Dedicated to the interests of classical guitarists and those who enjoy classical guitar music.
Our next meeting will be Saturday, November 1st at 7:30 pm. This meeting is dedicated to our annual Bickford Competition and will take place at our permanent location - Faith Lutheran Church at 7500 De Soto Ave in Canoga Park, CA.
This Saturday - November 1st - AGS Hosts Our Annual Bickford Competition
The 2025 Bickford Competition is open to the public and will be held at our monthly AGS meeting on November 1st at 7:30 pm at the Faith Lutheran Church. Our competition is unique in that we feature junior classical guitarists who age from 8 to 17 years. This competition is our way to foster and encourage the future of the classical guitar and our organization. It is also a shining example of how many excellent teachers are out there working with young students to nurture their talents and guide them toward mastery the classical guitar. AGS is proud to give these young contestants our players platform stage and our audience on November 1st at 7:30 pm. I assure you that their competition performances are worthy of your attendance and applause.
Here are the pieces that the competitors ages 8 - 17 will perform.
Vahdah Olcott Bickford
photo from about 1915
The American Guitar Society is the oldest, continuously operating guitar society in the United States. It was founded in 1923 by Vahdah Olcott Bickford (VOB), who was born in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1885 and died in Los Angeles in 1980. She was considered one of the foremost concert guitarists in the United States from 1910 to 1957, at which time she retired from the stage to devote the rest of her life to teaching and publishing. VOB published a number of original compositions and arrangements of popular pieces for the guitar, where she declared AGS as the publisher. Visit the LIBRARY tab to view and download all 20 of the works she published via the AGS organization.
Our Mission
The purpose of the AGS is to promote the beauty of the Classical Guitar via Education, Scholarships, Concerts, and monthly Meetings where members perform.
Meet, Play, Listen
Our next meeting will be held at 7:30pm on November 1st. We meet at the FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH located at 7500 De Soto Ave, Canoga Park. Please join AGS and sign up to perform your classical guitar pieces at an upcoming monthly meeting. Our meeting dates for remainder of our new fiscal year are these: November 1, December 6, January 10, 2026 (second Saturday due to New Year's), February 7, March 7, April 11 (second Saturday due to Easter), May 2, June 6.
