Album Notes

Known around the world for her powerful and adventurous performances, Lily Afshar is fulfilling Andrés Segovia's prediction that she would become "a beautiful celebrity." She has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras and premiered works to sold out halls in Europe, Asia, North and South America, Central America, Africa and Australia. England's Classical Guitar summed up a recent performance with one word: "Stunning." The Washington Post labeled her on-stage execution as "impeccable."

Most recently, Afshar was honored with the 2000 Orville H. Gibson Award for Best Female Classical Guitarist in Los Angeles. Her other performance awards include the Top Prize in the Guitar Foundation of America Competition, Grand Prize in the Aspen Music Festival Guitar Competition and First Prizes in both the Music Teachers' National Association and the American String Teachers' Association guitar competitions. She also received the Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship Award in Music, and the National Endowment for the Arts Recording Award.

Born in Tehran, Afshar was 10 years old when she began learning the guitar. She graduated with a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Music in guitar performance from the Boston Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. At Florida State University, Afshar became the first woman in the world to gain a Doctorate of Music in guitar performance. She was selected to play for Maestro Andrés Segovia in his master classes held at the University of Southern California.

Currently, Afshar serves as head of the University of Memphis guitar program where she received the 2000 Board of Visitors Eminent Faculty Award. Afshar regularly conducts master classes in conjunction with her touring. Her recordings of 24 Caprichos de Goya, Op. 195 by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco and A Jug of Wine and Thou were released on Summit Records.Her Five Popular Persian Ballads are published by Mel Bay Editions, Inc.

For additional information visit www.archer-records.com