Dedicated to the interests of classical guitarists and those who enjoy classical guitar music.
Our next meeting will be Saturday, December 6th at 7:30 pm. At this meeting we will hear a nice selection of holiday music played by our members. We will also hear a special 30 minute presentation of holiday music from guitar virtuso Wesley Park. Our December 6th meeting will take place at our new permanent location - The Faith Lutheran Church at 7500 De Soto Ave in Canoga Park, CA.
Please use this link to donate to the AGS on Giving Tuesday. DONATE to AGS
In this PayPal link you can designate a purpose and direction for your donation.
Specify an amount then click on “+ Write A Note” to specify your donation purpose.
Last year the AGS received over $1500 in generous donations on Giving Tuesday.
Thank you!
On Saturday November 1st - AGS Hosted Our Annual Bickford Competition
Our competition featured 11 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 very proud of the young contestants that performed world class compositions for the classical guitar on our players platform.
In our Division 1, First Place was awarded to Joaquim Park and Second Place was awarded to John Barsoumian.
In Division 2, First Place was awarded to Hea Lee and Second Place was awarded to Dylan Watanabe.
Division 1
AGS President Gregory Newton, 1st place - Joaquim Park, 2nd place - John Barsoumian, AGS Treasurer Mark Achuff
Division 2
AGS President Gregory Newton, 2nd place - Dylan Watanabe, 1st place - Hea Lee, AGS Treasurer Mark Achuff
AGS is busy building a new Youtube library of videos of our performers who bring excellent presentations to our monthly meetings. We have just added a new performance videos from our June 2025 meeting. One new video features Mark Charles Smith performing his compositions.
Use this link to have a look at the AGS Youtube Channel.
Please see our Events page to read a review of Eric Henderson’s AGS concert performed on October 25th.
The AGS 2026 Guitar Orchestra is now in progress with rehearsals
in preparation for our annual fund raising concert!
On Saturday April 25th, 2026, the AGS 2026 Guitar Orchestra will present our annual concert which will feature an all new selection of music.
Click on this link to see the scrap book for our 2025 AGS Guitar Orchestra event.
Please visit our AGS Library to browse the 20 publications that Vahdah created to enhance the repertoire of the classical guitarist. As a starter, we suggest spending some time with this one
The Chopin Album for Guitar.
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 December 6th. 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: 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.
