The Mill Ave Chamber Players was awarded the Glendale Performing Arts Partnership this spring to keep this 25-year-old series available for the citizens of Glendale. Presenting concerts on the last Thursday of each month, MACP has partnered with GCC Guitar Studio, Phoenix Chamber Brass, and Chris and Lena Jacome Flamengo Duo to present six concerts in this series.
The Guitar Ensembles of Glendale Community College, under the direction of Chuck Hulihan, are internationally recognized as one of the strongest and most active of the community and junior college guitar programs throughout the USA. The ensemble has premiered works written for the group including Rex Willis' "All In A Days Work" (2012), Mark Houghton's "Twangology" (2011), and Phil Moloso's "Kindertoten II" (2010). Guest conductors have included Mark M Davis from the Providence Mandolin Orchestra and Rex Willis from State College of Florida. In spring of 2013, the group was honored to perform with Brazilian composer and guitarist Celso Machado for the Grand Canyon Guitar Society at the Coconino Center for the Arts. Music written for the ensemble is published on both Les Productions D'Oz (Twangology) and Clear Note Publications (All In A Day's Work).
The GCC Guitar Program has hosted residencies and workshops with some of the world's most accomplished artists including GRAMMY Award winning guitarists William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant, Andrew York, and David Russell, accomplished composers Nikita Koshkin, Maximo Diego Pujol, John W. Duarte, and Celso Machado, and international touring ensembles including Quaternaglia, Santa Fe Guitar Quartet, Brazil Guitar Quartet, and the John Jorgenson Quintet.
GCC Guitar students have consistently taken top honors in the Maricopa Community Colleges Music Competitions for both solo guitar and chamber music since 2000, and have been accepted to the nation's top universities and conservatories including Peabody Conservatory, University of Texas Austin, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, University of New Mexico, Eastman School of Music, and Berkley College of Music.