Dedicated to the interests of classical guitarists and those who enjoy classical guitar music.
Our next meeting will be held on Saturday, November 7th at 7:30 pm and it will be
Our 2026 annual Bickford Competition!
Our Bickford competition is open to the public to view and appreciate. The competition features seven contestants in our DIV 1 (ages 8 - 13,) and seven contenstants in DIV 2 (ages 14-17.) All contestants will be performing pieces from the classical guitar repertoire on traditional classical guitar, nylon string instruments. This competition is always a remarkable event as we get to witness these young students perform so beautifully with care and confidence. See our Scholarships page to see the 1st and 2nd place recipients from the 2025 competition, and to learn more about the competition and the prizes awarded.
Click here to read our NOVEMBER 2026 Newsletter
In the above mentioned November 2026 Newsletter, the article on the “ELO Schottische” refers to a guitar duet version. Click here to view it.
Do you love Brazilian Guitar music? Would you like to join The Online Guitar Choro Club led by Douglas Lora? Read this attached article and join his monthly choro lesson!
Zarh Bickford writes about the Founding of the American Guitar Society
Vahdah Olcott Bickford's rearrival in Los Angeles in 1923, marked the beginning of activities which led to the formation of what was first called the Los Angeles Guitar Society. This was the first guitar society to appear in the United States.
Inspired by the presence of such a well-known guitarist, teacher and writer as Vahdah Olcott Bickford, Mr. J. A. Larralde, a local guitar enthusiast, invited one day in September, 1923 a group of guitarists, teachers, students, etc., to come together at his office in the Los Angeles Stock Exchange Building to meet this new, vital personality.
This gathering of 30 or 35 people, intended as an informal social function, evolved finally as the inaugural meeting of the Society. Vahdah Olcott Bickford quickly vetoed the rather arbitrary plans first presented of meeting weekly, playing and talking shop, by saying she wouldn't be interested in such an aimless group. Her ambitious dynamism fired them all with the desire to take part in her plans for a definite educational program to promote interest in the classic guitar. She wanted to actively sponsor concerts, encourage composers to enrich the literature of the guitar and urge the sale of such literature in all music publications. The group unanimously and immediately appointed her Musical Director of the Society. Other officials elected on that occasion were George C. Lindsey (one of Vahdah’s childhood teachers) as President, and Zarh Bickford as Vice-President.
In an effort to widen the scope of interest in the classic guitar, the name of the Society was changed to the American Guitar Society at Vahdah Bickford's suggestion. To help with its promotion, Vahdah donated the proceeds from several of her concerts to establish a Publication Fund for the purpose of publishing superior works for the guitar.
- Zarh Bickford, from Guitar Review, No.2, June 1959
Thank you for supporting our annual fund raiser concert event of April 18th, 2026!
The 2027 AGS Guitar Orchestra is now in progress to present our 2027 fund raising concert on MAY 22nd.
Thank you for the work and dedication of conductor, Pepe Perez, and our GO director, Michael Camp.
The 2026 AGS Guitar Orchestra
Please visit our AGS Library to see interesting historic photos, and browse the collection of 20 booklets of classical guitar music that our founder, Vahdah Olcott Bickford, lovingly transcribed, compiled, and published over a span of 30 years. You will also find the doctoral dissertation from Kathy Acosta Zavala on the Life of Vahdah Olcott Bickford and the History of the American Guitar Society. You will also see links to our new AGS Youtube Channel, and our prior youtube channel that contains over 200 videos of performers from AGS meetings dating back to 2010.
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 any 20 of the works she published via our AGS organization.
The purpose of the AGS is to promote the beauty of the Classical Guitar via Education, Scholarships, Concerts, and monthly Meetings where members perform.
Our Mission
Our next meeting will be held at 7:30pm on November 7th. 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.
Meet, Play, Listen
Our meeting schedule for the rest of our new 2027 fiscal year is as follows: November 7, December 5, January 9 - 2027, February 6, March 6, April 3, May 1, and June 5.
The AGS Guitar Orchestra with conductor, Vahdah Olcott Bickford. circa 1927. Click here to see the names of these early AGS members.