Alan Hirsh began his collaboration with Aaron Shearer back in the 1980’s, writing music for the  ground-breaking 1988 three-volume method series: Learning the Classic Guitar published with Mel Bay.  He continued his collaboration with Aaron (along with Thomas Kikta) to develop The Shearer Method: Classical Guitar Foundations, Classical Guitar Developments, and Learning the Fingerboard by Alfred Music.  After Shearer’s passing, Alan extended the method, writing Classroom Shearer, and Shearer Method Books IV and V: Guitar Harmony, and Learning the Fingerboard Supplement.  Alan’s many guitar publications include Twenty Etudes in fixed Positions, New Music for Classic Guitar, Trio Concertino, Holiday, Folk, Sacred, and Renaissance Collections for guitar ensemble, as well as an extensive online catalogue of guitar ensemble music (guitarensemblemusic.com).

I studied with Mr. Shearer at Peabody 1966-1970 and received a BM Guitar ‘70.  Moved to Nashville,TN in 1972 and was a faculty member at the Blair Academy of Music which later became the Blair School of Music, Vanderbilt University. Retired as Professor of Guitar, Emeritus in 2017. I still enjoy performing as much as possible.   It was an honor to have known and studied with Mr. Shearer, and I cherish the memories of our friendship. 

Thomas Kikta is a versatile artist who has been the director of the Classical Guitar and Recording Arts and Sciences at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA. for thirty years.  A native of Pittsburgh, he studied Classic Guitar performance with Aaron Shearer at both the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He has performed around the country, including collaborations with the School of American Ballet and the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center.  With Mr. Shearer, he co-authored  the 3rd edition of “Classic Guitar Technique Vol 1,” published by Alfred.  His most recent works are “The Shearer Method: Classic Guitar Foundations,” “Classic Guitar Developments,” and “Learning the Fingerboard.”  Mr. Kikta has also written for Alfred’s Masterwork Editions, Carcassi: Melodic and Progressive Etudes Op.60 (2016). Thomas Kikta is an artist endorsee for Alfred Publishing, Alhambra Guitars, D’Addario Strings, Line 6 and Fishman Electronics.

I studied with Shearer in the 70s for about six years. I made a living playing classical guitar in restaurants for a few years. I had three hours of memorized material and I thank Shearer for teaching me how to memorize using visualization; I had a terrible musical memory. I wrote several books for Mel Bay during that time. Then I taught mathematics for 25 years. Now I’m retired and playing four string banjo and singing in a Dixieland band.

I attended the University of Southern California as a music performance major in Classical Guitar. After receiving my Bachelor of Music Degree in Guitar Performance from DePaul University in Chicago, I went on to Peabody Conservatory of Music, as a special student in graduate guitar studies with Aaron Shearer 1978-79. I currently teach private lessons out of my home studio and for the last 10 years taught guitar and general music as a certified music teacher in both public and private schools in the state of Arizona. alansclassicalguitar.com

Dr. Rowan has taught at Guilford College in Greensboro, NC since 1993.   Her duties include directing the guitar program, teaching majors and ensemble, and teaching academic courses such as: Music Appreciation, Music & Contemporary Culture, The Byrne Experience, and Guitar Pedagogy & Literature. The Guilford College Guitar Ensemble received 1st and 3rd prizes at the Brownsville Texas Guitar Ensemble Festival and Competition in 2011.  Kami guides students in the process of finding themselves through the guitar. She sees art as a tool for expression, self-awareness, and change. Kami also teaches a strong foundation of technique, which allows greater access to musicality and interpretation.   Kami completed her DMA and MM degrees in performance at Shenandoah Conservatory of Shenandoah University under the tutelage of Dr. Glenn Caluda. Dr. Rowan also studied with the renowned Aaron Shearer, at North Carolina School of the Arts, in Winston-Salem, NC, where she received her BM in performance.