Board of Directors
Ascher Taylor-Schroeder
PRESIDENT
A passionate performer and educator with a background in rock &
jazz guitar and classical trumpet, in addition to his classical guitar training. Ascher holds a Bachelors of Music Education from Murray State University and a Masters of Music, with an emphasis in string pedagogy from the University of Louisville. As a performer Ascher has a particular passion for the commission of new music for the guitar and chamber music. This has lead to several premiers of new pieces as well as performances with guitar quartet, trio, duo,
violin duo, voice and string quartet.
Ascher currently serves as Guitar Department Director at the Youth Performing Arts School, conductor and music director of the Louisville Mandolin Orchestra, and is a member of the chimera quartet.
Joey Piellucci
VICE-PRESIDENT&
AV MANAGER
Guitarist Joey Piellucci has spent over a decade studying and performing on the instrument. At age 12, he started on the electric guitar and later pursued the classical style while studying at San Diego Mesa College. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at California State University, Northridge, where he was awarded numerous scholarships and was part of the Honor's Guitar Quartet, studying under John Dearman. He was a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Louisville School of Music, where he received a Master of Music degree in Performance with a concentration in String Pedagogy under Dr. Stephen Mattingly. He has traveled widely to further his music education, touring with the San Diego Mesa College choir in the Czech Republic and Poland, attending the CSU Summer Arts "La Guitarra Española"program in Granada, Spain, and volunteering at the 2023 Guitar Foundation of America Convention in New York City as the private lessons coordinator.
Joey currently teaches in the Louisville area and performs as a member of the Chimera Quartet. He enjoys helping out other nearby music nonprofits such as the Community Music Alliance
whenever he can.
Ava Bradley
TREASURER
Ava, an orchestra librarian and administrator, has previously worked with Charlotte Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Louisiana Philharmonic, and San Francisco Ballet, and was an intern at the Louisville Orchestra.She has worked for numerous community programs, such as serving as Operations Manager for Mozart in the Knobs, a Southern-Indiana-based summer orchestra festival.
She currently serves as an Executive Assistant
at the Louisville Orchestra. She also manages tours for her
partner, concert guitarist Xavier Jara, and teaches piano
and guitar at Highlands Music Academy.
Madison Rose
SECRETARY & MEDIA MANAGER
Madison is a passionate advocate of music and the arts. She began her studies and love of music at the young age of 9, and has performed as either a singer or french hornist
in numerous ensembles since then.
She received her Bachelor's of Music in Voice & Opera Performance from California State University - Northridge, where she
performed in multiple operas and was a member of
the Northridge Singers Choral Ensemble.
Although she is the only non-guitarist on the board she utilizes her
administrative skills and love of the arts to help
support the Louisville Guitar Society.
She currently teaches group classes and private voice lessons in Louisville and Southern Indiana and is the Conductor of the
Community Music Alliance Community Choir. She also serves on the
CMA Board of Directors and is the Program Coordinator
for their Workshop Series.
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Dr. Stephen
Mattingly
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Stephen Mattingly – guitarist, has been warmly received by audiences in the United States and Europe as a soloist and as a founding member of the Tantalus Quartet.
Stephen enjoys a vibrant teaching career directing classical guitar studies as Professor of Guitar at the University of Louisville, where he has been recognized as a distinguished professor for creative activity. His students are successfully earning top-prizes in competitions and graduate awards at lauded programs across the US and in Europe. The University of Louisville Guitar Studio typically includes 12-15 graduate and undergraduate students in degree programs including music education, music therapy, new media, and performance. Graduates of the UofL guitar studio hold teaching appointments at the secondary and post-secondary levels.
Stephen earned a Doctorate of Music and a Theory Pedagogy Certificate at the Florida State University under the instruction of renowned pedagogue Bruce Holzman. Prior to his doctoral studies, Stephen completed a two-year residence in Germany where he was awarded an Artist Diploma while studying with Dale Kavanagh  at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold. Stephen also studied with Oscar Ghiglia  at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy. Prior to his work in Europe, Stephen studied with Nicholas Goluses  at the esteemed Eastman School of Music where he earned a Master’s and a Bachelor Degree with distinction, a Certificate in Arts Leadership, and a Performer’s Certificate.
Recordings by Stephen Mattingly and by the Tantalus Quartet are available online at  iTunes,  CD Baby, and Soundset Recordings. More information at www.StephenMattingly.com.
Xavier Jara
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
A native of Minnesota, Xavier studied with Alan Johnston at the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis until 2011, when he moved to Paris, France to study with Judicaël Perroy for the next six years. During this time, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he also studied with French guitarist Olivier Chassain and lute master Eric Bellocq.
He received 1st place in a number of international competitions including the Viseu International Competition (2014), the Boston Guitarfest (2014), the Gargnano, Italy Competition (2015), the Ciudad de Coria Competition (2015), and the Tokyo International Competition (2016). In 2016, Xavier returned home to the United States to win the GFA’s prestigious Rose Augustine Grand Prize, which awarded him a sixty-concert tour. The tour, which began in September 2017, spanned locations across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and Panama, including a concert at Carnegie Hall.
In May 2020, Xavier earned his Master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He continues to perform around the world and joined the United States Guitar Orchestra as a soloist in 2022 on their tour of Spain. An active teacher as well, he previously served as the Adjunct Professor of Guitar at California State University Fullerton (Fullerton, CA) and recently taught the Spring 2022 semester at the University of Louisville (Louisville, KY), conducting and performing in Javier Farías’s Arauco with the U of L guitar ensemble.
Timothy Blunk
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION
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.
Kayla Hibbs
COMMUNITY LIASON
Kayla Hibbs is a classical guitarist from Louisville, Kentucky. She studied at the University of Louisville where she earned her Bachelors in Guitar Performance and her Masters in String Pedagogy under the tutelage of Dr. Stephen Mattingly.
She has performed internationally with the United States Guitar Orchestra (USGO) on their initial tour of various venues in France in 2019 and again toured with them in Spain in 2022. With this ensemble, they also recorded Myths of Persephone by Kevin Callahan with soloist Xavier Jara and conductor Kami Rowan. She's also performed across the United States in New York City's Carnegie Hall, Mt. Zion, Utah, Bloomington, Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky and in Greensboro and Highlands North Carolina.
She has also participated and assisted in various festivals and conventions such as the Eastern Music Festival (EMF) in North Carolina, the Aaron Shearer Summer Institute in Utah and North
Carolina, the Louisville Guitar Festival in Kentucky, and the Guitar Foundation of America.
Kayla brings her unique experience and passion for music and performing to help students build their love of music and strengthen their guitar skills. She currently provides individual instruction
and teaches group classes at a number of locations including the String Preparatory Center at the University of Louisville, the Music Academy at St. Luke’s in Kentucky, and the Community Music Alliance non-profit organization in Indiana.
Max Greenwald
After studying under renowned pedagogue and scholar Frank Koonce at Arizona State, Max now serves as a graduate TA at the University of Louisville under the instruction of Dr. Stephen
Mattingly and Xavier Jara. Max performs a wide spectrum of repertoire including Bach, Rodrigo, Gilardino, Piazzolla, and Nin-Cumell. A passion for commissioning new music and chamber performance is realized through his membership of the Chimera Quartet.
Max has performed all across Arizona, as well as California, Kentucky, and Indiana. These performances consist of both solo and chamber ensembles including the GCC Guitar Octet under
Chuck Hulihan, and the state-wide Arizona Guitar Ensemble. Max toured throughout Switzerland with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble in 2016 performing and premiering works by European and American composers. Max has had the opportunity to perform in masterclasses for incredible musicians such as: Johannes Möller, Paul O’Dette, Xavier Jara, Bokyung Byun, Douglas Lora,
Javier Contreras, Andrew Wilder, Gohar Vardanyan,
Celso Machado, Massimo delle Cese,
Jakob Bangsø, and Frank Wallace.
In addition to serving as a Graduate TA, Max also teaches at multiples music schools around the Louisville and
Southern Indiana areas.
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.