

Michael Kagan
​
PRESIDENT
A passionate educator, performer, and advocate of the classical guitar, Michael Kagan enjoys a vibrant career as the Director of Guitar Studies at the Youth Performing Arts School (YPAS) in Louisville, Kentucky and also serves at the Tour Director and International Ensemble Competition Artistic Director
for the Guitar Foundation of America.

Dr. Andrew
Rhinehart
​
VICE
PRESIDENT
Dr. Andrew Rhinehart is a guitarist and music instructor who is an accomplished soloist and ensemble musician. Andrew holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music performance from the University of Louisville where he studied classical guitar with Daniel Boring and Dr. Stephen Mattingly. In 2015, Dr. Rhinehart earned the first doctorate in guitar performance in the state of Kentucky while attending the University of Kentucky. During his tenure at the University of Kentucky, Dr. Rhinehart served as a teaching assistant and was a student of Dr. Dieter Hennings. Currently, Dr. Rhinehart is a faculty member at Indiana University Southeast where he teaches guitar and music theory and directs the I.U.S. Guitar Ensemble.
He is also the band director and a faculty member at Elizabethtown Technical and Community College in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Chris Roseland
Chris Roseland holds a Bachelor of the Arts from Bellarmine University from 2011. He has an undergraduate degree in Music Performance with an emphasis in Jazz Guitar. While obtaining his undergraduate degree Chris studied with Jeff Sherman and Craig Wagner for his jazz education while simultaneously studying Classical Guitar with Stephen Mattingly and David Walker. He has been invited by organizations such as the Louisville Guitar Society, University of Kentucky Guitar Society and Bellarmine University Music Department as a featured soloist. During the 2013 Guitar Foundation of America Festival, Chris, along with the University of Louisville Guitar Ensemble, premiered Gerald Garcia “Blue Nose Ballads” before an evening concert of Aniello Desiderio. In 2014, Chris graduated from the University of Louisville with a Masters in Classical Guitar. Chris has been lucky enough to experience master classes with a great deal of brilliant artists such as Marcin Dylla, Dale Kavanagh, Denis Azabagic, and Oscar Ghiglia. He has placed and won prizes in competitions such as the University of Louisville, University of Memphis, Middle Tennessee State, and Eastern Carolina University International Guitar Festival and Competition. Chris began teaching at
Transylvania University in the Spring of 2017.
TREASURER
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Timothy Blunk
​
Guitarist Timothy Blunk has been a student of music for over 15 years. A Louisville native, Timothy began his education at the J. Graham Brown School, and received his B.M. and M.M. from the University of Louisville. He has enjoyed a teaching and performing career with highlights such as director of guitar ensembles at the Youth Performing Arts School, a featured performer at the 2013 GFA, third place at the Macauley chamber music competition, and many varied and uniquely demanding teaching positions at private studios around the Louisville Metro Area. He plays a wide range of musical styles, and specializes in teaching beginner’s guitar, classical guitar, jazz, and music theory.
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Timothy has had the opportunity to study with many world-renowned pedagogues including Stephen Mattingly, Martha Masters, Craig Wagner, Gene Bertoncini, Corey Christiansen, Stephen Aron, Thomas Kirchoff, Ana Vidovic, and Oscar Ghiglia. He regularly plays events in and around the Louisville area. During his studies at the University of Louisville, he was a member of the University Guitar Ensemble, University Chorus, and the New Music Ensemble. He premiered new works with all three of these ensembles, and actively works with living composers to further the guitar in contemporary music.
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND OUTREACH
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Dr. Stephen
Mattingly
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Stephen Mattingly has been warmly received by audiences as a soloist and founding member of the Tantalus Quartet. As recipient of the Theodore Presser Award, he recorded and published critical editions of the complete guitar chamber works by Franz Schubert. His first solo recording, Passages, was released
on SoundSet Records in 2016.
Stephen enjoys a vibrant career as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Louisville, where he directs classical guitar studies. His students have won top prizes in international competitions and serve in teaching positions at high schools and colleges. He is a member of the Kentucky Arts Council Performing Arts Directory and has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Silesian Guitar Autumn Festival in Poland, the Panamá Guitar Festival, the Tampere Festival in Finland, the Guitar Foundation of America Convention, and the Iserlohn Guitar Symposium in Germany, among others.
In addition to his performing and teaching engagements,
Stephen is the Director of the University of Louisville Guitar Festival and Competition. Alongside this role, Stephen is the chairman of the Guitar Foundation of America Board of Trustees.
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
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Nikita Taylor
Mattingly
​
ADMINISTRATOR
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Alone among the board, Nikita is not guitarist, but uses her office skills to aid the Society with administrative functions, and employs her hostessing skills when called upon at LGS and
other guitar related events.