”

Jarrett Hoffman - ClevelandClassical.com
2021 GFA International Concert Artist Competition winner

Bokyung Byun

Date & TimeSaturday April 29, 2023 at 7:30 pm
AdmissionGeneral: $20
Senior/Student: $15
Member: $10
TicketsAvailable at the door or in our Online Store
LocationPresbyterian Church of the Covenant, 503 Duncan Rd., Wilmington, DE 19809
Artist Websitesbokyungbyun.com
Opening ArtistBob Richey and Matt Kaplan

The Wilmington Classical Guitar Society is pleased to bring the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition Winner Tour to Delaware for a seventh straight season! The prestigious GFA Competition is known for drawing the most talented competitors from around the world, and winning the competition is a coveted milestone in the careers of many young musicians. Don’t miss your chance to see this world-class artist.

This year’s GFA touring artist is Korean guitarist Bokyung Byun. As winner of the Rose Augustine First Prize in the GFA ICAC, Bo will tour over 50 cities in North America and Canada, including a recital  in Carnegie’s Weill Hall.

Works by Sainz de la Maza, Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Ponce, Kaya, Tansman, Luiz, and Gnattali.

And as a special added bonus, WCG is proud to be presenting opening artists Bob Richey and Matt Kaplan, premiering a new work for electronics and classical guitar by Bob Richey. You don’t want to miss this!

Please share our event on Facebook and invite your friends!

MASTERCLASS 4/29/23: Bokyung Byun will be teaching a masterclass in the afternoon, April 29 at 1:30 pm in the West Room of Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. The masterclass is free to observe and open to the public, but registration is required. Register as an auditor to sit in and hear what Ms. Byun has to teach our guest performers, or register as a performer for your chance to perform for Bo and have her critique your performance (a small tuition fee applies). Register as either an auditor or performer in our Online Store.

About the Artist

Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine as “confident and quite extraordinary,” Korean guitarist, Bokyung Byun enjoys a reputation as one of the most sought-after guitarists of her generation. Byun holds the distinction of being the first female winner of the prestigious JoAnn Falletta International Guitar Concerto Competition, where Falletta herself described Byun’s performance as “stunning, showcasing her gorgeous tone, immaculate technique, and sophisticated musicianship.” This win is among many wherein Byun excelled in the competitive circuit, including winning the grand prize at the Guitar Foundation of America International Concert Artist Competition, known as the most prestigious guitar competition in the world.

A bevy of orchestras, festivals, workshops, and guitar societies look to Byun for solo performances and masterclasses. In recent seasons, Byun has performed as a soloist with orchestras, including the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Utah Symphony, West Los Angeles Symphony, New Juilliard Ensemble, the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra, among others. Her solo recital highlights include performances at the Kumho Young Artist Series, Philadelphia Guitar Festival, Aspen-Salida Concert Series, Toronto Guitar Weekend, Guitar Montréal, Ellnora | The Guitar Festival, and San Diego Guitar Festival. She was acclaimed for performing “eloquently through a diverse and challenging program,” by Michelle Fratus, president of the board of the Knoxville Guitar Society, and having “confidence, passion, excellent projection and great dynamic contrast” by Heather Morand Clark, president of the Guitar Society of Toronto.

Committed to expanding the role of a 21st-century musician, Byun’s concert program often features contemporary music alongside traditional repertoire. As Byun herself says, “it’s vital and exciting to audiences for concerts to join the new with the old. For guitar music to continue to grow, I believe that new works must actively be cultivated in programming, and it is my hope that audiences leave my performances with new experiences.” This skill at navigating both classic repertoire and fresh work has led her to co-found Sounding Board: The New Music Initiative for Guitarists and Composers. The project focuses on promoting collaborative relationships between composers and performers to create new works for guitar, and its inaugural festival in Besançon, France in 2019 has been praised as “extraordinary, in the strict sense of the word,” by La Presse de Gray in France.

Byun’s debut recording in 2020 has been praised by Soundboard Magazine as “a very beautiful disc. From the first notes of the “Gallarda” from Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Escarraman, we are treated to extraordinary musicianship, technical assurance, and beauty of sound.” American Record Guide says “Byun’s interpretation enlivens them with creative phrasings, articulations, spacing, and dynamics, which take the listener beyond most performances I have heard.”

Born in Seoul, Korea, Byun began playing guitar at the age of six. At eleven, she took the stage for her first solo recital, leading to an early start in her teen years performing numerous concert tours around Korea, to enthusiastic response, including millions of views on YouTube. By her teen years, she had gained national attention for first-prize finishes in three renowned competitions: the Korea Guitar Association, the Music Association of Korea, and the Guitar Foundation of America International Youth Competition.

Byun soon moved to the United States, where she briefly studied in Los Angeles before moving to New York City, where she entered The Juilliard School at the age of sixteen. She holds Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California. She is grateful to the masterful instruction of her pedagogues, who include Scott Tennant, William Kanengiser, Chen Zhi, Tae-soo Kim, and Sharon Isbin.

In 2020, Byun co-founded Guitarlab which has provided an innovative online learning platform offering cutting-edge classes designed for young professionals around the world. Byun is currently on the guitar faculty of California State University Fullerton. She is sponsored by Augustine Strings and plays a guitar by Dieter Mueller (2019).