Program Details:

The Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) in Louisville, KY is one of the largest arts magnet schools in the nation, with a history and tradition as storied as the nation's largest Victorian neighborhood in which it is situated. Launched in 2016, the YPAS Guitar Major is the school’s latest offering and the first college preparatory magnet program of its kind in the state of Kentucky. Directed by Ascher Taylor-Schroeder, this program regularly hosts international artists and explores inspired collaborations among other YPAS departments and the Louisville community at large. Recent guest artists and teachers for master classes have included Jakob Bangsø, Salzburg Guitar Trio, Ekachai Jearakul, Nicholas Goluses, Silviu Ciulei, Phillip de Fremery, Thibaut Garcia, Martha Masters, Pierre Bibault, Xavier Jara, and Jeremy Collins.

The YPAS Guitar program, as the newest addition in the Performing Arts major, is joining Orchestra, Band, Piano, Vocal Music, Theatre, Musical Theater as well as Design and Production. With the wide variety of art majors, opportunities for artistic collaborations between different disciplines are bountiful. Founding director Michael Kagan’s vision for community through the arts has brought about several original collaborations. Even in the early phase of its program, the guitar students have already performed with the Dance Department in an original choreography entitled Duende that celebrated Spanish and Latin American culture; two song cycles with the Vocal department with performances of Siete canciones populares españolas by Manuel de Falla and set of lieder by Franz Schubert based on the poetry of Goethe; a Concerto for Guitar Quartet and Guitar Orchestra by Gerald Garcia that was performed with the University of Louisville Guitar Program; and YPAS guitarists have also collaborated with the YPAS Orchestra and the duPont Manual Visual Arts magnet to present a program of chamber music that featured live improvised painting entitled Invocacíon.

The program was recently awarded with a Guitar Foundation of America Certification of Excellence for pre-college education.