VGO/MEA 2025
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What We Are Planning
VGO Live
Building on the success of the Hawaiʻi VGO Live video, which highlighted the local guitar students at Punahou School and their cultural heritage, we are now focusing on supporting select guitar programs across the U.S. In 2025, we will visit the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College division to document their guitar program. Over the course of five days, we will conduct video interviews, capture individual student performances, and record a full orchestra session. Approved by the Dean of the Conservatory, this project will result in a short documentary film showcasing the Pre-College guitar department, led by Scott Cmiel. It will feature interviews with Scott and several other educators as well as 3-4 individual video performances by individual students and the guitar orchestra.
Guitar Ensemble Videos
1. We will be working with KMEA and Kentucky All-State Guitar Orchestra to produce a beautiful virtual guitar orchestra video featuring over 60 students from across the state performing You’re My Best Friend by Queen.
2. We are collaborating with the wonderful San Francisco Conservatory of Music Youth Guitar Orchestra, performing After JSB by Ronald Pearl.
VGO Heritage
VGO Heritage – Exploration of music by indigenous people
The VGO Heritage project has blossomed into a meaningful exploration of heritage through music. The 2024 installment, Niicugniaqa Nunakilili, celebrated Alaska Native culture through classical guitar, blending music and storytelling. Its release drew significant interest from educators and ensemble leaders, inspiring us to take the project further. Our vision for the 2025 VGO Heritage aims to adapt the piece for live performances, combining live ensembles with re-edited video and audio featuring Andrew Weaver and his dance group. We plan to create versions for guitar ensembles, guitar and ukulele groups, wind ensembles, and string orchestras. This effort will deepen connections between young musicians and Alaska Native culture, fulfilling our promise to partners like the Alaska Native Heritage Center and the communities of Anchorage. Through music, we aim to keep these cultural stories alive and accessible to future generations.
Ensemble Collaborations
One of our focal points in 2025 will be an international virtual ensemble project. An ongoing effort to collaborate with talented young guitar ensembles and orchestras worldwide has sparked strong interest among participating educators. This project will be recorded in VGO Standard format, showcasing entire ensembles from various states (New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, South Carolina) and other countries across the globe, such as Slovenia, Germany, Netherlands, UK and Spain. We aim to capture individual players as well as larger orchestra sections performing together, creating a visually striking and expansive musical collaboration.
VGO Connect
In the 2023/24 season, we hosted over a dozen virtual and in-person classroom visits by renowned guitarists, including Alan Liu, Kevin Loh, Bokyung Byun, and TY Zhang. These visits brought joy and inspiration to young guitarists across the United States, with guest artists sharing their music and engaging in lively discussions with students. The feedback from educators, like Matt Denman of Classen School of Advanced Studies, underscores the value of these experiences as powerful sources of inspiration. With ten classroom teachers already signed up for this school year, we are excited to continue offering these enriching opportunities for students across the country.
Lead Guitar Collab
We are collaborating with Lead Guitar to create two remarkable videos featuring up to 200 students from across the country and two star guest soloists.
The first project will showcase Douglas Lora alongside Lead Guitar students nationwide, performing Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir. The second project, scheduled for April/May 2025, will feature a new program and guest artist, with details to be announced soon.
Our Focus
Pristine Audio Quality
We strive for perfection when it comes to audio. This is why we spend upwards of 150 hours editing every single submitted track in each project. We also use automatization of volume to bring musical ideas forward and advanced mixing techniques such as macro and micro tuning, noise manipulation, multi-band compression etc. We finish each mix with a high-end reverb.
Visually Striking Transitions
We are always creating new custom animated grids, transitions and sequences so the viewers stay focused throughout the videos.
Story Driven Videos
Our approach is story first and we are always aiming to adapt our visual language to the theme of the composition.
Educational Value
Throughout the season, we are organizing project-specific Zoom meetings with educators and students, advising them how to go about recording their submissions. Recording is a craft that takes time to master, but we want to give all participants a head start.
We also created fun, animated checklists as well as short video tutorials for the students. Check an example here.