Afshar, Lily

Guitarist Lily Afshar, hailed by the Washington Post as "remarkable, impeccable," is head of the guitar program at the University of Memphis. Afshar received her Doctor of Music degree in Guitar Performance in 1989 at Florida State University. She was top prize winner in the 1988 Guitar Foundation of America competition, Grand Prize winner in the 1986 Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition, First Prize winner in both the 1984 Music Teachers' National Association and the 1983 American String Teachers' Association Guitar Competitions.

In the summer of 1986, she was among the twelve international guitarists who were selected to play for Maestro Andrés Segovia in his masterclasses held at the University of Southern California. She then appeared in an interview on NBC Nightly News.

Her interest in contemporary music has led to premieres of new works by Loris Chobanian, Arne Mellnas, Otto Laske, Robert G. Patterson, Marilyn Ziffrin, Salvador Brotons and John Baur, among others. She has given numerous concerts in the United States, England, Canada, France, Italy, and South America. She has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Banff School of Fine Arts, the Menton Music Festival in the south of France, and the American Academy in Rome.

Dr. Afshar's articles on "Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Goya" are published multi-lingually by Gitarre & Laute, Guitar Review, and "Il Fronimo."

Born in Tehran, Dr. Afshar came to the United States in 1977 to pursue guitar studies at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where she was the first guitarist to be awarded a scholarship. After receiving her Bachelor of Music degree, she continued her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she earned a master's degree in guitar performance. She has studied at the Banff Centre for Fine Arts and the Aspen Music Festival. She received the diploma of merit from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, in 1987, 1988, and 1991.

Lily Afshar's recording of the "24 Caprichos de Goya" by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco which is available on Summit Records, has been hailed as an "unequivocal success" by Guitar Review.

 

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